How's everyone's summer reading going? I hope you and your kids are enjoying the month of July. I used to write that I hoped people were enjoying the slower pace of summer, but then I realized for many people, summer is often more hectic because you've got kids' schedules to deal with--things like camps, summer programs, part-time jobs, lessons, softball, learning to drive, and so on. Many moms have told me that they look forward to fall so they can relax a little! Even kids these days cram tons of activities into their summers, and as a result, summer often is over before we realize it has begun.
Whatever your summer is looking like, I do hope you've found time for reading--both for yourself and for your kids. Letting your kids see you read is a great way to encourage them to read, too. And one of the best things they can do in the way of test-prep is to read for pleasure. Reading builds vocabularies and opens us to new worlds. I still remember the first lines of an Emily Dickinson poem that I read in high school: "There is no frigate like a book / To take us Lands away." Pretty much a recluse herself, Dickinson writes about travel to faraway places in the mind. I love the idea.
No matter what grade your kids will be in when school starts, vocabulary building is a good thing to be doing with them now. Of course, that comes from reading, but it can also come from family vocabulary projects. The simplest one, I think, is to post a word-a-day calendar somewhere in your house. Probably the kitchen is the best place, near or on the fridge, where your kids will see it. Some families tear the words off, one day at a time, and take them to the dinner table to talk about, or tape them to the bathroom mirror to reinforce the learning experience. A fun thing is to take a few of the words and make a game out of using them in conversations about something else as often as possible. Anything to get kids to play with language will expand how they use language and help them to remember new words. Tell a kid, for example, that you have a robust appetite or a hankering for chocolate chip cookies, and ask them to use the words in a different way.
Some families read newspapers or magazines together. This is another great way to encourage conversation about vocabulary. Once a week, you can ask kids to bring to the table two or three new words they found in news articles--either in print or electronically. If you're really brave, you can challenge your kids to find three words in a story that they think you can't define, and then you all learn a little bit from that venture.
Speaking of electronically, I've enjoyed reading a few things online this summer. It's easier to read on my laptop than I thought it would be, and I've even found myself downloading articles on my phone while waiting for appointments. Book venders are pushing all kinds of reading devices on us now, and I'm eager to see which ones stick around.
If you travel abroad, of if your kid is studying a language, strive to find examples of words in a target language that are clearly connected to words in English. Watch out for false cognates, too--words that look the same in English, but have different meanings; for example, asistir in Spanish looks like "assist" but it really means "to attend" as in going to a concert. Let your kids teach you what they know about the language they're studying, and you'll open up great conversations about words. Often, a word in a foreign language will trigger the learning of a new word in English due to the way languages develop and have been influenced. A trip to an Arabic country, for example, will quickly lend itself to a conversation about Spanish vocabulary, much of which is taken from Arabic. A follow-up then would be for kids to see how many words in English might be connected to those Spanish or Arabic roots. A little geeky, yes, but this can really be fun, too.
Whatever you do this summer, remember to take time for the physical act of reading. It slows us down, it opens interior doors, it gives us a break. And remember that the best thing your kids can do to improve their skill and enjoyment of reading is to read, too. So, grab a book, a magazine, a laptop--whatever, and enjoy a few moments of time for yourself this month.
Let me know what you think!
No comments:
Post a Comment