How to get kids reading over summer— featuring the C-Pen Reader 2!
Especially if they have literacy differences like dyslexia, getting kids reading over summer proves a hard sell. As well as competing with other leisure activities, they may also find it too reminiscent of school and the pressures of reading in class to truly engage with any gusto—we’d rather be playing video games, too.
But summer reading is important. That’s why we’ve put together this list of new, zany ways to get kids reading over summer… featuring our flagship reading support tool the C-Pen Reader 2, for those learners who may need a little extra support.
Get kids reading over summer with rewards and incentives!
Everybody likes free stuff. That’s a universal constant: it’s generally just better if you’ve managed to get it without parting with any of your allowance. That’s why creating DIY reading-rewards programs work so well when it comes to getting children reading over summer vacation—start small, with individual treats for single books read, or go all-out for big milestones like ten and twenty!
Sticker charts, planners or app-based counters can all help to keep kids motivated too— as can ensuring that they feel secure and confident when reading. If your children seem like they want to do most of their reading independently, a reading tool that prioritizes self-support and features word definition functions like the C-Pen Reader 2 can be a huge motivational factor.
Remember that reading can happen anywhere.
You don’t have to be sat in a quiet corner to get some good-quality reading time in. Summer vacation is characterised by long, sunny days, trips to the beach, or even heading to the airport for some sun and distant shores. Travel time can easily become reading time, so don’t forget to pop a book in your hand luggage for those longer flights, or keep a magazine in the car for cross-country journeys to see grandparents, aunts and uncles.
And guess what’s portable, rechargeable, and Wi-Fi free?
Get kids reading together!
What’s better than sharing your interests with friends?
Getting children reading over summer doesn’t have to be an individual effort, and the rise of #BookTok means that more children and young people than ever before are excited about sharing what they read. It might be as simple as posting in local community groups to get a reading group going, or offering up your dining room one night a week for your young reader and their friends to get together.
Group reading opportunities might make learners with dyslexia or literacy differences feel confident and supported… but they might also make them feel a little isolated and uncertain. Ensure that they’re on-board and feeling supported enough to take on the challenge before making plans on this one—it’s a personal decision.
Take time out to read as a family.
Fostering a love of reading in children and young people is far easier when they come from a literacy-positive household community: kids who see their parents read for pleasure often feel more and more motivated to give it a go themselves. Why not set aside a screen-free night a week, or set up a twist on the movie night… a book night, but with the same amount of soda and popcorn! It’s good for adults to put down the screens for an evening and pick up a paperback too, so go into it ready to read and engage alongside learners.
Reading for pleasure has a host of mental health benefits, and for those young readers who find that they need reading support (or even just a confidence boost), it might feel far less daunting to approach the task in the presence of a dedicated parent.
But getting kids reading isn’t always as simple as providing some motivation, or making sure we’re making time in our routines to focus on books. Sometimes, especially when a learner has dyslexia or literacy differences, reading can feel very intimidating—and especially if kids are used to reading support in the form of a class-based reading assistant or human reader, summer vacation can feel like a real wasteland in terms of support.
The C-Pen Reader 2 is a powerful text-to-speech reading support that instantly relays the words on the page back to the reader via an audio feedback loop. Complete with dictionary definition software, the ability to create personalised vocab lists and even scan-to-file functionality, it’s not just a pen scanner, but a suite of reading supports that can be accessed long after the school bell has rung for summer.