As the warmer weather settles in we know that it isn’t long before children are free of the restraints of school for another year. The regular reading that is a part of many children’s school day suddenly comes to an end as there are far more interesting things to do on vacation than read a book, right?
Research though has shown that when kids put down the books for their summer break, often their reading ability drops with it. The term “slide” refers to children dropping in their reading ability following a lack of reading over the summer break. Teachers frequently report that students return to school in January with a lower reading level and interest in books, than when they left in December.
While research predominately focuses upon the long mid year summer vacations of the northern hemisphere, there is still an emerging trend within Australian schools, albeit over a shorter break. Achievement gaps are often identified in lower socio-economic communities due to lack of available resources and books within the home. Some children simply don’t have access to books once the school library closes for the year. However, you don’t need money in order to prevent the slide for your children.
Here are five tips to make sure your kids stay engaged with reading over the summer break.
1. Make reading time fun (and quick!)
It is easy and necessary to make reading together the most fun time of everyday. Read together with funny voices, try humorous books to engage the reluctant readers in your family and trust that toilet humour is often a surefire winner for most boys. You should aim for no more than ten minutes reading together – just enough to encourage the kids to come back tomorrow. Set a timer if you need to, it will encourage them to ask for a minute or two more when reading time comes to an end.
2. Visit the local library and bookstores
Make regular visits to the local public library and bookstores as part of your family’s routine. These trips are simple ways to drive reading passion. Many children are amazed when they discover that they can borrow sometimes up to twenty books from their local library for free (and probably will the first time). Discount department stores often sell brand new popular kids books for less than A$10, much less than a movie ticket.
3. Have a ‘screen free night’ each week
Make a screen free night part of your family’s regular routine (except for eReaders of course) where everyone in the family picks up something to read. Having your children see you read and talk about books adds value to this reading time. Different approaches to the screen free night may be to invest in reading lamps or book lights so that children can read in bed before sleep.
4. Give books as gifts
Christmas for kids means presents, and more books in the house can never go astray. Gift the next book in the series that your child is loving – the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney or the 52nd Storey Treehouse by Australia’s Andy Griffiths are great places to start. Encourage your child to lend and swap their books with friends once they have read them.
When you are reading together with your child, it’s a great idea to give them the option of how they would like to read. Provide the opportunity for children to choose whether they would like to read aloud or silently. Check if they would like to try paired reading if they feel like they need extra support with the book.
When your child comes to a word that they don’t know or aren’t sure of, remember to:
Wait: give your child a chance to figure out the word on their own
Ask: does that make sense? Does the picture give you a clue? Could you read on for more information?
Then skip: if the child is still stuck on the word, ask them to skip it and read on. You can always drop that word into the conversation as you turn the page. This has the added advantage of not making the child wrong!
Working with your child to maintain good reading habits over their summer break allows you to not only establish your family as active readers, but will give them the best possible start to the next school year.
Last week, Nicole Bollerman won $150,000 from Capital One’s #WishForOthers contest. But rather than spend the money on herself, the 26-year-old teacher at UP Academy Dorchester decided to give the money to her third-grade students. In her contest entry, Bollerman wrote that she wished her “voracious, adorable, hardworking, loving scholars all leave for their December break with a book in their hand.” This won over the hearts of the people at Capital One and, ultimately, won Bollerman the funds needed to make her wish come true.
“I really made the wish for my students, and I was blessed, lucky, and thankful that Capital One gave me the opportunity,” Bollerman told ABC News. “Since I made the wish for my students, I thought I would do something to make their lives better rather than spend it on myself.”
In addition to the $150,000, which Bollerman hopes to put toward better computer access and coding lessons for the children, Capital One gifted each of Bollerman’s students with three books of her choosing: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, My Father’s Dragon, and Where the Wild Things Are. But in order for every child at the school to receive reading material, Bollerman and her mother used their own money to buy books for all of the other students. Is that teacher of the year material or what?
There is going to be a new way for gamers to explore the world of Minecraft soon as Mojang have revealed a Minecraft: Story Mode is in development. The adventure series is being created by TellTale Games and the first of the episodes will make its way out in 2015 for he Xbox, PlayStation and the PC.
The Minecraft Story Mode is going to be an original and new story that will depend on the choice of the player. The game isn’t going to have Steve as the lead character. Mojang said that the game is going to be cool. It won’t rely on players owning Minecraft and the Minecraft community is helping, though how we are not sure about.
Along with the Minecraft Story mode game, there is also going to be a movie based around Minecraft. More details are to be released early 2015.
Daniel Radcliffe earned £68 million last year, according to a report.
The Horns star’s company – whose accounts were filed on Christmas Eve – has recorded £57.7 million in profits, nearly £4 million more than last year.
Daniel also has a firm, Gilmore Jacobs, based in Essex, east England that is responsible for managing his investments and properties.
The firm is owed £10.2 million, bringing his total to £67.9 million, according to the figures obtained by The Sun.
The money Daniel was paid for his role in the Harry Potter series from 11-years-old onwards was invested by his parents, Alan, 55, and Marcia, 57, who are both listed as directors of the Essex company.
The accounts for the firm – which are for the year ending March 31, 2014 – show that they held £16.1million in fixed assets, which is likely to be the 25-year-old actor’s West London flat and his three properties in New York.
The figures do not reveal how much Daniel was paid but the actor – who is dating actress Erin Darke, 29 – reportedly earned £8million for his last outing as Harry Potter, in 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
The actor previously admitted that he felt “guilty” about all his success.
He said: “I feel almost guilty for having done so well out of Potter.”
Veteran British character actor David Ryall, who’s best known to mainstream American audiences as “Harry Potter’s” Elphias Doge, died on Christmas Day. He was 79.
“Sherlock” writer and actor Mark Gatiss tweeted the sad news on Saturday.
His daughter, actress Charlie Ryall, also confirmed on Twitter.
The actor’s career spans more than five decades and covers film, TV and theater. His movie credits include 2008’s “City of Ember,” 2004’s “Around the World in 80 Days” and 1980’s “The Elephant Man.”
Ryall replaced Peter Cartwright as Elphias Doge in 2010’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.” His character was a close friend of Albus Dumbledore in addition to being a Ministry of Magic jurist and an Order of the Phoenix member.
Most recently, he was perhaps best known on the small screen as Frank — the grandfather who suffers from dementia — in the BBC comedy “Outnumbered.”
His television roles also include that of Britain’s oldest man in BBC’s “The Village” and Mr. Hall in writer Dennis Potter’s “The Singing Detective.” He appeared in Andrew Davies’ adaptation of “House of Cards” (not the Netflix original series), the British sitcom “Goodnight Sweetheart” and ITV’s “Midsomer Murders.”
Ryall began his career on the stage before becoming a familiar face on British TV.
The actor joined Laurence Olivier’s company with the National Theatre at a young age, during which time he was involved with several influential plays, including Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” His work at the National Theatre also included “Guys and Dolls,” “The Beggar’s Opera” and “Animal Farm.”
Ryall is survived by his son, music manager Jonathan Ryall, and two daughters, singer Imogen Ryall and actress Charlie Ryall.
