I’ve been a mom for over 18 years, and I know exactly how it feels to want to just let loose during the summer months. School’s out? Amazing! No more work, no more homework due dates, no more projects … the list goes on. Summer is glorious. But I also know that while we want our kids to have a summer full of outside play, biking with friends, pool visits, and trips to the lake, we also want them to retain what they’ve learned the previous school year. Reading is the perfect way to do that. Fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are useful in every subject, in addition to being entertainment, which is something everyone is happy with. The following tips will help ensure your kids read until September. 

Designate 30 minutes before bedtime for reading. Going to bed when it’s still light out stinks. But getting a good night’s rest is how we make sure the next day is happy for everyone, right? Send them to bed at their normal bedtime, but tell them they can stay up for 30 minutes reading. They can wind down while it still feels like they should be awake, and reading can help them fall asleep faster. 

Head to your local library. An afternoon at the library is the best. It’s air-conditioned, quiet, relaxing, and you can stock up on books to last for days. After lunch, pack the kids up and spend an hour or so at the library scouring the shelves for their favorite characters, genres, and subjects. 

Organize a book club. When my oldest was around 10, a friend’s mom organized a book club. Each child (there were about 6) read the same Magic Treehouse book over the course of a week. At the end of the week, the mom hosted an afternoon of activities relating to the book. They had a themed lunch, a scavenger hunt, and a movie. We each pitched in $10 a week, the best $70 I spent all summer. 

Have themed weeks. Choose books based on a theme each week. Find books about snakes at the library, for example, and each day, read a book, then do an activity based on what you’ve learned. Maybe you make snakes out of playdough, color pictures, or watch YouTube videos … the options are endless. 

Whatever you do, be enthusiastic about it so your kids get excited. Don’t spend too much money, if any, so it doesn’t feel like a chore or something you shouldn’t do. While your kids are reading, find a book you like and read too! You deserve downtime. School will start back up before you know it!