Summer Travel Provides Opportunities for Children to Learn to Read

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Reading experts at StudyDog say family vacations provide opportunities to build learning skills in young children. Photo courtesy of Justin F. Reeves

Travel can be a great way to inspire children to read and continue to develop their knowledge in a variety of other subjects.

Los Altos Hills, CA (PRWEB) June 21, 2012

One of the most popular activities for families during the summer months is travel. Beyond spending quality time together, going on a trip can be an excellent opportunity for children to continue learning and building reading skills.

“Travel can be a great way to inspire children to read and continue to develop their knowledge in a variety of other subjects,” said Deme Clainos, a spokesman for StudyDog, an online reading program geared toward elementary students. “Involving children in the initial planning to playing word and letter games on the road, building reading skills can be a part of your summer vacation.”

Click here to visit the website to see why Studydog works.

Here are some tips to make reading a part of the summer travel experience.

Prior to the trip

•     Before leaving for the trip, spend time together reading about and researching the places you will be visiting. Travel guides, brochures and information from the Internet provide a host of reading material.
•     Work on basic writing skills by spending time writing an itinerary together of what activities the family would like to do. Another good pre-trip writing activity is preparing a list of items to bring.
•     Read books with characters based in places you will be visiting to help build anticipation for the trip. For example, the “Eloise” series of books by Kay Thompson and the “Madeline” series by Ludwig Bemelmans have stories based in cities around the world including New York, London and Paris.

During the trip

•     If you plan to spend time driving, it can be a great opportunity for children to learn to read road signs or play games searching for certain words or letters. For beginning readers it can be as simple as spotting stop signs and speed limit signs, working up to billboards and street name signs.
•     Time in the car also provides opportunities to listen to audio books and discuss the story as a family.
•     Children can continue to practice their writing skills on the trip by keeping a travel journal of their experiences and writing postcards to family and friends.
•     Being in a new environment and enjoying new experiences may bring out curiosity for new subject areas. For example, if you visit an aquarium a child might develop an interest in marine life. Purchase books on subjects that interest them to help foster a greater interest in the subject and build reading skills. Gift shops at various tourist locations are often stocked with children’s books that make nice souvenirs.
•     Bring plenty of books in case the vacation offers quiet time on the beach.

After your trip

•     Have children create a scrapbook of their trip as a way to continue practicing their writing skills.
•     Encourage them to continue reading about new interests they discovered on the trip. Help them to continue to expand their interest in reading and travel by learning about new parts of the world. Encourage them to continue researching and reading news about the places that interest them.

About StudyDog

StudyDog is a proven leader in helping children quickly learn to read and has helped more than 2 million kids master the basics. The company creates interactive reading programs specially designed for elementary students. What sets StudyDog apart from other learning programs is how StudyDog engages future readers as young as three years old. Similar reading software is able to engage older students who already know how to read. But StudyDog uses games and other features to connect with younger children who haven't learned to read yet. StudyDog's Adventures in Reading series is used in more than 3,000 schools nationwide. The lessons were designed to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. Founded in 2002, StudyDog programs have been used in schools for the past six years. For more information, visit http://www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

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