“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” |
 - Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!" |
I think because I don't have a home of my own... because I can't go tear down a wall or install tile, build a pergola in the backyard, or start a new design project, my creative outlet is suffering. So, lately, my pastime of choice has been to stick my nose in a book. I have loved being transported from the current crazy of our own lives into other adventures I never would have discovered. And I love peeking in on the boys... still reading at midnight because they just can't put the books down. Gotta love it when you find a series that captures you.
Brayden and I have been sharing such titles as The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, The Lightning Thief, and I've ventured off to read a few novels about civil rights... The Help, and Little Bee among many others. The older kids are sharing 39 Clues & Fablehaven... Izzie is a budding reader, and Alexandra can read beginner books on her own, McKenzie & Monson are good readers but prefer not to, and Brayden has even started writing his own book.
Our library has a summer reading program for the kids... if they read the previous week, then they can go to the library once a week and receive fun prizes like stickers and lanyards, and restaurant freebies like frozen yogurt, BJ's, Chick-Fil-A... Such a fun treat since we don't have a fast food budget at the moment. Like with many things she does, my SIL, Becky, inspired me to introduce a summer reading marathon with our family. I have loved having the 'excuse' to spend much of our hot summer days with our noses in books. We write our completed titles/authors on a popsicle stick with our initial at the end, and add it to our reading pot for a visual representation of how far we've come. If we reach 100 books by the end of the summer as a family, with each child having read a minimum of 5 books (some love reading more than others), then the kids will earn one Wii game they've wanted... and we'll do a family fun day-- yet to be determined.
Summer reading can be fantastically fun!
4 comments:
great idea shay! i swear i remember my mom doing something somewhat like this one summer for us. i LOVED it! it's amazing how keeping a budget brings out the creative side (like you needed more of that!). awesome!
We're reading a lot of the same books. Hunger Games is on my list. I loved The Help and it's on Christina's summer reading list. The thing I love most about this tradition is book conversations we have with each other.
Is Kenz into Nancy Drew yet? We've got those books coming out our ears this summer! Both CB & G are reading them. CB & G flew through "The Sisters Grimm" books just before summer break. There will be a movie about those. They are on my list.
Also....see if your library has "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie." It's a SMART story with a young girl detective who has a thing for science. CB & I loved that one.
Whoopie! A buncha buncha new stuff from Shay!!
Great ideas for the chore/behavior problem (Mine would have to be quiet to win anything--they now make my ears bleed every day!)
And I was all like....who the heck is Alexandra?.....OH! LEXI!! Good luck on that one, Alexandra. For years Pie tried (unsuccessfully) to switch back to George (?) his birth name. It never took.
Miss you tons, Shay.
Those titles all sound familiar to me, too! Have you checked Barnes and Noble Website? Free stuff for reading, too.
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