Bless Your Heart Summer Reading Program

Daisy is at about the same reading level ending kindergarten as Abe was when he ended last year, however, by the start of first grade he had improved tremendously, and I was trying to think how I’d kept him reading so much all summer. They both had the same kindergarten teacher and she insists they fill out a little reading log of what they read for 15 minutes each day. I love that because it turns my good intentions (wanting to make them practice daily but often getting sidetracked) into real action because they have to turn in their little log each week. Anyway, once we are in the busyness of summer I’ve been worried I wouldn’t stay consistent with them. Then I remembered just how Abe improved so much last summer: the local library summer reading program.

They get little booklets with cute little things for them to color in every time they read 20 minutes. Each time they fill in 15 things (that’s 5 hours of reading) they get to take their booklets to the library to get a prize. Now, my friend in Vegas has told me about their library program and they give away things like passes to water parks. Hello! Ours are more like the type of things you might find in a Happy Meal, but it doesn’t matter. It’s enough. I can’t stop them from reading they want those prizes so bad. They got their books yesterday. Abe was upset because I told him he couldn’t read for 3 hours straight because he had to do some other things that day. Daisy read for an entire HOUR out loud to Goldie. True, Goldie was basically moaning and thrashing about in misery on the floor before Daisy was finished, but they pressed through -- all for the chance to get a few steps closer to a little slinky or possibly a miniature purse. Hooray for summer reading!

P.S. Here is a cool little thing Abe wrote after his fieldtrip to the Zoo recently.