We have a guest post on our blog today from Roxanne Turner. Roxanne is a Board Certified Life Coach with extensive training in ADHD and executive functioning, focusing on the process of getting things done.
School is almost out and everyone is excited about the prospect of no more homework. Alas, summer reading is the new homework. For some of your kids that means intensive reading interventions; for others, it means setting an intention to read several days a week.
Sometimes, summer reading creates its own intense range of emotions if your child is struggling with a summer reading assignment. Your kids may tell you that they just want to relax and that reading encroaches on their “me” time.
I have received some amazing guidance and resources from reading specialists, special education teachers, and even from my kids’ high school teachers as to what my job as parent is in supporting my kids in reading and writing.
Here is what they suggest:
Your job is to make reading fun. Let the specialist do the hard stuff, which includes sounding out words. I know that advice was music to my ears. I always had a hard time sounding out words because English was my second language and as a result of my own dyslexia. I am only too happy to leave sounding out to the professionals!
Find books that are of interest and appeal to your kids, here are some favorites of my kids:
- Zach Files
- Brandon Mull series
- Ghost / Marvel Comics– I grew up loving comic books (This is how I fell in love with reading) so my youngest and I read them together
Read aloud to your kids. My husband has a knack for doing voices, which the kids loved. I also tried recreating voices for my kids, but at the end of the day their Dad was the one with that talent.
Use technology for extra help. If your kid picks a book that might be above his/ her grade level, no worries. While your kid reads let them listen to the audio. You can use tools like Audible or Learning Ally. If there was a movie based on the book, use the movie as a reward for completing the book. We could then compare and contrast the two media, which deepened the learning.
Set expectations for the following day and review them with your kids. Write them out. Block out where and what they are doing. If there is an opportunity for choice, ask your kids “would you prefer to read at 9 am or 7 pm” and then block the activity on the calendar. Your job is to make sure they follow through.
Set reasonable time frames for your kids, taking their age into account. If they are young a minimum time might be 10 or 15 minutes. They can keep going or stop. If they chose to stop, avoid coaxing. When you attempt to convince your kid to keep reading you have changed the rules on them and you have made life a lot harder for yourself the next day.
For older kids, first review what they have to read and learn and how long it will take to complete. I like to print out a calendar and have them mark in pencil:
- Date school starts back up?
- What days are out-of-the-question for reading?
- What day do they want to start?
Then look at the book and the number of pages. Are they going to break it down by time or pages per day? Plot out how many days it will take on the calendar to complete all of the reading. This visual can be very helpful for kids who have unrealistic expectations of the time required and help avoid procrastination.
At this stage in the game, you have an advantage because they have created a plan, which you can point to throughout the summer.
Of course, the temptation to procrastinate is still there. Your job is to reinforce their plan, not to nag. If they are behind, have them re-draw the calendar to visualize how the work is piling up.
Be patient and be realistic with your expectations. In the beginning, reading may feel like a chore to them. Just keep finding ways to make it fun. Most of all, model the behavior you are seeking. Are you reading or listening to audiobooks? If your kid happens to have a favorite author ask them if they would recommend the book to you. If they do I encourage you to read it. Yes, sometimes I had to work to get through the book, but the reward of getting to talk about it and understand their world always makes the exercise worthwhile.