BPL'S SUMMER READING PROGRAMS
Bellaire Public Library’s annual Summer Reading Programs are a great way for children and adults of all ages to stay engaged in reading and learning in the summer months. The program advances a yearly theme as a means of inspiring a lifelong habit among children, teens, and adults to encourage reading as a lifelong habit.
The Summer Slide
Summer learning loss or setback, often referred to as the “summer slide,” is a devastating loss of academic achievement students experience during the summer months. It is estimated that, on average, students lose two months of grade-level mathematical computation skills over the summer, and low-income students can lose up to two months of reading achievement (McLaughlin & Smink, 2009).
Summer reading loss is cumulative. Children don’t “catch up” in fall because the other children are moving ahead with their skills. By the end of 6th grade children who lose reading skills over the summer are two years behind their classmates.
