It’s the most wonderful time of year for students – summer vacation!  Summer vacation makes me a bit uneasy though because I know it’s also the time of year that the skills in math and reading children have worked so hard to learn in school can slide.  Unfortunately, this “summer slide” can leave them struggling to catch up when September rolls around in a few months.

Reading, in my opinion, is the cornerstone of education and arguably one of the most important skills to master in order to succeed at school and in life. Research shows that individuals who read avidly demonstrate improved cognitive abilities. They become creative thinkers and problem solvers.

Parents: I know it’s like pulling teeth to get your child to read when they would rather be swimming or catching lighting bugs.  But now, more than ever, it is important to find ways to make reading more enjoyable this summer and less of a chore.  Last September, I bookmarked a startling Washington Post article stating:

“Reading scores on the SAT for the high school class of 2012 reached a four-decade low, putting a punctuation mark on a gradual decline in the ability of college-bound teens to read passages and answer questions about sentence structure, vocabulary and meaning on the college entrance exam.”

For parents with elementary age students, you may feel like the SATs are light-years away.  I wish they were for you!  But this record low in reading scores should set off your alarm bells and be a reminder that the foundation for these skills must be set now.  This means your child cannot take a “summer vacation” from reading.

I encourage you to look into a summer book club program for your child that allows him/her to enjoy reading with peers but also hones skills like comprehension, time management and problem solving.   Thinking Organized’s summer program, A Summer Read Book Club, is currently accepting registration and will begin meeting the week of June 24.  Your local library is another great resource. For example, check out D.C. Public Library’s summer reading program or Montgomery County Public Library’s summer reading program.

Welcome summer and happy reading!