Here are some ideas to help make the BC Summer Reading Club a great experience for your child.
- Establish a regular reading time for all members of your family.
- Offer to share stories at bedtime, as dinner conversation, or whenever works for your family.
- Encourage your child to share favourite stories with you.
- Help your child to set a realistic goal for summer reading. You may want to encourage them to read every day, read a certain number of books, or to explore books on a particular topic of interest. Try to set a goal that will challenge your child, but don’t make it too ambitious to the point that reading becomes a chore.
- Show genuine interest in the reading material your child discovers during the summer. Appreciate all books your child selects, even the ones that look “too easy.” Summer is a time for fun and building reading confidence!
- Read to your child. Even if children can read themselves, they still enjoy hearing stories read aloud. Readers in the early grades can understand far more advanced vocabulary and complex stories than they are able to read — it helps their reading later if you continue to read to them.
- Encourage older children to read aloud to younger children or other family members.
- Read yourself! Make sure your child knows that you enjoy reading too. There is nothing like a good role model.
- Take your child to your local public library to choose books or to attend summer programs. Many children appreciate going with friends — encourage your child to invite a friend or two.
- Check out the BC Summer Reading Club online at www.bcsrc.ca