Library Summer Reading Programs Help Slow Summer Slide
by Selina Johnson, Branch Manager, Wylam Branch Library
Summer is quickly approaching and with it brings to mind the thick summer air, eating your favorite ice cream and feeling it run down your chin as it drips onto the ground, dressing in shorts and flip flops, the smell of freshly manicured lawns, and beach vacations with sand in between your toes. With the arrival of summer there are also students that will not see the inside of a classroom for a couple of months. Two months without the structure and routine of school is exciting for students, but the dilemma of how to best keep their kids busy for the summer is likely on the minds of many parents. Parents definitely want to slow down summer slide or, better yet, prevent it all together. Summer slide is what happens when the skills students learn during the school year are lost or forgotten over the summer. Most teachers usually spend the first month of a new school year reteaching skills that have not been retained during the summer.
What is the remedy for summer slide? It is definitely keeping students mentally active during the summer. Wylam Branch Library has several programs that will be offered to students each Tuesday throughout the summer. “Summer Push” is one program that is being offered to Wylam Elementary students in second through fourth grade. The program is spearheaded by Constance Blaylock, a second grade teacher at Wylam Elementary School. Blaylock will meet with the students every Tuesday and teach mini-lessons on reading skills. The students are required to read a certain number of books and complete book reports by the end of the summer.
Wylam Library, as well as all Birmingham Public Library branches, will have special events and incentives that will be provided throughout the summer to encourage recreational reading for children and adults. The more you read, the more chances you will have towards winning prizes. Come and visit the Wylam Library or the online events calendar to learn more about specific dates and times for our summer events.
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| Second grade teacher Constance Blaylock helping students retain reading skills during summer break |
Summer is quickly approaching and with it brings to mind the thick summer air, eating your favorite ice cream and feeling it run down your chin as it drips onto the ground, dressing in shorts and flip flops, the smell of freshly manicured lawns, and beach vacations with sand in between your toes. With the arrival of summer there are also students that will not see the inside of a classroom for a couple of months. Two months without the structure and routine of school is exciting for students, but the dilemma of how to best keep their kids busy for the summer is likely on the minds of many parents. Parents definitely want to slow down summer slide or, better yet, prevent it all together. Summer slide is what happens when the skills students learn during the school year are lost or forgotten over the summer. Most teachers usually spend the first month of a new school year reteaching skills that have not been retained during the summer.
What is the remedy for summer slide? It is definitely keeping students mentally active during the summer. Wylam Branch Library has several programs that will be offered to students each Tuesday throughout the summer. “Summer Push” is one program that is being offered to Wylam Elementary students in second through fourth grade. The program is spearheaded by Constance Blaylock, a second grade teacher at Wylam Elementary School. Blaylock will meet with the students every Tuesday and teach mini-lessons on reading skills. The students are required to read a certain number of books and complete book reports by the end of the summer.
Wylam Library, as well as all Birmingham Public Library branches, will have special events and incentives that will be provided throughout the summer to encourage recreational reading for children and adults. The more you read, the more chances you will have towards winning prizes. Come and visit the Wylam Library or the online events calendar to learn more about specific dates and times for our summer events.
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