Lindsay Summer reading club

{summer reading program} with printables!

Via... Blog Brown Paper Packages

I saw this post today on this site and just HAD to post it!  How fun is this?!  I am really excited about teaching Reid to learn to read this summer & saw THIS!  It's a perfect little motivator for him and really cute too! Read below....
 
When I was growing up, summers were for reading.  I read all year long, but in the summer I could curl up with a book for as long as I wanted to. I absolutely {love} to read, and even now, it's my biggest luxury.

Our local library only allowed 10 books to be checked out on a junior library card, and for a fast reader like me, that was just not enough.  I would read those 10 books in two days, and then beg my mom to take me again. I soaked up all my favorites, and I would read them, again and again. The tooth fairy at our house also brought books, and by the time I was 8 or 9, I had read many of the classics---Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, David Copperfield, Little Women, Great Expectations, Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and more.

I want to pass that love of reading on to my children, and share with them my passion of summertime reading.  Our library has a wonderful summer reading program, but it's fairly short, and can be (and usually is) completed in four weeks. 

Last summer I decided to create our own family summer reading program, and it was wonderful!  We had a set time each day, where all grabbed our books (myself included, yay!) and sat down to read together.   The time of day had to rotate a little, depending on what we were doing, but it was something that we looked forward to every day.

Here's how it works:

I punched out 2 inch circles in cardstock that say "I've read 20 minutes", and "I've read a book!".  I thought the easiest way to keep track of all the circles was to use one of my favorite things...tin buckets!  I already had them for each of the kids, and they're super easy to keep out for long periods of time.

When they've completed either 20 minutes (my girls--preschool age) or have read one book (my oldest will take either one, but not both), they can take a circle and place it in their bucket.  Each week I'll count the circles and award prizes for the totals. I want them to be able to earn something each week, with the prizes getting bigger as the weeks progress. I'm going to make the prize levels different for each of my kids based on age, in order to even out the playing field. Prizes will include:  candy, trips to get ice cream, renting a movie, date night with mom or dad, a "staying up late" coupon, and choosing a new book.

The beauty of this program is that it can span so many different ages, from the littlest to the biggest! Even last year, when my little boys were 1 year old, they loved reading, putting the circles in their bucket, and getting the prize. :) 

So, here are some of our favorites...just a few of the ones from our shelf that look the roughest on the outside, which means they are the most often read and the most loved.

{Ages 3 and under}

Jamberry, Bruce Degen

Tumble Bumble,Felicia Bond

Skip to my Lou, Nadine Bernard Westcott

Sheep in a Jeep, Nancy E. Shaw

We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen

Go, Dog, Go!, P.D. Eastman

Barnyard Dance, Sandra Boynton

Pajama Time, Sandra Boynton

Big Red Barn, Margaret Wise Brown

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, Audrey Wood

{Ages 4-7}

Moby Books Illustrated Classics--the whole set! 

Frog and Toad books, by Arnold Lobel

Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish

Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey

Little Bear, Maurice Sendak

Chicken Soup with Rice, Maurice Sendak

Bread and Jam for Frances (and the entire series), Frances and Lilliam Hoban

Tikki Tikki Tembo, Arlene Mosel

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton

The Story About Ping, Marjorie Flack

Town Mouse, Country Mouse, Jan Brett

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig

Summer in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder (My First Little House series)

Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

{Ages 8+}

 

Cherry Ames series, Helen Wells

Betsy & Tacy series, by Maud Hart Lovelace

All-of-a-Kind Family series, Sydney Taylor

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Margaret Sidney

Peppermints in the Parlor, Barbara Brooks Wallace

Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, Mary Mapes Dodge

Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink

Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski

Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan

Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder

Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Borrowers, Mary Norton

The Moffats, Eleanor Estes

The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Heidi, Johanna Spryi

Nancy Drew (original series only), Carolyn Keene

The Hardy Boys series, Franklin W. Dixon

Trixie Belden series, Julie Campbell

The Bobbsey Twins series, Laura Lee Hope

The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner

Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

The Dark is Rising series, Susan Cooper

Fablehaven, Brandon Mull

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan

Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan

Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh

.....

Click HERE for the 20 minutes circle, and HERE for the book circle!