Studies show most students experience a loss of reading skills over the summer months. However, children who continue to read actually gain skills. So Lindsey Rogers shares some ideas to make summer reading more fun for students and parents.

One great way to get your child interested in reading is to bring them to the public library. But even easier, as you go through the day, cooking, gardening, grocery shopping or playing games, utilize this time as an opportunity to engage in verbal word play, vocabulary building, recognizeing new and familiar words or attaching meaning to words and sentences. You can also subscribe, in your child's name, to magazines like Sports Illustrated for kids, Highlights for children or encourage older children to read current events as a way of keeping up the reading habit over the summer.

You can ease disappoinment over summer separation from a favorite school friend by encouraging them to become pen pals. And while on trips, encourage kids to read traffic signs, billboards and maps aloud. When you return home, help them create a scrapbook of your vacation.

The Wichita Falls Public Library has free childrens reading events almost everyday during the summer. We've provided a link to their website at kauz.com. Or you can call 767-0868 for more information.