Our Family's Summer Reading Program

Even though we have officially wrapped up our school year, the learning doesn't end there. It just looks different for the summertime.

One of the most fun things we do to continue learning through the summer is to READ!!

In years past we have participated in lots of reading programs (you can find a great list of those here) from stores to libraries. And they have been varying degrees of fun.

Sometimes we live too far from a particular store to really reap the benefits of the program. Sometimes the program is too complicated. And sometimes it's just not fun. And I think reading should be fun!

{reading 'in a favorite chair'}

So this year I decided to come up with our own reading program with great incentives.

I found some great free printables online and pretty-much cherry-picked what I wanted from them.

I am using the awesome reading bingo cards and prize coupons from HowDoesShe?'s Summer Reading Star program and a cute reading log from Helping Moms @ Home.

The way it works:

The kiddos are challenged to read at least 20 minutes (you can set your own time goal) at a time and the bingo cards give them fun ways to do this: "in the bathtub", "wearing a hat", "in my favorite chair", "on a Tuesday", etc. When they do one of those they get to put a sticker on that spot (no doubling-up allowed here!).
When they "bingo" they earn a prize coupon. These have such awards as getting to stay up late, picking what's for dinner, getting to invite a friend over, etc. I'm trying to focus more on "experience" rewards rather than material ones with these.
When they "black out" the bingo card they earn a "Golden Ticket"! My husband and I are still deciding what these will be, but we're thinking probably a trip to our local water park, Chuck E. Cheese, or some things like that.
They must keep a log of the books they've completed.
As an extra incentive, they will earn .01 per page they read and they will be paid for the pages they've read each week on Fridays.

{reading 'in the bathtub'}

So far they have been SUPER excited about this program! Of course, I just rolled it out today...lol And I am excited about this because it has lots of fun elements. I wish I were getting paid a penny a page for all of the books I read! ;)

I'll update you later in the summer and let you know how it's going!

Happy Reading!

Comments

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