The program is designed for children from birth through elementary school and their families. The goals of the Texas Reading Club are to encourage the children and families of Texas to read for pleasure, to help children maintain and improve their reading skills, to encourage them to become lifelong readers and library users, and to establish reading as a foundation for academic success.
The importance of summer reading has been demonstrated repeatedly in a variety of research studies. Over and over again, it has been shown that children who read during the summer do much better in school when it starts again in the fall. On the other hand, children who do not read during the summer demonstrate a significant loss over the summer. The good news is that the research has also shown that having elementary-aged children read just four to five books during the summer can prevent this achievement loss.
Children who are not yet readers are encouraged to participate by having books read to them. Just as a child develops language skills long before being able to speak, the child also develops literacy skills long before being able to read (National Research Council, 1998). Given the course of brain development, it is not surprising that younger children who are exposed to certain experiences usually prove to be good readers later.
Special events for children and their families begin at 10:00 on July 2, 2013, at the Family Life Center of the First United Methodist Church with “Brett Roberts’s Medieval Magic ”. This free program is cosponsored by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Additional programs are scheduled each Tuesday in July at the Family Life Center. And to celebrate all the children that meet the challenge of reading 15 books during June and July, there will be a party on July 30 after the entertainment.
More information about the Texas Reading Club is available by calling the Bonham Public Library at 903-583-3128 bonlib@cableone.net or visit our website at: http://bonhamtx.booksys.net