Book Banter Café

Do you want to give your kids an advantage next school year?  One of the best ways you can help them succeed is to develop a reading program over summer break.  You can design one that is as simple or complex as your schedule allows.  Here are some strategies to get your started. Option 1:  The Basic Summer Reading Program Set a reading goal for your kids.  Depending on their age and reading ability, do you want them to read 10 books over the summer, 50, or somewhere in between?  Keep the bar high enough to challenge them without exceeding the realm of possibility. Get your kids excited about awards for meeting incremental goals.  Receiving an incentive for every five books is a reasonable target.  We'll discuss what constitutes a desirable reward in just a bit.  Click  here  to download a free resource where your kids can track the books they read.  The download also includes an optional worksheet where your kids can write about the characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolu

Does your son resist reading?  If so, this can be very frustrating because you want him to soar academically, and good reading skills are essential building blocks for other learning.  Boys crave action, movement, and video games.  You know--guy stuff. Sitting quietly to read a book does not come naturally.  In fact, it feels downright girly! Statistics show that not only do boys read significantly less than girls, they read less well.  This is a trend that follows boys into adulthood.  On the reading portion of academic tests, boys are far less likely to score at the "advanced" level than girls.  To read the interesting results of the 2016 Scholastic study that analyzed the data on the disparities in reading between boys and girls, click Psychology Today's article  here . One major reason why boys, on average, do not enjoy reading is due to a lack of books geared toward their gender.  In elementary school, many teachers introduce read aloud chapter books like Juni