Get Your Kids to Embrace Summer Reading

School’s out for summer!!! For some kids, that might be a temptation to let the books collect dust on the shelf, but for other kids reading is a year-round way to play!

Here are my tips to keep kids reading all year round from a mom who hated to read until the 3rd grade, and then couldn’t put books down! You can find even more tips on Twitter Mom’s discussion page.

1. Get your kids eyes checked. When I was in the 3rd grade, I discovered that I have a condition that makes reading more of a chore than it needed to be. Thanks to the Irlen Method, I overcame this condition and went from a student labeled as a slow learner who was predicted to never graduate high school to a straight A student who graduated 3rd of 425 students, and then made a career out of the written word. If your kid complains about reading, listen to what they are saying and look into their complaints — they may really be valid. (More about how this changed my life coming in my first book due out before the end of the year!) Even if your kid just needs glasses, it can make a world of difference – I promise!
2. Make it fun! Help your child choose books about subjects he/she is already interested. It helps the stories come to life.
3. Check out these summer reading programs. Not only will you feel good about getting them to read, your kids will like earning cool prizes. Barnes and Noble’s Summer Reading Program – Read any eight books, fill out the reading passport and return it to Barnes and Noble between May 25 and September 7, 2010 to earn a free book from a list of available titles. Borders – Read any 10 books this summer to earn a free book from a list of available titles from Borders through August 30, 2010. Chuck E Cheese Reading Rewards Calendar – With the Reading Rewards Calendar, your reader checks off each day spent reading. Once the two-week calendar is filled, take the calendar to Chucky Cheese for 10 free tokens. Reading challenge can be repeated every two weeks until December 31, 2010. Pottery Barn Kids Book Club – Take the kids to PBK every Tuesday for story time (11 – 11:30 a.m.), after five visits kids receive a special gift.

Disclaimer — I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get an “I Can Read!” book. For more information on how you can participate, click here. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.