By Jan Pease
Spring Story Times are winding down in Litchfield. Friday May 8th and Saturday May 9th
are the final story hours for our month.
Our theme, of course, is how much we love our Moms. Summer programming begins with the kickoff to
summer reading on June 1st, and Family Movie Afternoon on Saturday,
June 6 at 1:00. Story Hours will start
again Wednesday, June 10.
Elementary classes
are calling in to reserve field trip times, and we welcome visits from the
local schools. Our presentation takes
about 30-40 minutes. The summer reading
program, “Read to the Rhythm,” is our weapon in the fight to stop summer
slide!
Summer slide is
the dark side of summer. Summer slide is
why many school districts have school throughout the school year with smaller
breaks here and there instead of three months off. The
facts about summer slide are well documented. I searched the Internet using the term “summer
learning and received 13,700,000 results. With
so much information out there, why do students still forget what they’ve
learned and teachers still have to review during the first 4 to 6 weeks of
school?
I experienced
summer slide during my piano teaching days.
Beginning piano students routinely had to review after taking the summer
off. Students who continued lessons once
or twice a month throughout the summer did not experience this loss. I found
this very frustrating. The student who
didn’t progress beyond Level 1B was also frustrated and embarrassed.
When students practice their math and reading skills
throughout the summer, they fight against summer slide. Teachers can give your student
ideas on how to practice math. Community Education in Litchfield offers a
program called Grasp. Again, there are
thousands of websites that offer math worksheets online. 
Most reading experts say that 15 or 20 minutes
a day is enough to keep a child reading at grade level. The child may even have higher test scores in
the fall, reversing the trend of higher scores in the spring, lower scores in
the fall. The Litchfield Library is part of an initiative, “Read Aloud 15 Minutes,” that encourages parents to make a short time of reading aloud part of every day. Our summer reading records are divided into 15-minute increments to help students keep track of their reading.
What does it cost to
enroll your children in the summer reading program at Litchfield, Dassel, Grove
City or any of the other Pioneerland Library System libraries? Nothing.
Nada. Zero. How much does it cost to get a library
card? First card is free. What will your child gain as a proficient
reader? Everything. Plan to visit your
library this summer!
