As summer begins to fade, many children who dislike reading for any number of reasons, experience a spike in anxiety, if they have not completed their mandatory summer reading. Struggling with reading during the school year is hard enough for these kids, but having to read over summer when school seems like a million years away could create a rebellion. Out of rebellion may come conflict between parent and child. It could sound like this: "Have you begun your book yet?" "Did you read today?" "How many pages did you read?" "You're running out of time!" And your child may answer, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it later." Or tomorrow, or next week, and the next thing you know it's mid August and times a wasting.

My youngest daughter, now grown, is dyslexic, and throughout her school years reading was an ongoing ordeal. And trying to get her to read during the summer was...hellish!  Being a voracious reader myself I persisted and slowly came up with ways to take the torture out of trying to get her to read. And over time, she became a reader. Following are tips I came up with to help her, and today use to help children and parents. Some of the tips come from friends and client's whose children I've worked with:

1. Stay calm—as tough as this is, pushing your child to read, yelling about it and the like will only make things worse. Learn how to breathe to feel at ease.
2. Problem-solve—talk to your child and say you know how difficult this is for him/her, but by working together you will solve this dilemma—your child is not alone.
3. Books—model reading as something that is enjoyable, fun, and exciting. Put a bookcase in your child's room and make it fun to fill it up.
4. The library—go to the library with your child often, to look for books, for story time, etc. Make library visits a special day with mom/dad, for example, go out to lunch after, plan a picnic after the library, go to the movies, etc.
5. Buy or borrow books about things your child is interested in: art, sports, animals, music, etc.
6. Read to or with your child—even older children who struggle with reading enjoy having a story read to them, or to take turns reading with a parent. This time together can be special and may also promote discussion about subjects that might otherwise be tough to talk about.

Many parents feel frustrated and helpless in trying to get their child to not only do the reading, but to enjoy it. Have patience and give these tips a chance to work.

Have reading tips that work with your child? Please readers know about it.

All my best,
Diane