bring on summer, our first month of the #summerreading challenge with scholastic has begun!

*This post is sponsored by Scholastic although all opinions expressed are my own.*

Well, our first week of summer break is under our belt. And it was…horrible!! Ack!! I hate to even say that, but man did we have a rough week. I’m sure it has to do with the later hours of outdoor play, the increased consumption of ice cream (yum!!) and the lack of a routine and structure. All of which is completely and entirely under my control. I feel so bad that the first week was such a wreck, but now that we are in our second week of summer break, I am starting to feel a little better. Yes, we are still working on the ice cream consumption, but come on, it’s summer! It truly is hilarious because my girls rarely ask for ice cream outside of summer time. The routine and structure is what we are getting a handle on. I’m working on saying “no” to more things too! That has always been a struggle for me…but my family life suffers when I say “yes” too much!

But, back on track…in this post AND for our summer break. One thing that is oh so important for my family is structure and routine. The girls get flustered and so do I when we just fly by the seat of our pants all the time. So, in saying that, I had to update you all on how things are going since I announced we would be doing the Summer Challenge with Scholastic. Like I said, we are in our second week of break, yet our first FULL week in the challenge. Our time has still been filled with dance commitments (we have Dance Nationals coming soon!!), so the time spent reading hasn’t been as much as we all would like. But, we have goals…and that’s great!

Why are we so focused on reading this summer? Well, did you know that the “summer slide” is a real thing? Kids lose some of the skills they worked so hard to learn at school, during the summer months. Sadness! So as a parent, I’m working to do my best to help my kids stay at or increase their learning level over the summer months, and the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is helping the reading portion with my two oldest girls. Kids love reading books they pick out themselves, so we are making it part of our routine to go to the library once a week. In addition to that, we are doing the online challenge. The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free online reading program, in it’s 9th year, that encourages kids to keep reading throughout the summer months. This year’s challenge theme is “Power Up & Read,” powered by ENERGIZER®.

From now through September 4, 2015, all you kids have to do is log their reading minutes (via online or mobile). Last year my girls helped contribute to the TOTAL of 304,749,861 minutes. And what’s better than your kids reading more? A FREE program! Ha! In addition, your kids can enter to win monthly prizes and earn digital rewards when reading challenges are completed. Sounds pretty fabulous, right? Sign up HERE and get the party started with you kiddos too!
There is so much more that you can dig in to, but I want you to find this out for yourself too so you can become familiar with the site. Some quick examples are:

• 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…
• Parents can download free resources, including printables and booklists for kids of all ages.
• 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…”
• 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.

Since the first Summer Reading with Scholastic post that I shared with you all, have you dug in and signed up? If not, what’s holding you back? I’d love to hear if you plan on digging in now that you read another update! 

Keep learning ::
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