Unlocking Summer Reading: Why is it so Important for Parents to Get Reading Too?
Parents have the most incredible opportunity to shape children's lives in profound ways— and cultivating a relationship with summer reading is an important part of it, especially when it comes to feeling confident reading with dyslexia.
When we prioritize reading and make it a central part of our daily routine, we not only open doors to a world of knowledge, but also might support children to develop strong, ongoing summer reading habits. In this blog, we will explore where parents play an important role in encouraging kids to embrace reading, and how it can positively influence academic performance, mental health, and self-confidence.
Summer reading as a gateway to academic attainment
Reading is not only a means of acquiring knowledge but also a fundamental skill that forms the basis for academic attainment. It’s the gateway to the curriculum: when reading skills flourish, access to every other subject becomes easier too, as well as exams and testing.
When children see their parents engaging with books regularly, they often better understand the value their family places on reading. This exposure can spark curiosity in books from a very early age and set them on a path of discovery, as well as form the basis for family reading activities as entertainment as they’re growing up.
Moreover, reading enhances vocabulary, language skills, and comprehension abilities, allowing children to excel in various subjects. By setting a good summer reading example, parents can re-frame reading as a leisure pursuit and not a chore, opening a gateway to the broader curriculum, academic success, and a lifelong love of books.
We can nurture children and young people’s mental health
In addition to academic benefits, summer reading can provide a boost for mental wellbeing. Encouraging children to read opens the door to endless adventures, stimulating imagination and creativity, and books offer an escape from daily stressors— allowing young minds to unwind and explore new perspectives, enhancing understandings of empathy and social bonds.
When parents demonstrate a love for reading, they can show their children the power of literature in fostering emotional intelligence, and resilience by promoting reading as a form of self-care.
We can combat summer reading and learning loss to an extent
Summer can be a challenging time for maintaining reading habits, especially when learners are younger, don’t enjoy reading, or experience something that might feel as if it comes between them and reading, like dyslexia. With school out of session, children can lose touch with their academic routines, leading to learning loss and a slump in skills over the vacation period. However, parents who prioritize reading during this period might be able to mitigate this decline: setting aside dedicated reading time, whether through family reading sessions or regular library visits, parents can keep the momentum of learning alive.
Modeling the joy of reading during summer break cultivates an environment where children perceive reading as a pleasurable activity rather than a chore, setting the stage for lifelong reading habits.
Readers can inspire readers
For children with dyslexia, reading can sometimes be a daunting task— but if parents feel emotionally able and confident enough to read with and around them, it can provide some useful models.
Witnessing parents engage in supported reading, especially when those parents have dyslexia or another form of literacy difference themselves, can provide a source of hope and motivation. Dyslexic children may feel isolated when it comes to reading, and may question their ability to overcome the challenges they face. When parents who also find reading difficult openly embrace reading and utilize tools such as text-to-speech software or High-Low books, they actively demonstrate that reading difficulties need not be insurmountable.
This simple act can stoke confidence and inspire dyslexic children to persist, knowing their parents believe in their ability to conquer reading obstacles— and highlight the role assistive tech can play both in the classroom and out of it to developing and learning readers.
By setting a good reading example, parents have the power to inspire a lifelong passion for books in children… as well as open doors academically that learners might have believed closed to them without that kind of home support.
Particularly during the vacation months, when summer reading loss is a concern, parents can play a crucial role in maintaining their children's reading habits. By demonstrating the importance of reading to dyslexic children, parents provide a source of inspiration and motivation, as well as a foundation on which to share reading activities and bolster skills— and sparking some important conversations about support.
Check out the C-Pen Reader 2 to explore how text-to-speech can inspire readers of all ages!