The Busy Life of a Single Mom

As a teacher, I know just how critical it is that our kids continue to learn over the summer, and I don’t just mean the things we learn on vacation. Yes, those are important skills, but we need to encourage them to continue reading over the summer and practicing their math skills.  When school does start back in August or September, their teachers must assume that they remember the skills from last year and move on, but I know that to not be the case. With younger kids in particular, they need to continue mastering the skills through the summer in order to be ready to excel in the next grade.

So this is my summer struggle.  First I have to be disciplined enough to set aside “school time.” Second, I have to find fun ways to accomplish this goal. For the month of June, I really only had to work on math because my daughter was in the summer reading program at the local library, and to win the prizes and such at the end, she was motivated to read most every day without me even reminding her.  But that program ended last week, and I was wondering how I would encourage her to continue to read through the rest of the summer (oh why, oh why couldn’t she just be a bookworm like her mother.  I never needed encouraged to read. In fact, my mom rewarded me with uninterrupted reading time when she wanted me to do something.)

I think maybe I’ve found something though so I wanted to share it with other Busy Moms out there who have children home for the summer. Barnes and Noble is hosting a summer reading program called Summer Reading with Andrew Clements, and if your child reads 8 books over the summer, they earn a free book.  My daughter may not like to actually sit down and read everyday, but she loves new books, and she loves to go to B&N and pick out a book and get a cup of hot cocoa at Starbucks. 

To particpate your child will record the books they read in their reading journal and then bring their completed journal in to a Barnes and Noble store by September 2nd. At this time, they will receive a coupon for a free book. The book choices will be listed on the coupon. This program is for students in grades first through sixth. So as an English teacher and mom, I encourage you, print out that reading journal and get those kids reading.