3 Free Ways to Keep Students Reading This Summer

Summer is an important time for students to keep reading. It maintains and even improves their language skills, and it helps prevent the ‘summer slide’, or summer reading loss. Numerous studies show when students read during the summer break, it pays off for them all year. 

There are a lot of ways to make reading fun during summer months. Here are three free ideas:

 1. The Bright Red Book Bus

From July 2 to August 23, the Bright Red Book Bus (BRBB) will be visiting schools and parks around Kamloops. Children are invited to tour the bus, and choose a book to keep, each time they visit. There are a lot of great new titles available this summer. There will be storytelling, and stories read with children. The schedule for the BRBB is posted below. 

The Bright Red Book Bus is a partnership between School District No. 73, LinK (Literacy in Kamloops), The Boys & Girls Club of Kamloops, The United Way, Play Kamloops, CML Properties, The Toronto Dominion Bank, The Government of Canada and the Columbo Lodge and Italian Cultural Center. 

2. 2019 BC Summer Reading Club

Check out your local Thompson-Nicola Regional Library. This year’s theme is Imagine the Possibilities. From July 2 to August 18, children are encouraged to read every day and record their reading in a booklet. They receive stickers for books read and enter draws for prizes. They begin by registering. For more information, check out this poster.

3.  Online books

Online books work well when children are on the move, and they can be engaging. Here are some resources that share books for free:

Unite for Literacy is an ebook for early readers. These books are about real-life experiences and they are illustrated. All books are in English, but you can listen to them in many other languages including French. Registration is not required.

Oxford Owl is an ebook library for ages 3 – 11. Titles come from Oxford’s popular Biff, Chip, and Kipper Stories and Project X, and they include an audio option. Registration is required but the service is free. 

Wonderopolis has short, interesting nonfiction articles about all sorts of scientific topics older children may be wondering about. Each wonder has a brief, engaging video to introduce the topic. Registration is not required. 

Bright Red Book Bus Summer Schedule July 2 – August 23, 2019