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Have You & Your Children Joined the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge?
Last month we shared with you that we are part of the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. My kids signed up and we are actively logging all of their reading time.
Now in its 9th year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free online reading program dedicated to stopping the “summer slide” by encouraging kids to read throughout the summer months when school is out. This year’s challenge theme is “Power Up & Read,” powered by ENERGIZER®.
WHY SHOULD KIDS READ THIS SUMMER?
Kids fall prey to the “summer slide,” the common loss of skills due to being out of school, when they do not read over the summer. In fact, research shows Teachers spend four to six weeks re-teaching materials to students because of the “summer slide”—the learning losses which can occur when school is not in session. (Alexander et. al, 2007)
Summer is the perfect time for a child to discover the power of choice. According to the Kids & Family Reading Report, 5th edition, 91% of kids (ages 6-17) say that their favorite books are the ones they pick out themselves.
HOW DOES THE SCHOLASTIC READING CHALLENGE WORK?
Starting May 4, 2015 – September 4, 2015, kids can log their reading minutes (online and via mobile) as they read to break last year’s world record of 304,749,861 minutes. Kids can also enter monthly sweepstakes to win fabulous prizes, and earn digital rewards when they complete weekly reading challenges.
Parents can sign-up their kids at www.scholastic.com/summer. It’s FREE plus it is so easy for kids to log their reading minutes.
WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR FOR KIDS?
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…”
The authors include Blue Balliett, Patrik Henry Bass, Varian Johnson, Gordon Korman, Michael Northtrop, Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pierce, Roland Smith, R.L. Stine, Tui T. Sutherland, Lauren Tarshis, Wendy Wan-Long Shang and Jude Watson.
Each story has a “read along” audio component, inviting kids of all ages and reading levels to enjoy these highly engaging stories.
- 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.
WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR FOR PARENTS?
The parents site features new, daily tips for parents called “The Daily Digest.” Parents can download free resources, including printables and booklists for kids of all ages. I am loving the parent portion of the site and I find myself using it several times per week.
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. The prize pack includes: Scholastic tote bag, water bottle, a copy of Reading Unbound by Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith, $10 gift certificate to Scholastic Store Online, Energizer® brand batteries, Scholastic books, and more.
ENERGIZER INSTANT WIN GAME
Energizer® and Scholastic are partnering to create the “Power the Possibilities” campaign which gives moms the tools they need to unlock their child’s talents, fuel their ambitions and set them up for future success. Starting May 4, 2015, parents can buy any specially marked pack of Energizer® brand batteries to scratch for a chance to win one of thousands of prizes that will power discovery and learning.
Prizes include a family trip to New York City, a Scholastic Study Corner Makeover, a tablet with Scholastic apps, a library of Scholastic books and more! Everyone who plays can also download free digital stories for their family.
GET SOCIAL WITH SCHOLASTIC AND ENERGIZER
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
WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR KIDS TO READ?
That is an awesome challenge! I love to keep my kids busy reading over the summer.
This is g a great way to keep the kiddos brains active all summer! My kids love to read and always have a book nearby!
We used to enroll my daughter in the summer reading program. It really payed off. She learned to love to learn, and now she’s got a full ride to college!
The kids are all grown, but I’m going to remind my daughter and make sure she has signed up her boys. They love to read. I always say they take after me. 🙂
This sounds great! I hope win, thank you so much for let me know. ^_^
I’m certain my son is participating in something similar to this. And I’ve thought about doing something similar for my 18 month old and I to do read-aloud books.
Such a good idea to keep kids reading throughout summer break! Love the challenge.
My kids are too old for this now. My daughter reads all the time though. I really like all that Scholastic does to make kids want to read.
This is a great challenge plus the kids get to win prizes. I need to do this with my kiddos.
Our Grandkids always love a good book. I found a gread dinosaur book for our oldest Grandson last week
I know once I tell my daughter about this, she will want to sign up. Thanks for sharing!
This is amazing to get the younger ones to keep on reading! It helps them keep their brains active and working.
We haven’t started this but we should! I need to keep my kids on track this summer they tend to fall off during the summer.
Wow, thanks for this! The boychild loves to read so this is perfect for him.
Omg what a fun way to keep kiddos reading during the summer! so important to keep young ones learning threw out the summer!
No we have not! But we definitely will be signing up now! Reading is so important!
This is a great challenge to encourage kids to read even if they’re on school break and at the same time, it helps them spend their leisure time wisely. I think the badges and the digital rewards are enough to motivate kids to read through this challenge. Kudos to Scholastic and Energizer for coming up with this challenge.
This sounds like a great activity for kids. I will pass this on to my sister for my nieces and nephews.
Yes we did and they are having a blast with it. It’s been a few days and they sure to read a lot after we signed up.
Im so happy that Scholastic has the summer reading program. As a mother I make sure that my children continue to read over the summer vacation.
We haven’t joined but to think this is such a good idea! My kiddos love reading and I’d like to keep it up even during the summer!
My children are readers so I an thankful for that. I think it is because we always made it a family activity. We would get involved with the kids and their books. We would ask questions, read parts together, and even do activities centered around that book. We just try to make it fun.
What a great challenge for kids. My son loves reading and he’s into reading the Lord of the Rings series now.
This is a great program for the summer. My kids love to read. We all love to go to the book store and pick out a new book to read.
My kids haven’t signed up for this yet! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, since I do have them doing a mandatory 20min of reading time every week day, this is a perfect way to track it!
Sumner reading makes a huge difference. I tried to get my kids to read 20 to 30 minutes a day. I have let them have a bit of a break but I’ll be starting them next week. It keeps them busy.
I am really into anything that has summer reading as a challenge. It is important to stay sharp!
This is so awesome. I’m always buying the kiddos books through Scholastic. I didn’t know they did this. Thanks for sharing.
I wasn’t aware of this reading challenge, but thank you for the heads up! I’ll definitely have my son participate.
Kids should read all the time, especially in the summer! I heavily encourage mine to read as much as possible!
Encouraging kids to read is so important! I really like the idea of this challenge! I think I actually took this challenge years ago when I was a kid!
Thankfully, both my kids really love to read, so joining this challenge would be really fun for them.
My nephew has not joined this challenge, but I would love him to. He’s one of those kids that only reads when he has to – it drives me crazy since I was an avid reader as a child.
I’m going to make my 10 year old participate. He does the Scholastic reader during the year. No point in stopping now plus he loves to read.
I think this is so true. Everyone should read a lot more. I just amazed my husband by reading a new book in less than 24 hours (that included sleeping and going to work). I’m starting another book tonight!
I have not tried this before but it sounds good I think I will give it a trie. My son dropped out of school and he want to get his GED or be home schooled I would like so info. On how to sign him up for home school son he can graduate from high school.