Good gracious, we’ve been to the pool and the ice-cream shop(s) and the park if it’s not too hot. We’ve taken walks around the neighborhood looking for bunnies (we have several hopping around) and butterflies. We’ve been to the zoo, a puppet show, we’ve even been bowling.
Summer seems to be just about over but one thing we’ve tried to continue throughout these weeks off from school is working on our reading. Celena Roldan-Moreno*, the Executive Director at Erie Neighborhood House says, “Summer time reading is essential to addressing the gap that often occurs between the time that a child ends the year and begins a new grade with increasing academic demands.”
Hadley and Harper are young, yes, but they love stories and that was the idea behind my Summer Reading Journals: that they could create a scrapbook of sorts of the stories they’ve talked about while we searched for butterflies, jumped in the pool, and asked for an extra scoop at the ice-cream shop. Celena is right: summer time reading is essential because these stories we are reading together are helping kids learn how to think and how to live.
A lot of afternoons, when the weather is too hot to play outside, we go to the library, find a table and gather a stack of books to look through in the comfort of the A/C.
We always bring crayons so the girls can color, their favorite part of the journals. Here’s a picture of Harper drawing a bird (a macaw or parrot, perhaps?). You might notice on the other side of the page is a drawing of a meerkat. She was into non-fiction that afternoon.
Sometimes we go to Barnes and Noble, the closest bookstore in our neighborhood, and look at books there.
Celena says that, “Callie’s summer reading journals also provide a great alternative to the ever increasing availability of ‘tech time’ that needs to continue to be limited in young children.” I say, “Amen” to that.
Sure, it’s August and it’s time to buy #2 pencils and new jeans, but the shop is open and there are still journals left. Stop on over and take one with you to the beach, perhaps.
*Celena and I have known each other since we were 13. She’s the best friend a gal could have, especially when she’s going through junior high and high school. If you’re in the Chicago area, you should check out the work she’s doing at Erie. It’s amazing.
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