If you have children in kindergarten through 5th grade, you likely received a summer reading list with the last report card of the year. If you’re like most parents, you tossed it aside as you packed your bags for the beach or the first day of summer camp and thought “We have plenty of time for that!”

Although September seems far away, it is important to dig that list out and help your child get started on required reading, as well as checking out the suggested titles for his or her grade. The purpose of summer reading in the elementary school years is to maintain your child’s reading skills, such as decoding words, comprehension of text, and making inferences or predictions about the text. It is also meant to foster a love of reading that educators know is crucial for success in school.

You don’t have to be a reading specialist to address common reading skills your child needs to maintain over the summer. For example, to practice decoding words, ask your child “What sound does this letter make?” Help him sound out unfamiliar words. You can check for comprehension after reading by asking “Wh” questions such as “Where did the main character live?” or “Who is the main character’s friend?” This ensures they retained the main details of the story.

You can also work on making inferences about the story by asking questions not directly answered in the text. For example, “How do you think he was feeling after he had a fight with his friend?” guides your child to use clues from the story as well as his own experiences to draw a logical conclusion. Remember to have fun! Summer reading is an enjoyable way to support your child’s academic and social growth while away from the classroom.

As the summer days pass by, it gets harder to maintain a schedule with your families enjoying some much-needed down time. A break from the stress of your busy school-year schedules is necessary, but too much time without exercising the brain can be detrimental to your child’s academic health.

This is why it is important to attend to your child’s summer reading list starting now. Most middle and high schools choose one or two required readings and allow for some independence with a suggested reading list. This is a great opportunity for your child to get introduced to a new author or genre he or she may not have known before. In addition to developing a love of reading, children in these grades will likely be tested on material read or be expected to write a response to the text.

You can help your child maintain information about the stories by giving her a journal in which to take notes, reading the book with her, and having weekly discussions with her to ensure she comprehends the material. You may also want to celebrate the completion of books with a special reward, such as a little extra money to spend back-to-school shopping or a family movie night. However you do it, supporting your middle school or high school age child in their summer reading will ensure her school year gets off to a great start.

Your children know the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sex.  You’ve told them all about the risk factors, the negative outcomes, the ruined lives.  They know – they tell you – that those outcomes aren’t something they want for themselves.

And yet, there’s a disparity between what children know, and what they do around friends.

New research may provide an explanation for how this peer pressure works, the New York Times reported.

Temple University researchers used fMRI scans on 40 teenagers and adults to see what differences, if any, there may be in the brain when teens are alone versus when they are with their friends.  The results indicated that peer pressure has a unique effect on teens’ brain signals involving risk and reward, which may explain why teens are more likely to take risks around friends.

The researchers had 14 teens, 14 college students and 12 young adults play a video driving game while in a brain scanner.  In the game, the players needed to  make decisions about stopping at yellow lights or speeding through them and risking a crash.  The incentive was a cash prize at the end, which increased the faster the players finished the course.

Participants played four rounds.  For two rounds, they played alone, and for the other two, researchers told them that two friends who had come with them were watching them play from another room.

When told friends were watching, teens ran about 40 percent more yellow lights and crashed about 60 percent more than when they played alone.

More importantly, the “reward” areas of the brain showed greater activity when playing in front of friends, suggesting that friends’ presence led the brain’s reward system to overpower risk signals.

This effect was not seen in college students and young adults.

“The presence of peers activated the reward circuitry in the brain of adolescents that it didn’t do in the case of adults,” said Laurence Steinberg, an author of the study, a psychology professor at Temple and author of “You and Your Adolescent: The Essential Guide for Ages 10 to 25.” “We think we’ve uncovered one very plausible explanation for why adolescents do a lot of stupid things with their friends that they wouldn’t do when they are by themselves.”

Click here to read more from the New York Times.