The Only Slide You Should Be Worried About In The Summer

Is the hot one at the playground

Summer is upon us and that inevitably leads to questions about the dreaded “summer slide.” In other words, will my kid forget everything they learned in the school year over the lazy, academia-free summer months?

Well, one “easy” way to overcome that is to read. I put easy in quotation marks because summer is a season of fun and chaos, and the tidy reading routines of the school year tend to fall by the wayside. But, fear not!

Just remember: Generations of kids have had summer breaks where they’ve forgotten quite a bit and yet, somehow, they’ve grown up into (mostly) functional adults. Maybe your kid forgets some of what they learned; maybe they don’t. Learning is a muscle and once things start to jog your memory, you can figure it out pretty quickly. So, if you read nothing else, remember: it’s going to be okay!

My case for reading during the summer isn’t so much to prevent your kid from forgetting their literacy—it’s more that if summer is for fun then so is reading! Reading is a fun activity. Period.

So as you plan the summer camps, family activities, and vacations, plan some reading in there too! It doesn’t need to be a thing. It doesn’t have to be super regimented or structured. It can be free-flowing and spontaneous.

Here are some ideas of how to incorporate reading into a busy summer:

• Number one: enroll them in your library’s reading program! This is the best, most fun way to keep kids reading during the summer.

• If you’re at the beach, build a sandcastle together as a family by following the tips and tricks in this book.*

• Going on a road trip? Have your kid read you a book while you drive. If they’re not of reading age, listen to a kids’ audiobook together.

• Celebrating the Fourth of July? No better way to build up the excitement than this book*!

• Planning a day at the pool? Do a poolside story time break—read the kids a book while they have a snack.

• See a yard sale? Swerve over to the curb and give your kids money to buy themselves a book.

• With your kids, recite their favorite book from memory while you toss a frisbee.

• Camping? It goes without saying that reading by a flashlight or headlamp is a MUST.

• Let them stay up as long as they want if it’s because they want to read.

• Block party? Have kids create a story with chalk.

• Going on a walk? Make sure you hit up a Little Free Library while you’re on your way.

There are so many ways to incorporate reading and this is just a small sampling. What are other fun ways you’re planning to read with kids this summer?

*Thank you for using (at no additional cost to you) the affiliate links in this post! :-)

Paid subscribers, here’s a reading bingo card to keep your reading inspired this summer!