Skip to main content

Summer Reading--it's the BEST!

Well, summer is in full swing around here.



School work is completed for 5th and 7th grades, VBS prep has more-than-commenced, vacation anticipation is growing, and there is LOTS of reading happening.

This is our 3rd summer to do our own family reading program.  Yes, we do partake a little in library programs and even some store-sponsored ones, but my kids' favorite (and biggest reading motivator) is the one I put together using internet resources.

You can read all about the basic program here.  This is still the main plan that we follow--hey, it works!



However, this summer, in an effort to help my kids choose more different types of books (thus not spending the entire summer on one single series--not that it's a terrible thing, just trying to add variety) I have also incorporated this reading 'map' found here.  We aren't using this entire program, just the map which has all different genres and types of books suggested.

I like to shake things up :)

And so far, so good.



I also have my own reading goals for the summer.  I love to read and summertime is my time to get lots of it in!

I am loosely following Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2016 Reading Challenge.  So far I have 3 boxes checked off.   Not too bad.

We also have a current family read-aloud (we really enjoy those) which is Pollyanna.  While I am very familiar with the story via Disney, I have never read the book.  So far it's a hit with all of us!


Before I go, I just have to tell you about my favorite book that I've read lately.  I'm still in amazement that I never heard of this book until recently.  It is utterly charming and I absolutely ADORE it: Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster.  My daughter and I have both fallen in love with it and we must share our new love with all of our fellow book-lovers!  Let me put it this way, if you love Anne of Green Gables you will also love this book.





I'd love to hear what you're reading this summer!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Reading Game: A Review

I was excited to receive this review product recently, thinking my 1st-grade-son could really benefit and enjoy it a lot. And I was right! He is having so much fun with this game. The Reading Game is a fast-paced memory card game using words. The game comes with 6 sets of memory cards with 6 corresponding readers. The idea is for you and your student to play memory with each set of cards (playing 6 rounds with each set), after every 2 rounds your student then reads 2 test sentences to see how he is retaining the new words he is learning. After the whole set has been played, he is then ready to read the corresponding reader...and has learned 30 new words! By the time your student has played every set of cards and read every reader, he will have learned 180 words. Of the 25 most common English words, 23 are on that list; of the 50 most common words, 42 are on that list. So this little game of reading really does prepare your student well. The readers are illustrated with cute ...

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while.  It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it.  However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it.  Plus it's a little bulky.   When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it!  It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make.   I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course.  They  have these little wooden door hangers for .79.  I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each.  I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing.   I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had).  Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...