Build Summer Reading Lists

It’s not your imagination. Reading ability really does slide backwards during the summer months if your child doesn’t read.

“Summer slide” — or “summer learning loss” — is a well-researched phenomenon. During summer break comes, without the structured learning environment of school, many children begin to slip backwards in their reading abilities. This effects strong readers as well as struggling ones. The impact is greatest on struggling readers who are also low-income. Research shows that by the end of fifth grade, these children are approximately two and a half years behind their more affluent peers in terms of reading ability.

Improving Reading Over Summer — It Can Happen With Lexile Measures

Many children don’t read enough over the summer because it can be hard to find books at their reading level that really interest them.

But did you know that your child’s reading ability can actually grow over summer? When they read books they love, at the right level, they could actually go back to school at a higher Lexile level than at the end of the school year. You can see the results for yourself in this research paper, The Effects of a Voluntary Summer Reading Intervention on Reading Activities and Reading Achievement.