Showing posts with label summer reading programs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer reading programs. Show all posts

Friday, August 10, 2012

Randomness Right Now

What we are reading:

MOM (not revealing my age!) -
  • My first manuscript from a critique partner. So honored!
  • When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - I just finished this one that I found through a MMGM recommendation by Michelle Isenhoff.
  • The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford - Reading this one to my kids... and funny that it has a quote on the cover from Rebecca Stead, author of the other book I was reading at the same time! Another one I remembered seeing on a MMGM post by Barbara Watson and grabbed at the library.
SON #1 (age 10) - This boy reads like there is no tomorrow. I'm really impressed with the diversity in his reading this summer. He has read a few books that one might classify as "girl books" and really enjoyed them.  
  • The Genuis Files by Dan Gutman - This book looks like so much fun, but my son isn't loving it - although he says he will finish it. He has stopped and read others in the mean time.
  • The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford - I am putting this here too b/c when I didn't have enough time to keep reading out loud, he went ahead and finished it on his own!
  • Storm Runners series by Roland Smith - He gobbled up the three books in this series! This is one I grabbed off the shelf at the library and it sat and sat until he finally cracked it open... ahhh, I love it when I pick a winner!
  • Circle of Secrets and The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little -  He really enjoyed these and wanted to know if there was a sequel to Circle of Secrets!
  • Sleuth or Dare series by Kim Harrington. I won these from Heidi Grange who blogs at Geo Librarian. They arrived yesterday and he is almost done with the first one!
DAUGHTER (age 8) -
  • The Magic Half by Annie Barrows - She loved the Ivy and Bean books so I am hoping she enjoys this as well.
  • This Means War by Ellen Wittlinger - She LOVED this book and re-read parts of it and had me read parts of it. This was her free book from the summer reading program at our library!
  • How to Beat a Bully by Scott Starkey - I think she really liked the concept here but I haven't asked her how it's coming along.
SON #2 - a few favorites (he is age 1) - I have to get this little guy some new books. I know repetition is key at this age but we really need to branch out a bit!
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  • Elmo's Big Lift and Look Book by Anna Ross - This is a great interaction book. He is a little young to understand everything but I tell him what all the pictures are and he loves lifting all the flaps! As a parent I highly recommend this book.
HUSBAND #1 (LOL!) - He doesn't read.

Blog Awards:  I have been presented with several blog awards lately, so I am going to combine them and bend the rules a bit.


Elise Fallson passed me the Fabulous Blog Ribbon award. Thanks so much Elise!
I did a little searching and other blogs have a different set of rules listed, beyond thanking and passing it on, so I am going with those since it will make things a little more interesting.

1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award and share a link back to the awarding blog.
2. Name 5 fabulous moments in your life.
3. Name 5 things that you love.
4. Name 5 things that you hate.
5. Pass the award to 5 deserving bloggers.

Name 5 fabulous moments in your life.
  1. Getting married. After seeing it rain on about seven of the previous 8 Saturdays, our wedding day was blue-sky gorgeous! It was a beautiful day, and a fun, fun reception.
  2. The births of my children. Cliché, yes, but so very true. It is hard to put into words the amazing experience of bringing another human being into the world. 
  3. Completing the Nike Womens' Marathon. This was a great experience... from the almost 5 months of training to the actual event. I must say,  I am very proud of this accomplishment.
  4. The first time I got an e-mail from Creating Keepsakes asking to publish one of my scrapbook layouts. I think I let out a little happy scream. If this is how I feel about a scrapbook layout, I can't imagine how good it feels to have a book published! Hopefully one day I will know the answer to that.
  5. When my son sang in the school talent show as a kindergarten student. He did so awesome and I was so proud. 
Name 5 things that you love.
  1. Danon coffee yogurt. And no, I don't drink coffee.
  2. Taking a shower at night and then reading in bed until I fall asleep.
  3. Reading out loud to my kids... unfortunately I have a habit of falling asleep mid-sentence when I do this, often in the middle of the day!
  4. Road trips. I love being able to plan the route and really go wherever you want along the way.
  5. Digital Scrapbooking. This is a big part of my life and I love seeing my completed pages put together in a book/binder and sitting down with the kids and reading through the journaling. 
Name 5 things that you hate.
  1. Mean, spiteful people... luckily I have not crossed paths with many of them.
  2. Weeds in the cracks of driveways and sidewalks - get some weed killer people!
  3. Clutter, and my lack of ability to deal with it properly.
  4. When my kids fight. It makes me sad.
  5. Cooking. Well, I don't exactly hate it but I wouldn't turn down a personal chef either. 
Pass the award to 5 deserving bloggers. See below


Thank you L.G. Keltner for passing the Liebster Blog award to me. The German translation of liebster is favorite or dearest, so thanks so much L.G.!

