Summer vacation has barely started and I’m already fighting with Nathan about his summer reading. (Yes, I really do think he’s a Weirdo from Another Planet! and acts like Calvin at times.)

We’ve joined our local library’s summer reading program. To be eligible for all the rewards (coupons to the rec center, mini golf, fast food places, etc.) each child has to read (or be read to) for 21 hours from June 2 to August 8. Without timing it down the last second, I’m having Nathan and Lucie read 30 minutes a day, Monday through Friday. It’s a reasonable amount of time for an eight- and a five-year-old.

Nathan is also attending his school’s summer reading camp. The class is meeting three times this summer for an hour each time at the library. Nathan’s goal, set by his teacher, is to read 11 books in June.

Did You Really Read That?

This morning when he came to me with a pile of books he supposedly read in one hour between yesterday and today, I knew summer was going to be tough. Either Nathan choose books that were too easy, or he zoomed though them, reading a paragraph here and glancing at a picture there.

He claims to have read an old kid’s book called “The History of Chemistry” this morning. However, it’s 75 pages long, and would take me an hour to read it – and I read very quickly. So as his reward for such stellar behavior (not!) he has to read the whole book Saturday and tell his father, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, what the book was about.

Thank goodness I don’t have this problem with Lucie. She loves books even though she can’t read yet. Since Nathan is the Wildest Brother, I have him to read to her out loud just so they can stop fighting for a few minutes – another big problem this summer.

Getting Advice

Between the lying and the constant “Is my 30 minutes up yet?” I’m completely discouraged. I know Nathan doesn’t have a love a reading and learning like I do, but why does this have to be such a struggle? So now I’m on the lookout for anything that will help me get him to read with a minimum of hassle. Luckily, there are some terrific resources out there like friends and the Internet.

A friend suggested illustrated novels since her nine-year-old has been gobbling them up this summer. That gave me the idea to get out my collection of Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County books. While Nathan may not get all the jokes and pop culture references, he’ll probably enjoy the characters, gross-out humor, and illustrations.

The Scholastic website is another great source of information. You may want to join Summer Reading Buzz to help you track what your child is reading. We did this last year and helped needy kids get free books. I’m not doing it this year because it takes too much time to record books for three program. (Eeek!) Also, check out Scholastic’s Parent Guide to Family Reading and Have an A+ Summer for tips and suggestions to encourage your child to read.

Even though I’m frustrated, I guess I’m actually doing things correctly according to the article from the ALA, Set Reading Times and Find the Fun in Books

The number one golden rule is to make time to read over the summer — parents should designate an hour a day just for books, or set aside a time once a week to go to the library. There’s so much going on in the summer, so much temptation to be outside, that it’s important to schedule time just for reading. Have kids keep a reading journal — even if it’s just the book titles. Once the journal gets filled up, there’s a real sense of accomplishment that’s very rewarding.

Now if Nathan would only cooperate. Well, only two months and two weeks to go until school begins.

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