According to educators summertime can be challenging for parents who want to help their children avoid the “Summer Slide”. Teachers use this phrase to describe students forgetting what they’ve learned last year or falling out of practice… reading. Here are a few tips plus a list of apps that may help your student stay sharp this summer while enjoying your Wi-Fi tablet.
PBS Character Apps – www.pbs.org
Dinosaur Train- Preschool and early elementary children will love learning to problem solve by estimating dinosaur sizes and comparing them with train car capacity.
Super Why – Helps kids ages 3 to 6 with critical skills that they need to learn to read as recommended by the National Reading Panel (alphabet skills, word families, spelling, comprehension & vocabulary). Super Why makes reading an empowering adventure by using literacy games.
Ruckus Reader – www.ruckusreader.com
Is a breakthrough reading program with a unique series of storybooks designed to help your child practice important reading skills and keep you up to date on your child’s progress. All of the stories and interactive activities are developed by educational experts to adhere to National Education Standards for preschool through second grade.
Starfall – www.starfall.com
This is a free public service site that teaches kids to read with phonics. This site has several fun activities for your pre-K or kindergarten student to do…. that is fun… and promotes learning at the same time.
Letters A to Z – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letters-to-z-for-ipad- from/id364047351?mt=8 Letters for the iPad from True Learning: Students going into pre-K and Kindergarten benefit when they are able to practice tracing the alphabet. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letters-to-z-for-ipad- from/id364047351?mt=8
According to www.scholastic.com parents should encourage children to:
1-Read 6 books during the summer – Research shows that reading six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right – not too hard and not too easy. Take advantage of your local library. Ask for help selecting books that match your child’s age, interests and abilities. Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate kids to read. To help you find what’s available in your area, we have listed a few of the local libraries.
Olney, TX – http://www.olneyisd.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/Library
Archer City, TX – http://www.archercity.org/communityservices/library.html
Graham, TX – http://grahamtexas.net/library/
2-Read something everyday – Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Find them throughout the day – Morning: The Newspaper – even if it is the comics or today’s weather. Daytime: Schedules, TV guides, magazines, online resources, etc. If you have a chef in the family encourage them to look for recipes on your favorite food channels websites – then cook it together for more reading practice. Evening: End the day by having your child read to you from the book he is currently reading (one of the six books, above). Have him rehearse a paragraph, page or chapter before reading to you. Rereading will help him be more fluent – able to read at an appropriate speed, correctly and with nice expression.
3. Keep reading aloud – Read aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read books your child can’t, so they will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This will increase their knowledge and expand their experience with text, so that they will do better when reading on their own.
One veteran kindergarten/first grade teacher suggested letting your child follow along with audio books. This seems to help with word recognition.
To learn more about preventing “Summer Slide” and for tips to help your young reader stay on top of their reading skills you might want to visit the sites below.
www.scholastic.com/stacks
www.scholastic.com
www.rif.org
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