Reading is the pathway to a successful education and career. However, America’s children are having a difficult time of developing the necessary literal and critical comprehension skills for reading. In 2013, 66 and 80 percent respectively of all U.S. fourth graders and students from low-income families scored “below proficient” on the reading test of the National Assessment of Education Progress. With these astounding statistics, the critical questions to be asked are: What should children do during the summer? What is the “summer slide?” What books can students read for this summer?

According to research, two-thirds of America’s children from low-income families do not have any books at home to read. At the same time, public libraries in their communities and other communities are impacted by budget cuts causing them to close or reduce operating hours. With summer approaching, it is imperative that parents make sure their children read, so that they don’t experience the “summer slide.” During the summer school vacation, children can lose two months of reading achievement, and on a yearly basis, become further behind in reading achievement compared to their classmates. This is an example of the “summer slide.”

As an intervention, parents should read to their children at an early age to help them develop the necessary reading skills. For older children who can read, parents should encourage them to read for the entire summer and beyond. Most schools offer a thorough list of books for students to read during the summer break. We also recommend the following books for children to read. They include Professional Career Paths; Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Careers for Children and Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Animals in Africa. To obtain a description of the books, as well as order them, visit Amazon.com; Barnes and Noble; Authorhouse.com or The Holmes Education Post (bookstore section).

Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of nine books, “Education Questions to be Answered,” “Current Issues and Answers in Education,” “How to Eradicate Hazing,” “Professional Career Paths,” “Your Answers to Education Questions,” “How to revitalize the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.” “Completing the Dissertation: Tips, techniques and real-life experiences from Ph.D. graduates,” “Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Careers for Children” and Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Animals in Africa. He is publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator and district superintendent. He can be reached at [email protected]