Reading Under the Stars with Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

In some parts of the country, it’s back-to-school season, and in other parts, it’s still summer. Either way, your kids need to continue reading, and hopefully they’ve kept up with Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge program,  which is now in its 8th year! The Summer Reading Challenge is dedicated to stopping the “Summer Slide” and getting kids to reading throughout the summer months  — getting them ready for school!  This year’s 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. And earlier this week, The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge broke the 2013 World Record with an astonishing 200 MILLION MINUTES read to date — with 6 more weeks to go!

We live in New York City so we don’t have a backyard, but we do have a rooftop! We were reading under the stars (well, it was still bright out — it is summer — and our girls go to sleep early). The girls and their friends took their books and their flashlights (powered by EVEREADY, of course) to our rooftop to read.

They had a blast. In between running around with and making spooky faces with their EVEREADY powered flashlights, they settled down to read. They took a blanket and made it into a reading tent with a few of the outdoor chairs. (I LOVED making tents out of blankets and chairs!!). Which was a nice and cozy for all of them. But then the concrete hurt (again, we DO live in NYC) so they used the blanket as what it should be used for.

 

Why You Should Keep Your Kids Reading:

1. It’s estimated that the Summer Slide accounts for as much as 85% of the reading achievement gap between lower-income students and their middle- and upper-income peers.¹

2. Learning or reading skill losses during the summer months are cumulative. By the time a struggling reader reaches middle school, summer reading loss has accumulated to a two-year lag in reading achievement.²

3. 3rd graders who can’t read on grade level are four times less likely to graduate by age 18  than are proficient readers.³

The Good News:

1.  Studies show that early and sustained summer learning opportunities improve academic outcomes for youth and lead to higher graduation rates and better preparation for college.(4)

2. Ensuring easy and continued access to books for summer reading is one potential strategy for addressing summer reading setback.

3. 92% of kids say they are more likely to finish reading a book that they pick out themselves.(5)

BOTTOM LINE: GET YOUR KIDS READING —

NO MATTER WHERE OR WHEN! 

 

Tell me: What books are your kids reading?

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. For more information visit Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge

 {This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are mine, except those that are cited.}

Citations: 1 Why Summer Matters in the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap, Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Frazen, August 2009 2 Ameliorating summer reading setback among economically disadvantaged elementary students, Richard Allington, April 2007 3 Annie E. Casey Foundation, Hernandez, Donald J., 2011 4 The Kids and Family Reading Report™ conducted by Yankelovich and Scholastic, 2010 5 The Kids and Family Reading Report™ conducted by The Harrison Group and Scholastic, 2012