We’re about three weeks out from the start of school and parents may be wondering: What’s the best way to get kids ready for school while still enjoying summer? The best and easiest answer is reading, and this story can help you make that happen.
Reading is one of the most essential skills a person can develop. It gives you a chance to think outside the box and be creative. You can imagine a whole new world while reading a book! Also, reading complex stories or seeing a story from various characters’ points of view helps students foster many useful skills like problem-solving and critical thinking.
Children still have a lot of free time available in these final weeks of summer. If kids get more exposure to books during these last weeks of summer, they are more likely to read during the school year.
Fortunately, there are lots of programs happening in Pittsburgh that can encourage your kids to read and get you reading, as well.
As part of the “Won’t You Be a Reader?” literacy campaign, the Jerome Bettis Summer Reading Challenge, which runs through Aug. 31, asks children to either read for 36 hours or read 36 books (in honor of Bettis’s number 36). If you’re reading this on Aug. 3, that’s just 90 minutes per day until the end of the Challenge.
Everyone who completes the challenge and uploads their information here by or before Aug. 31 will have a chance to win tickets to a Steelers’ home game this season!
In addition, three “Literacy Under the Lights” events will be held in the fall at various schools (stay tuned at kidsburgh.org/read for details). Those events will include free Scholastic Book fairs and the opportunity to read on the schools’ football fields!
WYBAR event photo by Jia Shethji.
I’ve seen first-hand how powerful “Won’t You Be A Reader?” events can be. Earlier this summer, the literacy campaign held a free Scholastic Book Fair at the Museum Lab (a part of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh) for kids of all ages. Every child got three free books to take home.
There was a huge variety of books available, from beginners all the way to middle-school level, in all different genres — non-fiction, mystery, thriller, fantasy, and more!
Casey Mindlin, the National Director of Strategic Partnerships at Scholastic and the co-chair of the “Won’t You Be A Reader?” campaign, says that the goal is to provide as many Pittsburgh-area kids as possible with free books, especially to kids who infrequently have access to books in their community.
“We wanted to make sure that the entire region understands the importance of reading and literacy, and what they can do to ensure that all of us can reach grade level literacy,” Mindlin said.
I asked what he would do to improve literacy in children, and he shared this: “I would provide every new mom and dad, upon the birth of their child, with five free books that they could leave the hospital with. This makes sure that every single family starts their child’s life off with reading and with books.” (One great way you can do that: Sign up here for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which will send free books to your child! And learn more about this free book program right here.)
A woman named Mary Ellen, who was visiting the book fair with her grandchildren, said that her favorite part of this event was that it gave her grandchildren the opportunity to see new books that they don’t already have or haven’t heard of.
WYBAR event photo by Jia Shethji.
Kate Duncan, General Educator at the Children’s Museum, said that one way she would improve literacy in children is just reading to them more often: “I’m an adult and I love sitting down when we have storytime here and just let someone read a nice book to me,” she said. “If you could read two books to a child before bedtime, they’re going to like reading!”
The atmosphere at the fair was so vibrant! There were children running around, grabbing all the books they could see. There were parents and children sitting down and reading together and every child left with good books in their hands.
You can create that same kind of joyful experience for your kids by taking books out of the library (Don’t miss Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Extravaganza celebration, coming up on Aug. 9!) and reading together as a family at home.
And be sure to take some library books out for yourself. “Don’t judge yourself on the genres that you like to read. If you like to read romance or fantasy, you’re still reading,” Duncan says. “I think a lot of adults say that it doesn’t count because the book isn’t a classic, but as long as you’re reading words or listening to an audiobook, you’re still reading.”
What matters is liking the books you’re reading, so that you’ll keep on reading.
Reading has been a crucial part of my childhood. I first got into reading by attending storytimes at my library when I was little. I remember impatiently waiting every week for storytime to arrive!
When I sat down for stories, I used to imagine myself as characters in all of the books. One week, I would be a princess in a castle, and the next week, I would be a pirate at sea. Those little moments greatly impacted who I am today and my attitude towards reading. Now, I read around 4 to 5 novels per week and always spend my free time with my nose in a book!
Books are something that everyone should have access to and be able to cultivate an interest in. And projects like Won’t You Be a Reader?, Carnegie Library’s summer reading events and Reading Ready Pittsburgh’s collaboration with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library are making that happen for Pittsburgh-area families.
These days, reading and comprehension levels have been decreasing. We need to reintroduce the importance of reading because it fosters creativity, critical thinking and literacy in children. Starting reading from a young age can ensure that the next generation will have the tools they need to succeed.
So let’s unite and make reading accessible to everyone!