The summer slide is not entertaining

Yes, summer is a time for kids to run wild.

Let them sleep late, catch fireflies, and spit watermelon seeds in the yard. But keep them away from the Summer Slide. That Slide takes them back down the academic hill they worked hard to climb during the preceding school year. During the summer, children need to read and perform simple math functions so that they can return to school in the fall at the top of their game. 

If there are children in your life, keep books on hand for them to read. Take them to the library so that they may select their own books. Set aside time each day for you to read together, either aloud to each other or to sit quietly and read your own books. Talk about what you are reading.

Children need to have access to books that are both windows and mirrors. Windows give them glimpses into how other people think, feel, and live. Windows increase understanding and empathy. Mirrors show children themselves and validate who they are and how they think and feel and live.

There was a time when there were no books for children. Before the eighteenth century, "children's stories" were scary stories about what would happen to children if they didn't behave. In 1744, John Newbery published what is considered the first book for children, A Pretty Little Pocket-Book. It was a book of rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. One hundred years ago, the Newbery Award was established: "To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children, To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children's reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field."

This summer, give the children in your life the windows and mirrors they need to avoid the Summer Slide and to grow in understanding of their world and themselves.