Summer Reading Plan for Struggling Readers

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-29

Does every child lose reading skills over the summer?

Over the summer, children's test scores change in very different ways. Some keep up, and some lose ground.

One large US study found this (Atteberry and McEachin, 2021). It looked at a large set of test scores. We could read only its summary.

That study was of children in general schools, not children who struggle to read.

What did studies of struggling readers find?

One small study tested 30 children with reading disabilities in spring and again in September (Menard and Wilson, 2013). They all went to the same private school. In September, they scored lower on timed reading and on reading real words. Timed means against a clock. They did not score lower on sounding out made-up words without a timer. Nor did they score lower on understanding. The authors warn their tests may have missed other losses. Thirty average readers at another school took the same tests. The groups were not formed at random.

A small trial tested an intensive summer reading program (Christodoulou and colleagues, 2017). The children had reading disabilities or reading difficulties. Children in the program mostly held their ground. Children who waited for it lost ground. Waiting meant they did not get the program that summer. Children were put in the two groups at random. It was one trial of one program. We could read only its summary.

Nothing in the studies on this page tested a Learning Success program.

Do summer books and reading programs help?

For children from low-income families, summer reading programs helped in studies (Kim and Quinn, 2013). Kim and Quinn's review pooled 41 programs. We could read only its summary. Some programs were run in class. Some had children read books at home.

In one trial, children chose books to take home for three summers (Allington and colleagues, 2010). They picked the books on the last day of school. Their reading test scores were higher than those of schoolmates who got no books. We could read only its summary. Their schools served many low-income families.

In another, books sent home plus lessons did not raise reading overall (Guryan, Kim and Quinn, 2014). The books were mailed home over the summer. Most of those children were from low-income families. That study is a working paper.

These were not programs for children with reading disabilities.

Our summer reading plan, step by step

The summer plan on this page is ours. We hold no study of a summer plan that parents run at home for a struggling reader. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that it does not help.

1. Read a little, most days. In our view, a short read most days is easier to keep going.
2. Let your child pick the books. In our view, comics, joke books and books about a hobby all count. In our view, most of the words should be ones your child can read. A few should take some work. Keep harder books for reading to your child.
3. Take turns. You read a page. Then your child reads the next one.
4. Read aloud to your child. In our view, read aloud for the story and the words, not as reading practice.
5. Keep the teacher's practice going. Ask what short practice your child does in class. In our view, keep that same practice going over the summer.
6. Check in with the teacher, before and after. Before school ends, ask what to keep practicing. When school starts, say how summer reading went.

These steps are our own practice, not a tested method.

These steps do not replace your child's reading instruction.

Talk to the teacher before the break

Our position is that a short talk before school ends is worth it. Here is what we would ask.

1. What is going well? Ask what your child does well in reading now.
2. What is still hard? Ask what the teacher is working on with your child.
3. What should we keep going? Ask for one or two things to practice at home.
4. Which books fit? Ask what kind of book suits your child now.

These steps are our own practice, not a tested method.

Write the answers down. Take them back to the teacher in the fall.

Keeping summer reading calm

In our view, stop while it is still fun. If reading time turns into a fight, stop for the day. Try again another day with an easier book.

If your child seems worried or upset about reading, take that seriously. If worry or mood is the thing, talk to someone who works with children's mental health.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Reading well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about reading.
• Extreme upset about reading.
• Complete avoidance of reading.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.