With summer now around the block, it’s time to make plans for you and your kids. You’ll surely have lots of fun, but be sure to include some educational activities in your schedule. Research shows that the average student loses 2-4 months of mathematics and reading achievements made throughout the school year. Your children may fall behind without even realizing it. Challenge their brains and encourage reading this summer! And with KidslitMusings, you can guarantee it will be fun for everyone.

Join a Reading Club:

Brookline Public Library is the first place to go for summer reading. They have the 2012 School Summer Readings Lists (as does Brookline Booksmith), as well as ongoing activities for kids and teens. 

Many times programs will offer contests for kids who achieve great lengths in reading. The Boston Public Library, for instance, holds an annual “Read Your Way to Fenway”. What’s great about this program is how other institutions around Boston also sponsor the program: 

Museum of Science, New England Aquarium, Historic New England, Quincy Players, ReadBoston, and Countdown to Kindergarten

Teens can sign up online for the BPL Summer Reading Club, and kids and parents can also find reading lists and ideas on the official website.

Of course, Scholastic Book Club is reliable reading program for the summer. I personally grew up every summer with the hopes of making my reading goals, and often times exceeded them! You can even log reading times and compete with other classrooms!

Plus, there’s a free “Reading Timer” app for moms and dads to help make reading fun all summer, straight on your iPhone or iPad!

Books for Summer:

Barnes and Noble has some great books – old and new – on their book list, for all ages. They include some new favorites – such as Knuffle Bunny, and Interrupting Chicken. We recommend Chicka Chicka Boom Boom; a feel good classic for little multiples that reads well and gets everyone involved!

But of course, one of our favorite book list blogs – Delightful Children’s Books – has a fantastic kid-picked summer reading list. Plus, there’s a bonus challenge on the website!

And for the moms and dad’s out there,our extra-special reading pick just for you is a fan favorite: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. Written by “The Blogess” herself, it’s a wonderfully funny, well paced memoir of the writer  Jenny Lawson. And for the bloggers out there, you are probably swooning over this book already. We also recommend the books on this list of Handpicked Summer Reads from Indie Booksellers from NPR.

You can pick up all your books from Brookline Booksmith (including a signed copy of the new Blogess memoir!).

Happy reading for your whole family, multiples and all, from Kidslit Musings!