SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) – Studies have shown that kids in grades 3 through 5 lose about 20% of their reading gains over the summer break. The Sioux City Public Library is hoping to minimize that summer slide.
“It’s important for kids to keep reading throughout the summer because they’ve worked so hard with their teachers, with their parents to grow their big brains all school year long,” youth services manager Adrienne Dunn. “So we just want them to be able to pick up where they left off.”
The summer reading program at the Sioux City Public Library is designed to help keep kids at their reading levels.
“We’ve had just a phenomenal interest level of families coming into the library,” Dunn said. “And there’s still plenty of time to come into the library and just say ‘hey, i want to sign up for the summer reading program’ and we’ll get you started. And kids when they sign up get a free book right at the starting point.”
This program has helped kids not only stay on track, but give students a chance to find out what they like to read.
“The summer is a great chance for kids to read about what they love and what they’re interested in,” said Dunn. “That can really help kids get excited about reading when it’s a topic that they want to learn more about.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Siouxland also has a summer program designed to benefit every grade level.
“We want to make sure that kids are outside of a traditional classroom environment, but still getting those creative juices flowing, still using their brains every single day,” CEO Meredith Olson said. “That includes educational games, lots of different science experiments, fine arts, crafts.”
While keeping younger brains active is important for development, getting the teens to keep their brains thinking throughout the summer is essential as well.
“Those are the folks that are a little more apt to sit in their rooms, sit in their homes, not be physically active, not engage with their peers,” Olson said. “Getting them into a place like our teen center, they’re doing all kinds of different things all summer.”
These summer programs not only keep kids occupied, but help them get a head start on their next school year.
“When we look at our kids that attend our school year program and then don’t attend our summer program, versus kids that attend both, we typically see that kids that are attending both do better the next school year because they’ve managed to keep their brain engaged and stay on track with a lot of different activities,” Olson said.
Experts recommend that kids read at least 15 minutes a day to keep up with their learning level.