Summer Workbooks Are On My Mind

March 1st seems like a long way from summer, but we have to plan ahead - just like parents with kids facing almost 3 months of academic down time.  Summers can be a great time for learning - and not school type learning, but outdoors, away from adults, being kids learning.  That has become a rare thing though, and many summer hours are spent looking at a screen.   We're against screen time almost all the time, but in summer, it's a practically a sin!  If you're not reading, or swimming, or throwing rocks in a pond you're wasting a summer day that will never come back.  So what about summer workbooks?  We're going back to basics this year - we'll be discontinuing the summer workbook that encourages kids to spend time online.  We have two updated and expanded summer workbooks that are current, fun and can be worked on with a pencil under a tree!   Summertime Learning from TCR and Daily Summer Activites from Evan Moor will be our two key workbooks this year.  We're in the process of putting together a skills matrix, so parents can compare the books.  We are also putting together some great summer packages - a little work, a little play.  Everything will start to show up on our summer learning pages soon!

Librarians Improve Reading Scores

No surprises here!

Want to see students get higher reading scores? Then make sure their schools have a media specialist.

According to new research from Library Research Services, which reviewed standardized test scores from Colorado schools in 2005 and 2011, reading scores statistically increased when schools retained or gained a school librarian. "There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between advanced reading levels and endorsed librarian staffing trends," reads the report, published last month.