Parenting

Disclosure: Affiliate links may be included, which cost you nothing. There is nothing better in the summer than reading a good book. Wanting my children to be avid readers, I tried to set a good example for them. Every summer when I was homeschooling my children, the summer time meant no more textbooks. Summer fun included fun reading. It was the best time to grow a love of reading because with summer reading programs they got to pick their favorite books to read. That meant that summer was a busy time at our local library. We went often to turn in books and check out new ones. I always made a big deal about signing up for the summer reading program. There was a big push at the library for signing up and there were prizes and fun every time that we went. Earning rewards for reading was also a wonderful incentive! There are many summer reading programs and clubs to participate in. Often, children will be able to earn a reward, such as a free book. This is a great tool to keep your child’s eye on the prize. Making reading rewards exciting does much to build the worth of books in your child’s mind. Love of reading definitely starts at home. Here are my 5 favorite Summer Reading programs: Local Library Some libraries may still be closed to the public, so you will have to check with your local branch. Libraries are the best because they are free. There’s a never-ending supply of books and the entire family can enjoy finding a great read for the summer. Summer programs include kick-off parties and reward parties at the end of summer. Rewards might be as simple as a book mark, little toys, or a book bag. Check this free resource out and enjoy! Barnes & Noble For grades 1-6, the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading program, offers a free book. Children must read 8 books and complete a Reading Journal. Then, they can select a free book from their summer list. The 8 books can be found at home, in the library, or any bookstore. Scholastic Scholastic Summer Read-A-Palooza wants to make reading fun, and they have set up the summer reading program digitally. This is a great idea during the pandemic, as many children can’t access their local libraries. The program is called Scholastic Home Base, which is a digital destination filled with free full books, live events, and games to encourage lots of summer reading. Books A Million Books A Million offers a Summer Reading Adventure that is similar to Barnes and Noble. Children read 4 books and fill out their reading log. When they bring the reading log back into the store, they will be rewarded with a free Dog Man logo baseball cap. Amazon Summer Reading Challenge is a reading program that works through the Amazon Stores. Children are challenged to read 8 books and keep track of them. When they bring their list into the store by September 2 they’ll receive a Certificate and a $1 off their next book purchase. However you choose to promote reading this summer, I hope you’ll encourage your child or grandchild to read to their heart’s content. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

We want to end each school year well. Finishing Strong is always a good theme. Whether your child is in elementary school, high school, or college it’s important to complete everything with a positive outlook. How has the pandemic affected your child’s schoolwork? Pandemic Struggles Talking to my friends and relatives with grade-school children, I know that there have been many challenges and adjustments. Because of the pandemic, children have come home and spent their school hours in front of computer screens. Teachers have had to quickly convert their classrooms to a zoom presentation. Children are resilient and can learn in a variety of ways, but some children will do better than others. And, children with any type of learning challenge have an even harder task. Parents have become overnight “homeschoolers” whether they wanted to or not. Those of us who homeschooled regularly didn’t see much of a change. But, everyone missed going out and having social interaction with friends. College and grad-school students have been at a greater disadvantage. Many classes that were now online, changed the learning format. My child suddenly didn’t have any lectures. Because of the pandemic’s social limitations, there were no office hours or study groups. Some professors left the students to fend for themselves. Google became the only teacher and there was little interaction when the students had questions. Finishing up the school year will be hard this year. There are many concepts and topics that may not be covered or reviewed enough. What is a parent to do? Those parents with grade-school children can certainly make a difference. Before the school year is over, make contact with your child’s teacher. Ask them questions that will enable you to fill in any learning gaps over the summer. Tips For Finishing Strong The fall school year may still be undecided as to the format. But, during the summer it’s important to make sure that your child will be prepared for the fall classes. Here are some questions to ask your child’s teacher: What do they recommend for summer learning? What books or activities would they like you to use for reviewing? Does the school provide any summer reading programs? Is there a summer reading list? What courses, topics, concepts did my child fail to master? Some of these answers may already be known to you. As a parent, you probably already know about certain levels of understanding. Maybe your child struggled with reading comprehension or math computation. These are things that can be improved on over the summer. Resources Many websites, computer programs, and workbooks can be used to help your child work on their weak areas. You don’t need to have hours of school a day in the summer to make progress. But, having a plan to cover concepts that weren’t fully grasped is a good idea. Read Naturally gives a wonderful explanation of reading comprehension and the various ways it can be understood. They offer methods for parents to use to help their child comprehend what they are reading. The more that children work through the process of reading comprehension the better they will be at this. K12 has great printable worksheets for you to use, depending on the grade-level of your child. Harvard has a wonderful page that discusses Summer Math Loss. They offer practical and natural ways to incorporate math into everyday summer life. Khan Academy offers tons of learning instruction. Here, you can locate specific subjects, topics, and grade levels to concentrate on the concepts that need to be learned or reviewed. If you have questions that your child’s teacher doesn’t address, I would be happy to help you. I homeschooled for over 20 years and have a M.Ed. I don’t know everything, of course, but am more than happy to try and answer any questions. Make sure to finish strong! @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman