Make summer reading a 'fun'damental

A-PLUS ADVICE FOR PARENTS
By Leanna Landsmann

Q: You recently warned that kids forget what they learn during summer, and you told the mom to read with her son every day. I have two sons, and I wish it were that easy. The second-grader loves to read, but Jack, a fifth-grader, is hard to get involved. He just can't sit down with a book. I know it's important. Any suggestions?

A: Reading as few as four or five books over vacation can help students maintain their reading level over the summer. If Jack won't read books, don't be discouraged. Try these approaches to turn a reluctant reader around:

• Read aloud: There's compelling evidence that hearing stories is beneficial to all students, not just the very young. Set aside a nightly "Scary Story Time" and find a series he and his younger brother might like. Stop at a "cliffhanger" point each night.

• Build on his interests: "What's he passionate about?" asks Francie Alexander, a vice president and chief academic officer at Scholastic. "Find that and build upon it."

For example, if he loves football, find biographies of favorite players, says Alexander. Tiki and Ronde Barber have written a fun series about the sport, published by Simon and Schuster. "Magazines count as reading, too. He wouldn't be the first fifth-grader 'who doesn't like to read' to devour an issue of ESPN The Magazine. Go online to track his favorite team. Watch games together and ask questions about the outcome. Each day, read and talk about his team to keep his interest up."

• Set up an "easy-listening" center: Get books on tape or CD from the library, or load your own device with stories Jack might like. Take his "listening center" everywhere -- driving in the car, waiting for the dentist or quiet time after play.

• Mix the media and genres: Comics, graphic novels, newspapers, magazines, almanacs, atlases and Web sites should all be in the summer reading mix. And choose more than stories. Include nonfiction. Take advantage the wide range of children's poems, jokes and riddles that can serve as summer-day starters. "The more Jack sees that he can derive pleasure from all kinds of reading, the more he'll start to like reading," says Alexander.

• Take in a book and a movie: Enjoy books that have been made into movies, then get the DVD. For example, the book "Holes" by Louis Sachar (Scholastic, 2000) and the "Holes" DVD (Disney 2003), starring Shia LaBeouf, are fifth-grade favorites. The series "Spiderwick Chronicles" (Simon and Schuster) and the "Spiderwick Chronicles" DVD (Paramount, 2008) make a great family movie night. Jack could read the book "Shrek" (Square Fish, 2008) to his younger brother, then watch the "Shrek" DVD (DreamWorks, 2003).

• Capture the "readable moment": Events often provide a perfect opportunity to learn about something new. "We call these teachable moments," says Alexander, and summers are packed with them. For example, the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing by man is celebrated July 20. Use the excitement generated by the news coverage to read books about the moon and those who've explored it. A new title to get from your library is "Moon: Science, History and Mystery" (Scholastic 2009).

• Let Jack pick a stack to try: Letting children choose their own reading is very important," says Alexander. "While you've had to prime the pump a bit to set the tone, in time, he should want to choose his own summer reading. Take him to the library and let him check out an armful of books. Expect trial and error. Celebrate the ones he seems interested in and return the others with no worries."