NEW GLASGOW – There’s nothing like enjoying a good book outdoors on a warm summer afternoon.
With summer barrelling down on us, schools wrapping up and many library programs coming to an end it can be a challenge to keep young people reading.
The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library is going to be hosting a summer reading program. The Summer Reading Club is a national program sponsored by Toronto Dominion Bank. All of the Pictou County libraries and the Antigonish library will be taking part.
“This year’s theme is destination jungle,” said Trecia Schell, community services librarian for PARL.
It will be beginning in July after its official launch on the last week of June. Children ages five to 12 are welcome. Children will be put into groups close to their own reading level.
As far as getting kids to read at home, Schell said, “Make it fun.”
She also suggested audio books for family reading.
One thing that can be a major distraction for kids is electronics and the Internet.
“Unplug the machines,” said Helen Ward, president of Kids First Canada, based in Alberta.
“Parents modelling by reading themselves is very important,” she said.
She suggesting reading out loud as a fun activity for younger children or even taking turns reading.
During the summer she suggested bringing books on camping trips or on vacations.
She couldn’t emphasize enough the benefits of reading versus social media and electronic sources of entertainment.
“When you’re reading a book you have a longer flow of ideas,” she said.
She quoted a statistic researched by Dr. Gabor Maté from Vancouver. He claims that vocabulary among young people has declined by 50 per cent in recent years due to the way children and young people communicate with one another.
“A larger vocabulary is a key indicator of academic skills,” said Ward.
For older children and young teenagers, a different approach is needed.
“The electronics at this age are a huge issue,” said Nancy Roddick who teaches Grade 9 English at New Glasgow Junior High School. “When they’re this age, it’s the most important thing in the world.”
She said that youngsters have gotten used to the instantaneous results that the Internet provides.
“Unless a book grabs them right from the get go, they’re not going to read it,” she said.
It’s hard to get that age group reading but Roddick has ways of fostering s love of books in her students.
She recently concluded an exercise called ‘book talk.’
Each student in her class read a book of their choosing and then presented to the class a summary of the book and talked about why they read it.
It got kids talking to each other about books, which is something they wouldn’t all normally do in a social setting.
“It shouldn’t matter what they’re reading, as long as they’re reading,” Roddick said.
Reading is such a healthy activity that even reading magazine articles can help.
She advised that teens should bring a book in the car with them and read on road trips for sports or vacations instead of spending time texting.
She said it is very hard for that age group to set aside reading time for themselves but stresses that any time is good time because reading helps in so many ways on an intellectual and social level.
