The last quarter of school being lost to in-person instruction with our youth has teachers concerned about even more drastic declines in reading skills than are yearly experienced during the summer vacation.

Catherine Sokolowski is a 20-year veteran of the Monticello teaching ranks and teaches middle-school language arts and says we need to be reading to or with our kids this summer.

Research shows the reading ability for kids declines if they are not reading during the summer months. Sokolowski says kids are going to need to be reading even more than typical recommendations.

According to Sokolowski, the younger the student, the parent reading to them is best. She points out visiting the library is a great way to continue to find new material for students and in Monticello, taking advantage of their pop-up libraries is a great way to continue the fun of reading.

For families that may have an access-challenge to books, Sokolowski indicates she has made her collection available to students and encourages reaching out to teachers in your district and inquiring about any materials they are willing to lend.

Sokolowski says if your child enjoys reading e-books, there is nothing wrong with letting them do that. She has found though, her students prefer paper copies of books rather than electronic versions.