Use Summer to Refresh Your Reading Time with Children A lifelong love of reading is a treasure that CDAs can give to the children they teach. An enthusiasm for reading is contagious for both adults and children, and new and exciting books can ignite that enthusiasm. Use the warmer weather as an opportunity to break the standard patterns of what we read, how we read, and where we read. Did you know that reading to children enables them to become better students in elementary school? This is according to a 2005 National Institutes of Health study.1 It's never too early to start reading to children. It's also a great way to engage very young children — outdoors, at nap time, focused around holidays, in conjunction with learning about tools, nature, and math, and to teach cooperation and tolerance — anywhere, any time! An excellent refresher for both teachers and parents is this article at http://www.readingrockets.org/article/7833. It may be valuable as a handout. “Wordless” books are valuable tools with young children. They promote a different literacy skill of reading pictures and creating stories about the pictures. There are no wrong answers in this type of imaginative reading activity. A good list of these books is available at http://www.colorincolorado.org/read/forkids/wordless. Refresh your reading time by adding exciting books for children aged 0-3 years old. Good suggestions are at http://www.readingrockets.org/books/summer/2008/0-3. Refresh your approach to reading with children aged 3-6 years old. Some great books for this age group are at http://www.readingrockets.org/books/summer/2008/3-6. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1National Institute for Child Health and Development Early Child Care Research Network. (2005). "Pathways to reading: The role of oral language in the transition to reading." Developmental Psychology, 41(2), 428-442.