May 31, 2018 | Source: Fox34
By Matt Ernst
LUBBOCK, Texas -
The Lubbock Area United Way wants to keep students from back-sliding.
It's partnering with several non-profit agencies and area school districts to create a reading calendar that will fight "the summer slide" AKA when kids lose reading skills if they don't pick up a book for two or three months.
Research shows access to books and learning during the summer won't just stop the slide, it'll improve student achievement during the school year.
"We know that children, by the time they're in the third grade, if they're not reading on grade level, then school becomes a lot more difficult for them going forward, so our goal is to promote literacy from zero to third grade so that we can make sure kids are ready to learn past that age," Carolyn Simpson with United Way said.
The events are free and open to anyone. The calendar can be found online here: http://www.liveunitedlubbock.org/summer-reading.