5 Ways to Keeping Your Kids Reading This Summer

Here are five keys to making sure your kids keep reading all summer:

1. Set your sights on a series. Whether they read it themselves or you read it to them, getting your child hooked on a series will keep them involved and waiting for the next story! And we have great series for kids: Encounter the Saints, Gospel Time Trekkers, the TOB books, the basic catechism teaching series… they’ll all engage and delight your child!
2. Make it a game. Books lend themselves to all sorts of games: memory games (“and then what happened next?”), language play (“what new words are in this book?”), content/appropriation exercises (“how could you be more like this saint?”).
3. Read on the go. Keep books in your car. You’re going to spend part of the summer (okay, a lot of the summer!) taking your kids places; keeping some of our books in the car for them to peruse or read on short and long trips alike will not just entertain but enlighten them.
4. Take the reading outdoors. Kids want to be outside anyway, so create a time every day that’s porch-time, or yard-time, or even park-time. Keep a bag packed with several books and something to snack on; grab a juice box on the way out and you’re all set. Reading shouldn’t be confined to the home or library; kids need to learn that it’s good to go everywhere.
5. Read, read, read. Kids who grow up seeing their parents read are far more likely to become readers themselves. This summer, put aside one evening a week to read as a family activity, even if it’s just for half an hour. Make sure you read and your kids will follow suit.

For more faith-based summer reading suggestions, visit: www.pauline.org/summerreading