Summer Reading is for Dorks

...and I used to be one of those dorks. When I was a kid, summer was the perfect opportunity to devour books and television. My mom would take me to the public library once a week for their summer reading programming, and I would select a variety of books. Looking back over the records I have (yes, I kept them, because I'm THAT kind of dork) I read A LOT. I think the whole Nancy Drew series was finished in a couple of summers. Every year I went to camp, and at camp we had a nap/rest time (which was pretty much time for the counselors to hang out and talk about us). I could never nap, so I read. I wrote some letters too, but reading was the best. I would take about 3 short novels (couple of Nancy Drew mysteries, sometimes a classic or two) and read. Usually I could finish those books during the time I was at camp, so when I got home it was time to start fresh with a new title. This year, when I was advertising the public library's different summer reading program, I became more and more discouraged as students would say that they didn't have anyone to take them to the library, that their parents were busy, that most of their time was spent alone playing video games and hanging out on the computer. Recipe for disaster? Definitely- don't get me started on the hows and whys kids should NOT be on the internet for long, unsupervised periods of time. Hello, Stranger Danger. Hello, You Don't Need to See That. Hello, You'll Burn Your Eyes Out (Maybe not, but it sounded like it went with the other themes). When I asked if they ever spent time reading, approximately 25% of them (surveyed over the last 6 weeks of school) said yes. That meant 75% of them read fewer than two books over the summer, or only did it as required by their parental units. Thus, the challenge. When I was a kid, the public library summer reading program was awesome. It was there that I touched my first alligator, that I learned how to silk screen a t-shirt, and that I won a ton of prizes. I LOVED going to those programs, and not just because there were cupcakes involved at the end of the summer. I loved them because the librarian (how I wish I could remember her name) was SO excited about the program. She was just as enthusiastic about the books that she book talked as she was about us silk screening a t-shirt. A challenge for any media specialist working in a traditional school is what our students lose over the summer. If not treated properly, it's 8 weeks of brain loss. That's why so much of the early part of the year is going back over what was lost during the summer. Students who may have been solid in math and science can lose a good amount of that knowledge over the course of the vacation. Even when we are on vacation, it is our responsibility to be sure that our children are not letting their brains go on vacation. I'm all for zoning out sometimes- I love doing that, sitting on my deck staring at the waterfowl and not thinking about anything. But I certainly spend a good amount of each day making sure my brain is working- reading, doing crosswords, writing, even researching for this blog. Why shouldn't our children be doing the same? The trick is in making it as easy and desirable as possible. I used to work for a family in which reading was a treat that was earned. Extra chores garnered extra reading time. It is one of the best examples of reverse psychology I've ever seen. But is that going to work on most kids? Absolutely not. And by the time we receive them in kindergarten, they have already been working in a completely different way. So, ideas on how to make our students dorky enough to want to be dorks? Using reading time as a time for family- if you haven't read The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma, you have to, whether you are a teacher or a parent, the father who is so solely dedicated to reading out loud to his daughter every single night no matter what will bring tears to your eyes and cause you to question why your parents ever stopped reading out loud. I see plenty of commercials about family game nights, family movie nights...what about family reading nights? What about gathering in the living room and sharing something wonderful. Or maybe selecting one longer book and making it a family goal to read together? Idea 2: Book Club. Encouraging kids who live in neighborhoods with other kids their age selecting a book together and reading it. Just for kicks. Gathering at the baseball field for a pick up game and discussing it. Meeting for ice cream. Parents could organize a system of discussion and reward. Idea 3: Setting aside a quiet time each day to warrant time to read. Much like the quiet time I had at camp, instead of forcing your kids to take naps, how about giving them the option of reading instead? Please comment with your own ideas, so for next summer I can present more options to my too-cool-for-summer-reading friends, and maybe helping transform their school experience.