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!
