A bit about summer reading. Most kids will come home from school with some sort of summer reading game to fill out for school the next year. Some older kids will even have a stack of books they are supposed to read over the summer. My daughter was given an assignment to read at least 10 books and do a diorama book report on her favorite to turn in the first week of school.
I know that some kids just don't like to read, and summer is a good time to learn how to read for fun or to read for a reward instead of homework. For kids who already love to read, summer is a good time to read all of the "just for fun" books they haven't had a chance to get to during the school year or to explore new areas of interest. I read to my kids at various time during the day and in the summer I read an advanced chapter book to my older kids while the little ones are napping to start their rest time. This summer we are reading the "Dealing with Dragons" series by Patricia Wrede. It is a good series for my mixed age group, with dragons, magic, wizards, knights, and princesses, but doesn't have the scary or violent parts that are in so many other popular fantasy books right now.
I don't use reading time as a reward or punishment at our house or reward my kids for reading a set amount of pages. In our house reading is just something we do, like taking naps or eating dessert or picking up your shoes off the floor or playing outside. If it isn't so easy for you, you might want to devise some sort of your own incentive chart at home, giving points for minutes or pages read in order to earn a reward of some kind.
In our house the biggest challenge is keeping track of all the lists for the many programs they are enrolled in. I found it easiest to just use the summer reading log we got from the library (or two or three of them) and keep a master list of books read for each kid. Then I transfer the titles into whatever reward form we are getting ready to turn in.
The easiest programs to participate in are ran by national bookstore chains, Borders and Barnes and Noble. They both have forms you can get in store or online, where you just list the ten books you read and turn in the form to the store to get a free book. They let three of my kids, ages 2,6, and 9, participate so we will end up with 6 free books.
The best program is probably ran by your local library. They will have some sort of form to fill out with weekly or monthly small prizes like stickers and bookmarks then a goody bag at the end that usually has a free book and coupons for all sorts of stuff- kids meals, donuts, ice cream cones, bowling, baseball games, mini golf, etc, depending on the local sponsors, and toys like Frisbees or balls.
Besides the reading program, libraries usually pull out all the stops when it comes to summer programs and there is bound to be something cool happening there all summer. In our county my kids can go to story time- usually different age groups from infant to teens-, craft time, language classes, book clubs, and parties. They also have all sorts of visitors- characters like Cookie Monster or Pooh, Polynesian dancers, magicians, animal shows, petting zoos, clowns, puppets shows, baseball players, and authors.
You might try the library next to yours- most libraries within the county or state have a loan policy that lets you check out and return books to any branch, not just your local one. You might have a bookmobile stopping near you, another interesting way to find a good book. You can get DVDs, music CDs, and audio books. Some have a digital library that you can get books for your computer or nook and audio books for your mp3 player or ipod. And if they don't have the book you want, just tell them and they will go find it for you- from their shelves, when it gets returned if someone else has it right now, or from another library in the state or county.
I figure if a kid spends all that time in a library, he or she is bound to stumble upon something they love eventually!
Besides hanging out at the library, here is what we did for Camp W for weeks 3-5.
Week 3-5: Settling into a summer routine
Learn to cook a simple meal (taco salad at our house)
Make cookies for grandpa
Go to the library and sign up for the summer reading program
Visit a local ice cream parlor. We are trying a new one each month then will vote on a family favorite!
Visit a local farm- this creamery gives free tours and let you bottle feed the calves!
Sneak into grandma's house while she is at work and clean it like crazy, leave dinner in the fridge, then run away fast before she gets home!
Take free Spanish classes at the library every day for a week
Visit an indoor bounce house (Monkey Joe's where we are)
Take a piano lesson from an older cousin
Swim in Aunt L's pool
Have a sleepover with cousins- ride their neighbor's horse, pick berries, and do free summer bowling
Have a sleepover with Aunt T and have a board game and movie party
Go to the park and have a picnic- simple picnic is throwing your regular lunch in a bag and eating it outside at the park!
Have a squirt gun/water balloon fight
Make lemonade or kool aid popsicles
Visit the bookmobile
Splash in a summer rain stormJoin a local 4-H horse club for a camp and barn sleepover
So after all that, I hope you are getting ready to go to the library! More to come, of course.
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