This year’s Summer Reading theme is Reading Under the Stars, and is powered by EVEREADY®, the maker of batteries and flashlights, to encourage families to discover new and fun ways to explore reading outside this summer.
A HUGE thank you to EVEREADY® for sponsoring this fun and enlightening party! My son and a few of his friends had a blast Reading Under the Stars! We sent out an invite to about 12 of his friends to ask them to join us for a night of fun with a little education mixed in. We timed it to coincide with the delayed fireworks in our small town. Although only 5 friends came to the party, we gave out books and flyers and bookmarks and more to 8 other children. Their parents were excited about the Summer reading challenge and the kids were excited about the flashlights, headlamps and posters! It was a win-win situation!
Now in its 8th year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge aims to prevent the effects of the “summer slide” – the learning losses that can occur during the summer months. As part of the online reading program, children read to earn digital badges and take the extra “Chapter Challenge” to win a chapter from a favorite book franchise. This year’s summer theme- Reading Under the Stars, and is powered by EVEREADY®, the maker of batteries and flashlights, to encourage families to discover new and fun ways to explore reading outside this summer.The 20 U.S. schools with the most reading minutes recorded by September 5 will be featured in the 2015 Scholastic Book of World Records. How amazing would that be if YOUR school won??
Bestselling author Gordon Korman (The Hypnotists) and bestselling author-illustrator David Shannon (Bugs in My Hair!) will visit the U.S. middle school and U.S. elementary school, respectively, with the most minutes logged.For more information about Scholastic and the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, please visit the Scholastic media room at mediaroom.scholastic.com.
Here are some great FREE resources to keep your kids reading ALL summer: FREE Summer Reading Tools for Parents:
- Online summer reading program for kids: Parents can register their children grades K–8 (ages 4–14) for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge from now until September 5. Kids can log their reading minutes, win prizes and help set a new world record for summer reading. The goal is to beat last year’s summer reading world record of 176,438,473 minutes.
- Daily tips and prizes for parents: Scholastic Parents Facebook has a summer calendar app with expert tips, articles and activities. Every Friday, parents can enter for the chance to win Friday Freebie prizes including great books for their kids.
- Track reading minutes with a mobile app: Parents can monitor their children’s progress and help their children enter reading minutes on-the-go with the free Scholastic Reading Timer app.
- 2014 summer booklists: Curated by Scholastic experts, these lists feature more than 700 books for children in Pre-K–8, including this year’s “Reading Under the Stars”–themed list, which showcases books about space, stars and astronomy, as well as spooky stories to read by a campfire.
- Free book offer: Parents can receive a free Scholastic book by mail when they buy two specially marked packs of EVEREADY® Gold® batteries or EVEREADY® flashlights and redeem the package codes online. Visit eveready.com/reader to learn more.
SCHOLASTIC’S SUMMER READING CHALLENGE
My son has always loved to read so it is never a challenge for him. He does always wonder why his friends don’t like to read. Everyone is different! So this party- with the lure of flashlights, snacks and fun swag, was the perfect way to get his friends excited about reading too. Everything is always more fun when you do it in the dark with just a flashlight. The kids all got to pick a book ( I added a few from my Scholastic book collection), got a flashlight or headlamp, and a packet of paperwork, posters, bookmarks and more. We all did a little reading and even downloaded the app on their phones (or their parent’s phones) so they could record their minutes. Anything that has an app is cool too! Then my son got some of them to play flashlight tag. That was the part most of them were waiting for. 10 and 11 year old’s can’t resist a good game of tag and definitely not one that uses flashlights. After they got tired of running, it was time to lay down and look for some stars. By the time that happened, the fireworks were about to start. Needless to say, the party was a huge success and ended in spectacular fireworks! What more could you ask for?
Be sure to follow Scholastic across their social media sites for great reading resources and special events!
Like Scholastic Parents on Facebook
Follow Scholastic on Twitter and Instagram
Follow the Summer Reading Challenge Pinterest Board
Like the Summer Reading Challenge YouTube Playlist
Did you know?
3rd graders who can’t read on grade level are four times less likely to graduate by age 18 than are proficient readers. WOW, I never knew this!
Starting May 5, 2014, kids can log their reading minutes (online and on smartphones) as they Read for the World Record,enter sweepstakes to win fabulous prizes, and earn digital rewards when they complete weekly reading challenges.
This year’s Summer Reading Challenge theme is “Reading Under the Stars” (powered by EVEREADY®). Throughout the summer, kids will read around the galaxy and unlock star constellations as they log reading minutes. What constellations has your child unlocked?
In 2013, Scholastic inspired more than 130,000 kids from 4,200 schools in all 50 States and 31 countries to set a new record for summer reading of 176 million-plus minutes! Guess what? We BEAT that record!
Did you know kids have read more than 205 MILLION minutes in the #SummerReading Challenge? http://t.co/6vE3SbZvJu pic.twitter.com/vsno49Cx71
— Scholastic Club (@ScholasticClub) August 1, 2014