The 'rules' of the award are the following:
  1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
  2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
  3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
  4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less.
  5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.
Passing on to these 5 wonderful bloggers. I am going to cheat a little and list 5 blogs (which I know of) that provide some sort of a service to writers. Not all these bloggers play the "awards game" so if they happen to see their name here great! :-)
  1. Krista Van Dolzer blogs at Mother. Write. Repeat and has a contest series called An Agent's Inbox. Her next contest starts on August 13th so hurry on over!
  2. Matthew MacNish blogs at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment and helps writers polish their queries with his own critiques and anyone who would like to add their two cents in the comments section.
  3. Kimberly Gabriel blogs at The Art of Infiltration and does a weekly post (on Monday) about any contests, blog hops, and give aways she knows about.
  4. DL Hammons blogs at Crusing Altitude 2.0 runs a fun contest called Write Club, where two writers go head-to-head and get some valuable feedback along the way. You can enter at anytime so hop on over to his blog for details.
  5. Kimberly Derting. OK, so she is a successful author (and I heard her speak yesterday) but she has a great blog with "writerly advice and links" so go check it out.


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Summer Reading Programs

It is almost that time again... for swim lessons, summer camps, popsicles and slip-n-slides, backyard water balloon fights, the ice cream truck jingling its familiar tune... and yes, summer reading programs!

Our local library has a great summer reading program with a fun Finishers Party mid-August. My son even won a Razor scooter one year in the raffle drawing which was pretty exciting. I liked it better when we had to sign up at the library and pick up a packet with the sheets to record minutes. Now it is all on-line, which is fine and super-easy, but it is less tangible for the kids. I think I will make a separate sheet this year and stick it on the fridge so we can better track our progress.

You can search the National Library Systems here to find a library in your area.

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The iVillage PBS KIDS Summer Reading Community Challenge - Fight the summer slide and keep your child reading and learning all summer long with our free six-week program. Sign up now and starting June 18, you’ll get daily emails with literacy-building tips and activities from experts at PBS KIDS and Scholastic. You’ll also get book suggestions and discounts, free downloads of PBS KIDS shows and a daily chance to win $1,000 and other great prizes. Help your child discover the joys of reading! (taken from their website)

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Barnes and Noble also has a summer reading program where kids can read eight books, record them on a printable reading log, and earn a free book. Easy Peasy!

Barnes and Noble stores also host story times for toddlers twice a week. Enter your zip code here to get a list of your local store events.

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During the school year my kids get reading certificates, good for a free personal pan pizza, from Pizza Hut when they meet their reading goal each month. I didn't realize that the Pizza Hut reading program Book It! continued into the summer. Kids who read 5 books can enter for a chance to win a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" prize package. You can print out an entry form here, and they must be mailed and received by August 15th, 2012.

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The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge lets kids log their minutes for a chance to win cool prizes. Parents can track their kids' progress online or on their phone, as well as get tips and booklists to make summer reading a breeze.

The Scholastic website is a wealth of information any time of the year. Check it out!

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Sylvan Learning's Book Adventure is a fun, free way to motivate your child to read! Kids in grades K-8 can find a book, take quizzes (over 8,000 book titles and quizzes available) on what they've read, and earn prizes for their reading success. Details and a list of prizes can be found here.

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More Reading Challenges:

Chuck E Cheese - Kids can earn 10 free tokens by reading everyday for two weeks, recording it on a printable chart and turning it in with a food purchase. (They actually have printable charts for a wide range of rewardable activities - from household chores to "no nose picking" to completing homework each day, so there is no reason to ever NOT earn 10 free tokens when going to Chuck E Cheese!) 

Pottery Barn Kids - PBK Summer Reading Challenge - Select a reading list to follow, read and track your child's progress, reward your reading champion by entering to win a backpack full of books, and stop by your local store to receive a free book.

Half Price Books - Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program - Read 300 minutes and turn in a completed reading log to earn a $5 HPB Back-to-School Bucks reading reward for the month.

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Other Helpful reading aides!

Scholastic Reading Timer (free app) For iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android.


The Soar with Reading site was developed to keep kids reading! You'll find fun reading activities provided by PBS KIDS® and helpful reading tips for children of all reading levels.                       


Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read with phonics. Our systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL). Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children. (taken from their website)

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My question for you is this. If your child reads a book do you let him record the book/minutes for all the reading programs, or does each book/number of minutes only count towards one of the reading programs at a time? Happy reading!