Starting My Own Program
My family lives 45 minutes out of town. That is a super long way to go one extra time a week for story time. I also don’t like having to drive that far and then expect my kids to sit still while a book is read to them. Therefore, instead of doing our storytime and summer reading program at our library I do my own things with my kids. A couple of years ago I decided to start making up a program for my kids. It was based off of what The Good and the Beautiful summer reading program did. My kids did The Good and the Beautiful one at the same time as they did mine. The Good and the Beautiful program had to be on their booklist. I wanted to have one that I let my kids choose somewhat what they wanted to read because back then a lot of our books weren’t on that list. Fast forward several years and more of our books are living books and wholesome literature. Our house is swarming in books off of a living book or read aloud revival booklist. With the reading program we did with The Good and the Beautiful and the one my kids did for me you had to read so many books and then you got one free. I went to Barnes and Noble and picked out some couple books I thought each of my kids would love and wrapped those. When they got all done with their required amount they got to read their new books.
“When we read aloud, we give our kids practice living as heroes. Practice dealing with life-and-death situations, practice living with virtue, practice failing at virtue. As the characters in our favorite books struggle through hardship, we struggle with them. We consider whether we would be as brave, as bold, as fully human an our favorite heroes. And then we grasp- on a deeper, more meaningful level- the story we are living ourselves as well as the kind of character we will become as that story unfolds.” -Sarah Mackenzie
2023 Goodreads, Inc, The Read Aloud Family Quotes, The Read Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/58318166-the-read-aloud-family-making-meaningful-and-lasting-connections-with-yo#:~:text=“We%20need%20our%20kids%20to,when%20a%20child%20loves%20books.”
What is the Reward?
I should start by saying my kids are kind of spoiled rotten. This year’s reading program is going to be different. Instead of just giving my kids just books I’m going to throw in some extra things I thought they would like. Here’s a list of what I’m thinking about adding to the kits.
Scooby 11 years old
I want to put in gel pens, two discount books from The Good and the Beautiful, a book about forging knives, a cool bookmark, maybe some kind of craft, and a little candy.
Baby Cakes 5 years old
I want to put in gel pens, some fun picture books off of a second hand book website, a cool bookmark, some candy, some type of stationary kit, and a kindergarten learning game. Some of the picture books I chose after reading Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival recommendations.
Bear Bucks 10 years old
I want to put in gel pens, a discount book set from the Good and the Beautiful, a bookmark, Fashion Angels Fashion Design Sketchbook off of Amazon, and a little candy.
Skeebers 8 years old
I want to put in gel pens, 2 discount books from the Good and the Beautiful about animals, a cool bookmark, a book about dinosaurs, maybe some kind of a craft or paper, and a little candy.
How Does it Work
The way this summer program works is I made a chart with popsicles on it. There are different catagories one some or I have made blank ones that you can copy and write your own subjects in. You are free to use my creation for your home or to share with your friends but not for profit. Each time your children read something of each flavor they get to cross of that popsicle. When they cross off all their popsicles they get whatever reward you decide on.
Summary
I hope you have fun with this. Sadly, I like spoiling my kids too much. I love giving them rewards as motivation. Doing the reward kits gives me something to plan out and have fun with. I hope you enjoy it as much as we’re going to.