SEATTLE \u2014 Students are trading their backpacks for beach bags \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean their learning has to come to a halt. <\/p>\n
According to the American Educational Research Journal, the average student loses between 17 and 34% of the prior year\u2019s learning gains during summer break. <\/p>\n
KIRO 7 News spoke with Half Price Books President Kathy Thomas, who says that a good book or two can help beat that \u2018summer slide.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a muscle, and we have to keep that muscle going to make sure it stays active and that kids are progressing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thomas says accessibility and encouragement are key. She suggests leaving books in areas where your children spend most of their time; it can entice them to pick one up. <\/p>\n
A mother of three, she can relate to the struggle. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had said, \u2018go up to your bedroom, get a book off your shelf and then let\u2019s read,\u2019 they\u2019d go upstairs,\u201d she says, \u201cand I\u2019d never see them again.\u201d <\/p>\n
She says another way to promote reading is by making a trip to the bookstore a reward. <\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of, \u2018oh let\u2019s go get an ice cream it\u2019s let\u2019s go get an ice cream and go to the bookstore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Half Price Books is sweetening that deal with their Summer Reading Camp. Stop by any of the Seattle-area locations and pick up an interactive reading log. At the end of the summer, children can turn it in for $5 in Bookworm Bucks to spend in the store. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to go back to the bookstore and discover a new character, a new author, a new subject matter,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
Thomas suggests finding books about topics your children are interested in. Not everyone is a bookworm, but understanding their passions will encourage them to crack open the cover. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy dyslexic son hated to read because he was not a strong reader,\u201d Thomas tells KIRO 7 News. \u201cSo we would read baseball books because it\u2019s summertime and he\u2019s really into baseball and football.\u201d <\/p>\n
She says it made the experience more enjoyable for them both. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that kind of helped him to think, \u2018okay, if this sports hero wrote a book or is talked about in the books, then they must be pretty good to read.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thomas says reading doesn\u2019t mean committing to an entire chapter book. When her children were young, she says they spent a lot of time reading in the kitchen. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d be cooking, and I\u2019d pull out a cookbook if I was trying a new recipe and I would ask them, \u2018okay, how many cups of sugar do we have?\u2019 so they learn certain math skills, and it was interactive, and they got to do it with mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says the goal is to focus on minutes read \u2013 not books finished. <\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent children read at different levels,\u201d she says, \u201cso we encourage reading every day for it to become a habit.\u201d <\/p>\n