For next summer: Reading programs abound

If there's one thing we learned this summer, it's that summer reading programs work and there are lots of them around! Next summer, check out these ideas for keeping kids engaged in reading:

1. Your child's school library. Ours gave a reading goal that we doubled. He'll get a certificate when school starts again.
2. Your local library. Even in our little town, the library ran a reading program. In a big city, you might find several.
3. Your state. The State of Kansas ran a reading program with the incentive of maybe winning one of a few $25 prizes.
4. Chuck E. Cheese. A fellow blogger told me recently that the kids arcade restaurant has a reading rewards program. You can find that and other rewards incentives here.
5. Book series. Junie B. Jones has a reading club and other series your child likes may as well. I just found out that Skippyjon Jones has birthday party printables too! How fun to have a book-themed birthday party.
6. Barnes & Noble. And kids earn a free book!  
7. Half Price Books.
8. BJU Press.
9. Lastly, if you don't find a reading program that fits your needs, set one up at home. You can read here and here how we did this at home to great effect.

In the meantime, while they work on reading in school, keep up the trips to the library. I hope for Brady it will always be a place of awe, of fun, of excitement, of respect, of learning. Our little library isn't open on the weekends, but we go every three weeks on Monday and get new books. Happy reading!