Summer Reading: Books for Kindergartners

Not only is reading over the summer break a good way to keep children occupied, it also helps them retain information they learned during the school year. Reading stimulates the brain and aids in vocabulary retention and comprehension. Studies have shown that children who do not remain engaged in learning over the summer months may need to be “refreshed” in earlier studies before moving forward. To that end, we’ve selected some popular summer reading options to keep your kindergartner engaged and on track.

• A Song About Myself By John Keats
  This whimsical book brings John Keats’ only children’s poem to life and features the artwork of Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka. Not only is the book an entertaining read for young children, it also provides early exposure to great literature.
• Did You Ever See? By Joanna Walsh
  This charming book puts the world into perspective by looking at things through the eyes of a young child looking at them for the first time. This book will give your child a reason to examine their child-sized world a little more closely.
• Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry & Pictures By Kwame Alexander
  This book features the amazing photography of National Geographic’s Joel Sartore and the poetry of Newbery Award winner Kwame Alexander. Through it, children explore the animal kingdom’s majesty and fragility with an eye towards the diversity of the world we live in.
• The Butterfly Garden By Laura Weston
  This intriguing book combines stark black and white images with vivid color images as it follows the life cycle of the beautiful monarch butterfly. This is a lift-the-flap book which is ideal for beginning readers, keeping text to a minimum while capitalizing on word and image association.
• King and Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth By Dori Hillestad Butler
  Edgar Award winner Dori Hillestad Butler takes your young reader on a new mystery adventure in search of a missing tooth. Accompanied by her dog King, Kayla uncovers clues leading to an enlightening solution.
• Stegothesaurus By Bridget Heos
  With the help of some prehistoric creatures and a play on words, Bridget Heos takes children on an entertaining journey through the world of words and synonyms. The main character is a little more vocal than his friends until he discovers another dinosaur with similar talents.

One of the best ways to encourage young children to read is to be a reader yourself. When you always have a book close at hand and open it often, your kids learn to appreciate the usefulness of books. To reinforce this, use encyclopedias and dictionaries to answer the question your children present to you. This teaches them that books are a source of trustworthy information, and that is a lesson they will never forget.

At Mission Valley Montessori, we value the work our families put in to help teach students outside of school and continuing on throughout the rest of their life.  Montessori education believes individuals are lifelong learners and encourages students to be learning both inside and outside of school.  To learn more about the Montessori method, contact us today.

This article originally appeared on the Happenings in Education blog at: https://happeningsineducation.wordpress.com/2018/08/14/summer-reading-books-for-kindergartners/.