Summer Reading

With school getting out on Thursday of next week I thought it would be a great time to share with our friends some information about summer reading programs available for kids. Summer reading is a wonderful way to keep kids brains working over summer break and several libraries and programs across the country are trying to encourage this healthy activity by offering lots of freebies and prizes.

Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program available for children in grades 1-6. Kids write down the books they have read in a reading log with a short description of why they would recommend the book. Once they have read 8 books they can bring their reading log into a Barnes and Noble store to earn a FREE book! The program runs from May 22nd to September 4. How fantastic! More details can be found online at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570  Or to print out your reading log go to: http://img1.imagesbn.com/pimages/kids/summerreading/2012/bnsummertearpad.pdf

Locally, our own Cedar Rapids Public Library has a special summer reading program available. The program runs from June 1 to July 27 and is available to independent readers up to age 12 as well as younger kids that need to be read to still. Kids earn rewards along the way and at the end of the program there will be a raffle to win a bike! Registration for the program begins June 1st and can be completed online or at a participating library. More information can be found here: http://www.crlibrary.org/kids/summer-reading/


Even if you don't have a child in school and have a preschooler or toddler it is never to early to start reading and making this a fun family tradition. Developing the habit of family reading time is a great way to encourage learning at every age. With that in mind each of us in our home will have our own "reading list" this summer because after all, we all can benefit from some nice quiet time and a good book. Brent already has several books he would like to read this summer and I know I have several waiting to be read as well. My boys alone check out an average of 10 books a week from our library so I know there will be plenty of new books for us to get our hands on this summer.

Plus there are plenty of fun crafts you can do to get younger kids excited about reading. You can have them make their own bookmarks, help them decorate their own library tote bag, and lots more! You can even get books on tape or audio books for long road trips. Our kids current favorite book is a sing-along called Pete the Cat. And lucky for us the publisher has a free mp3 download available online so now I can pull it up on my phone or lap top at any time! How cool is that? Get your own Pete the Cat mp3 here: http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/

Play and Learn Time

Ollie and Ellie and I have a favorite day of the week. No it is not Friday. It is Tuesday! On Tuesday mornings we visit our library and attend a play group sponsored by the United Way of Eastern Iowa. It is a free program for kids 0-5 that focuses on teaching kids through a play based curriculum. Kids play at stations for the first part of the program and end with a special circle time of songs, dancing, and book. During play time we do several activities. Sometimes we do a craft, other timed we play games or dress up. This week was sensory week. All of the sensory activities were available. Our favorite was the ball pit. It was a big hit! The kids are not just having fun though-- they are learning too! Children that attend are getting exposure to a pre- classroom setting which can be very important for developing the skills to learn later in life. The wonderful curriculum of Spanish, colors, shapes, numbers, reading and math, science and more doesn't hurt at all either!