Summer Reading Programs

I’ve always known that it is important to read to children, but I guess now that I have a son getting ready for first grade, I'm even more sensitive to all the signs and commercials (I love the TV commercial for RIF where Humpty Dumpty is riding a bike, Rip Van Winkle is riding a bus and the Three Little Pigs are jumping out of an airplane.  It's got a catchy little tune to it!).  I support reading programs with my charity giving, I read to my kids every night, we go to the library every week (we currently have over 30 books checked out!), I buy books at every school book fair and for every birthday, and almost went to Indonesia last month to help with a library and literacy campaign.  That’s why it was easy for me to sign my kids up for summer reading programs.

This is the third year we’ll be reading with the Free Library.  Each week we go in, and the boys get a sticker for every 20 minutes of reading they’ve done during the week (whether it be me reading to them, or my oldest reading himself).  They put their stickers on a game board, and the goal is to cover each circle along the path before the end of the summer.  Each week they get a prize, too.  We also write down which books we’ve read and how many minutes we’ve spent reading.  The Library has a goal to reach 20 million minutes read.  There are programs for kids, teens and adults, and it’s all free!  More information can be found at http://libwww.freelibrary.org/summerreading/

Another free program for my soon to be first grader, is through Scholastic’s The Stacks.  They also have a summer reading challenge to break the record for the most minutes read.  It’s done through their website and to log in, my son created his own user name and password, a first for him.  Here he tracks how many minutes he reads each day, then if he meets his weekly challenge, he gets a badge and unlocks special games and activities.  There are other activities on the site as well, and Scholastic has great information for parents also.  We signed up at http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaigns/src-2013/kids/

We are also reading online at www.wegivebooks.org.  This site will donate books for every online book that is read.  While there is no summer reading challenge, there is a Read for My Summer program.  Each week there are three featured books to read, along with activities and reading tips to make it more fun.  My little one loves this site because he gets to sit on mommy’s lap while she’s on the computer.  He’ll see the list of books and point to a book that catches his eye, and that’s the one we’ll read.  The books are divided into different age ranges, so it’s easy to pick out books that I know the kids will enjoy.  There is a certificate that can be printed at the end of the summer that I can put the kids' names on, and will even list out what books have been read.  I’m excited to print that out to put in our summer scrapbook.

One other free program we are taking advantage of, is one at Barnes and Noble.  We picked up a form the last time we were there.  Starting with first grade, kids need to read 10 books, write down their titles and authors, and write a recommendation for each book.  Then when the form is returned, kids get to pick out a free book from a list designated for their age group.  I’ve definitely read more than 10 books this summer to my son, however, since he has started to read himself, we are only going to list the books that he has actually read.  I’m hoping once he sees all the books he has read to himself, he’ll be inspired to read more.

Like I’ve said, my oldest is beginning to read by himself.  I really want him to be a big reader, but he’d much rather have me read to him.  If he sees too many words on the page, he gets overwhelmed and thinks he can’t do it, even though he knows all of the words.  I don’t read much myself, even though I’d love to.  Reading in these summer programs is inspiring me to read more.  I’ve started making it a point to read more before I go to bed, but I want to start reading in front of the kids.  I’m hoping if they see me enjoying a good book, then they’ll want to read more themselves.  Hopefully these programs will inspire your family to read more too.