Book Your Kids for Summer Reading While Libraries Are Closed
Growing up, participating in the summer reading program at my local library was always a big deal. I rode my bike to the library (which was something we could do!), Submitted my lists of titles and in turn received lottery tickets that could fetch me a free t-shirt. Or frisbee! Or, if I’m really lucky, a coupon for free ice cream or a slice of pizza.
Last summer, we signed up my son for the first time to a reading program in our library, and he enjoyed filling out the questionnaire, as I did decades ago. They offered different levels of reward depending on the number of books or the amount of time he read. In the end, he was quite pleased to receive the prize he wanted most — free food at a local restaurant.
With libraries still closed in many places, the summer reading program may seem like just another thing to cancel due to the coronavirus, but if there ever was a summer when kids need to keep reading, it’s summer after months of deleted, cobbled together. learning. And fortunately, since we are really good at virtual life, Scholastic offers us a free summer program “ Read-a-Palooza ” in which children can participate online.
To participate, children need to create a Home Base account . There they will have access to complete books, live events, games and book-based activities. They will be able to track their “reading strips” (the number of consecutive days they read), and every two days in a row, Scholastic will donate one book to a child in need – with the goal of donating 100,000 books by July. The longer their reading streak, the more “digital experiences” will open up for children. They can also record their reading minutes in the Home Base, and parents can access downloadable read reports.
In addition, there are no other “prizes” in the Read-a-Palooza program for children. But you can create your own extra reward system at home: start by identifying the milestones you want them to reach (perhaps after every 10 books read or every 10 hours of reading), then come up with “prizes” they can earn for achieving each of them. Here are some prize ideas to get you started:
- Skip the job of your choice this week
- Take a trip to your local ice cream shop.
- Family cinema evening with a film of your choice
- Don’t go to sleep
- Backyard Camping!
- Takeaway / delivery from a restaurant of your choice
You can also check to see if your local library or school district has any plans for remote summer reading this year.