CINCINNATI - It's a challenge that's faced many parents: How do you get your child to actually want to become regular reader, even while they are on vacation? Librarians say getting youngsters to read can be as easy as focusing on subjects and information they are most interested in.
Their first collective advice is to not force a child to read. First, find out what the child is interested in and then show them where they can get more information about that topic, no matter what it is. Maybe the place they start to read is not a book, per se. A reading experience can be easily had with any kind of reading material, be it a magazine, a comic book, graphic novel or a short story.
Another option to spur interest in reading is to stay away from books at first and to look toward books on audiotapes or CD instead. Listening to someone 'read' a book for you will exercise the same kind of brain functions as a regular book.
Audiotapes and book CDs usually don't have video, so a child is getting a sense of a book's narrative just as if they were reading it with a complete sense of the vocabulary, within context, that they'd find in a book. CDs and audiobooks can even help lead children to actually read the real book.
You can also use audiotapes or audiobooks in conjunction with an actual book. The child can listen to the audio, while following along with the book. In most cases, the audiobooks are actual readings of the real books, which gives the child a chance to hear the words as they read along. Audiobooks are often read by Broadway or Hollywood actors, if they are not read by the author themselves.
The first question some librarians have for parents of children who aren't regular readers is: "Are you reading books, magazines or newspapers on a regular basis?"
A Harvard study recently found that children who read four to five books over the summer months did better on reading tests in the fall than children who attended formal summer school.
They say the biggest incentive for children to read is from following parents who take the time to regularly read themselves. Having books in the house does make a difference, especially if parents make reading part of their regular routines. Taking books on trips or playing audiobooks on a car trip can help give children the push they need to start finding books they're interested in and read them.
Public libraries in the Tri-State are making major efforts during the summer to get not just children, but the whole family reading. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is currently running its '"Lights, Camera, READ!"' program at all 41 of its locations. Everyone from pre-schoolers to adults are encouraged to read regularly and keep track of what they are reading on the library's website.
During August, prizes are offered to reading "Superstars," including gift certificates at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.
It seems Tri-State residents are taking libraries up on their reading offers. Kate Lawrence is the program director of Cincinnati's Library system and she says over 30,000 people have signed up online for its 2010 Summer Reading Program. That's almost double the 17,000 who took part in last year's program.
Lawrence says the summer reading program is more popular than ever with parents looking for inexpensive or free ways to keep their children reading and academically active while school is out. As Lawrence says, participation in the push to read this year is "beyond our expectations."
Cincinnati is not alone. Other libraries, like the Boone County Library , have launched their own summer reading programs. There, children and teenagers can earn free books and other prizes by turning in their reading logs by Aug. 9.
Even adults who participate in the Boone County summer reading program can earn what Boone County librarians call "library bucks," which are good for paying late fines. There are also monthly drawings for library book bags and coffee mugs.
The grand prizes in Boone County include Barnes and Noble gift certificates and even a Nook e-book reader.
In the Middletown, Hamilton, Fairfield and Oxford areas, the Lane Libraries are using a little jazz music to attact more people to reading at the library. For the fourteenth year, the libraries are featuring lunchtime jazz performances as well as lively book discussions at different libaries on Tuesdays through August. Readers are invited to bring their own lunches or have some of the free, light refreshments offered by the Friends of the Lane Libraries.
A Harvard study recently found that children who read four to five books over the summer months did better on reading tests in the fall than children who attended formal summer school.
Do you have any stories about unique ways you and your family have gotten into summer reading? Don't keep it to yourself, share it with your friends at CincySchoolZone. Let us know what you are doing and whether any of the Tri-State's local summer reading programs have made a difference
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