Summer Reading For Kids

We have our Grade Level lists together early this year, so I can brag about them in May, instead of July like most years!  Our reading lists cover grades k through 6+, with an extra family reads included on the 6+ list.  There are lots of books we didn't have room for - I just finished Chomp by Carl Hiassen and it's on the list, but I didn't include his previous gems Hoot, Scat and Flush.  The list is broad at the bottom - pear shaped rather than an apple - because early readers are more sponges than critics.  Our Summer Workbooks also have lists, and they are up to date, because we try to keep our Summer Workbooks up to date!  A quick Google search let me find some good curated lists - I didn't like Oprah's format - designed to force you to look at lots of advertising - but her list is pretty good.  The bottom line is always read, read read!  I would also like to make a special plea for listen - audio books are a great way to subtract boredom from a road trip.  Sure you could let the kids zone out on their own screen toys, but you will miss the joy of sharing an experience together.  My # 1 recommendation for shared road trip book is Charlotte's Web - read by E.B. White.  Sublime.

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!

The great Summer Workbook throw  down is coming!  We will be featuring two new summer workbooks, and phasing out the original Summer Bridge this year.  Having an academic daily activity is important in the summer, but how do you choose an appropriate workbook?  We're going to do the work for you - we'll be comparing the three books that we have in stock (or have stocked) - Evan Moor's Daily Summer Activities, Teacher Created Resources' Summertime Learning and Rainbow Bridges' Summer Bridge.  Each book is different and each sells for a different price.  We'll provide a detailed matrix to help you choose.  Get ready, we're going to be honest!

The Ghosts of Summers Lost

We've unpacked about 19 bazillion workbooks this week. Math, Reading, Writing (all the parents want to work on writing!) and your general Summer Bridge workbooks of course. It makes for busy days, and much less blog posting. This thought struck me suddenly. What if all those workbooks are extracting a karmic toll? There's a legend that Sarah Winchester was haunted by the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles. It may come to pass that I will be haunted by the ghosts of Summer idles, ruined by workbooks from the Golden Apple. Terrifying.

Summer Learning Gets a Plug

NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote a column today on how to change our IQ. It was a "big picture" column, but it included this little plug for our summer workbook program:

"Good schooling correlates particularly closely to higher I.Q.’s. One indication of the importance of school is that children’s I.Q.’s drop or stagnate over the summer months when they are on vacation (particularly for kids whose parents don’t inflict books or summer programs on them)."

Shop early for your summer workbooks!