You all know that my family and I are BIG readers. We love to get into a good book, and get lost in the story and the characters in general. That is why we love to take part in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. With it now being in its’ 9th year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free online reading program dedicated to stopping the “summer slide” by encouraging kids to read throughout the summer months when school is out. This year’s challenge theme is “Power Up & Read,” powered by ENERGIZER®.
We are parents that continually try and provide learning opportunities for our kids, whether in or outside of books. Why do we do this? We do not want our kids to fall prey to what is called “summer slide,” or the common loss of skills due to being out of school, when they do not read over the summer. As educators ourselves, we have read the research that shows that teachers spend four to six weeks re-teaching materials to students because of the “summer slide” (Alexander et. al, 2007), and we definitely did not want our own kids to be part of these statistics. So we find that summer is the perfect time for our kids to discover the power of choice. We let our kids ry out as many and as variant topics of books as they can think of. You see, according to the Kids & Family Reading Report, 5th edition, 91% of kids (ages 6-17) say that their favorite books are the ones they pick out themselves, so we indulge this and allow them to explore and see the world in different ways and the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge helps us in this pursuit.
- So How does it work?
- Starting May 4, 2015 – September 4, 2015, kids can log their reading minutes (online and via mobile) as they read to break last year’s world record of 304,749,861 minutes.
- Parents can sign-up their kids at www.scholastic.com/summer. It’s FREE!
- Kids can also enter monthly sweepstakes to win fabulous prizes, and earn digital rewards when they complete weekly reading challenges.
- What’s new this year for kids?
- Kids can unlock 12 original short stories (exclusively for this year’s challenge) from favorite children’s authors and access never-before-seen videos from the authors! Each of the authors has written a unique short story using the same opening sentence, which is, “I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that no one had followed me into the shadowy library, then took a deep breath and opened the glowing book…”
- The authors include Blue Balliett, Patrik Henry Bass, Varian Johnson, Gordon Korman, Michael Northtrop, Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pierce, Roland Smith, , Tui T. Sutherland, Lauren Tarshis, Wendy Wan-Long Shang and Jude Watson.
- Each story has a “read along” audio component, inviting kids of all ages and reading levels to enjoy these highly engaging stories.
- They can play the new “innovation machine” game, an interactive creative writing game, and enter its contest to win prizes.
- Kids can log minutes on-the-go to earn digital rewards and badges as they hit reading milestones.
- What’s new this year for parents?
- The parents site features new, daily tips for parents called “The Daily Digest.”
- Parents can enter weekly sweepstakes to win a “Power Up & Read Kit” and watch videos about summer reading activities to keep you “innovative” all summer long. The prize pack includes: Scholastic tote bag, water bottle, a copy of by Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith, $10 gift certificate to Scholastic Store Online, Energizer® brand batteries, Scholastic books, and more.
- Parents can download free resources, including printables and booklists for kids of all ages.
FIND OUT MORE *please include*
Sign up for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge
Find more Scholastic Resources to keep your kids reading all summer long!
Learn more about the Energizer® Instant Win Game
Follow @Scholastic on Twitter
Like the Energizer® Bunny on Facebook
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