Why do students need to read in the summer?

Research proves that students who do not read during the summer fall behind. Reading is like exercising: you have to keep doing it or your muscles forget! Children need to engage with books every day so they can maintain and strengthen all the reading skills they learned during the school year. Students who leave school in June but do not read during the summer lose months of reading achievement from the previous year. Consequently, students have to spend the fall "catching up" to where they were in June before they can move forward once again.  What's more, summer reading loss accumulates: years of summer reading neglect may easily lead to students falling a year or two below grade-level reading.  Don't let this happen to your son or daughter!

Here at the Oak Bluffs School, we want to share a clear message:

Students should READ, ALL summer long!

It is really quite simple...reading, likes sports, music, art, etc.  gets better when you practice it.

Here’s how you can help your child keep their reading skills sharp this summer:

Let your child choose the books they want to read.

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• Give your child access to a wide variety of books on their independent reading level.
  
  
• Introduce your child to a book series: one book turns into four or more!
  
  
• Have your child participate in the Oak Bluffs Public Library reading programs.
  
  
• Read with your child.
  
  
• Read to your child.
  
  

Look for grade-specific summer reading assignments in your child’s backpack by the last day of school. For your convenience all assignments are on the Oak Bluffs School website and will be attached to your child’s report card.

Make time for reading every day, every week, ALL SUMMER LONG!