3 ways to encourage young readers this summer

Originally posted on NBC 5 DFW by Laura Harris

Summer is a time for fun, but also a time that could mean educational loss for kids.

“Kids can lose months of learning during the summer months,” Executive Director at Reading Partners North Texas Jennifer Quick said. “Summer reading is so important to combat the summer slide and make sure that kids return back to school on a good footing.”

Reading Partners North Texas is the local arm of the national nonprofit, Reading Partners. They empower young readers through one-on-one tutoring to achieve on-grade-level reading and beyond.

“We provided 683 students with over 16,000 individualized tutoring sessions supported by over 400 volunteers,” Quick said about the 2025-2026 school year.

Quick wants parents to remember three main points as we head into the summer months:

MINUTES: Reading doesn’t have to be in the conventional way we think about.

“Kids can literally read at any time of the day. If you are making dinner, they can help you read the cookbook. If you are on a road trip, they can read the billboards. This is something that can happen all day long,” Quick said.

BEST TITLES FOR MY CHILD: Your local library is the best resource.

“If you go to your local library, they will be more than happy to help you and your child find titles that are appropriate for their age group. It doesn’t have to be a guessing game. You can also revisit books that your child may have read during the school year. Every read doesn’t have to be brand new. Books they can read off in the corner and it’s easy. Great. Books that they can mostly read by themselves but they might need help with a word or two and then books that you are probably reading to them that are more challenging,” Quick said.

FREE RESOURCES: Reading Partners North Texas offers several online resources.

“Reading Partners North Texas has lots of free handouts and resources on our website that can really help. While Reading Partners schools are carefully selected for certain schools, there are plenty of ways that students can see some of the curriculum that we use to get kids reading on grade level and stay there,” Quick said.

NBC 5 is Reading With You all summer long with a summer reading list, free resources and fun things to do around North Texas to combat summer slide.