Making the most of your library’s summer reading program
By Kim Jaworski, Homeschool Resource Specialist
Each summer your library promotes reading with their program that offers up little prizes and even county fair ride tickets or a free treat at Dairy Queen for those who participate actively. Keep your child reading over the summer- it’s a great program. But you can make it even more worthwhile from a homeschooling perspective if you add one simple caveat. Your child needs to read books from a list you’ve prepared.
This allows you to stack the deck. You can use this opportunity to encourage your child into a new genre of reading material, or simply encourage a wider exposure to topics you’d like them to explore.
Consider these titles and authors when putting together your list (also keep in mind your child’s reading level, maturity and age):
Dear America Series (historical fiction- female lead characters)
My Name is America series (historical fiction-male lead characters)
My America (historical fiction for early readers)
Little House series
The musical life of Gustav Mole
Childhood of Famous Americans (series)
Me on the Map
Max Axiom series
How Much is a Million
Counting on Frank
Even Steven and Odd Todd
Punished
Numbed
The Magic Schoolbus
The 10 things all future mathematicians and scientists must know
Books by: David Adler, Stuart Murphy, David Schwartz, Greg Tang, Cindy Newschwander and Mitsumasa Anno, Kathleen Krull, Ruth Heller, Richard J Maybury
And because they are great fun:
Framed (audio book is amazing)
Indian in the cupboard series
Houdini (Lynne Reid Banks)
The Borrowers
The Littles
The marvelous inventions of Alvin Fernald
Harriet the spy
From the Mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
Pippi Longstocking series
Mrs Pigglewiggle
Amelia Bedelia
You can also just list some topics and let the kids find books that appeal to them:
Volcanoes, weather, solar system, other countries/ cultures, inventions/inventors, explorers, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, birds, sea creatures, our oceans, the water cycle, astronauts, animals that hibernate, nocturnal animals, metamorphosis, birds of prey, scavengers, glaciers, early Olympics, Greeks, Romans, Vikings, huns, electricity, sound, rocks/geology, the moon, etc.