Get Ready for Summer Reading - Plan Your Summer Reading Schedule

Summer break will be here soon, and it is a great time to catch up on reading skills. Here are strategies and tips to help you plan ahead and make the most of the extra time before school starts back in the fall.

• Teach Reading Skills - Practice Reading Skills During School Breaks - Exercising your child's reading skills over school breaks is important to prevent loss of reading ability and to help your child be better prepared for the next school year. To help your summer study be more successful and helpful to your child, you'll need to begin preparing now.
• Improve Reading Comprehension - Improve Your Child's Reading with Audio Books - Students with learning disabilities are often severely disadvantaged in learning to read and perhaps more so in later middle, high school, or college years where reading is necessary to learn in any content class. Using audio books is one way to help your child continue to learn content in the classroom despite having a reading disability.
• Six Activities to Improve Reading Skills Outside of School
• Ways to Encourage Reluctant Readers - Is your child a reluctant reader? Many children with learning disabilities avoid reading and do not get the practice they need to improve their skills. Learn some great ways to increase their reading activities that they will actually enjoy!
• Ideas and Activities to Build Fluency - Your child's Accelerated Reader books are good choices for home reading practice because they are at your child's independent reading level.
• High Interest / Low Reading Ability Books - Hi/lo books are a great way to keep older kids with low reading levels interested in reading. This great list includes Alien Abduction, Killer Sharks, and Skateboard Power. The more than 20 books on this list are all Accelerated Reader selections.

If your child has learning disabilities in basic reading, reading comprehension, or has been diagnosed with dyslexia, it is important for you to individualize reading choices for their ability levels and to be flexible in giving them assistance as needed to keep their interest and motivation high. It may also be helpful to set reading goals and provide rewards for reaching goals.