The Patchogue-Medford Library is your source for preventing the summer slide from happening. Did you know that teachers spend an average of 4 to 6 weeks re-teaching material that students have lost due to the summer slide? Reading 4 to 5 books during the summer can help students prevent low reading scores in the fall. Reading throughout the summer helps to keep reading skills fresh. The Library has summer reading clubs for all ages, from babies and toddlers through adulthood. Students who participate in summer reading return to school ready to learn, improve their reading skills, enjoy reading more, and become more confident in their reading skills. The key to having fun with summer reading is for students to select materials that they are interested in. Books, magazines, audio books, and e-books all count as READING. Another way for students to get the most out of summer reading is to talk about the stories they are reading. They can share stories they like with their friends and family. These people can support students by helping them to make sense of anything that seems unclear.

Writing can also help prevent the summer slide. Journaling improves written communication, spelling, grammar, and reading skills. Some types of journals are: nature journals – a way of keeping track of observations about the natural world- draw pictures of insects, animals, or birds you see; daily writing – writing about how your day went; feelings journal – these help children identify current emotions by drawing or writing; and vacation journals – writing about your vacation by using a combination of writing, pictures, and souvenirs. All students in grades K-6 who sign up for our children’s summer reading clubs will get their own journal as their first prize to encourage this creativity!

We hope to see you at the Library this summer for our fantastic and fun summer reading clubs, programs, and family events!