Post # 200! Summer Sanity Savers Series

This is my 200th blog post, or at least the 200th one that is still on my post list.  I have been working on a series of posts I'm going to call the Summer Sanity Series, full of good free or low cost ideas for keeping your children occupied and learning over the summer.

I intend to touch on many aspects over the next week, in amidst the bargains and freebies:

• Educational opportunities, including reading, math, and science.
• Places to go.
• Things to do.
• Yes, it's vague, but I do have a plan...

Summer Reading Activities

While I'm not a fan of regimented learning programs for kids over the summer, it's important to keep their brains engaged to they don't slide back so far along their learning path.  Since reading is most near and dear to my heart, I'm starting here with the first post.

Maybe you have a child who hates to read, maybe one who needs some improvement in basic reading skills, maybe your child reads everything in sight.  Whether you need a motivator or a reward, there are a ton of great ways to keep your children reading over the summer.  Most are free, some even offer freebies for you and your children.  Not only that, but they are fun ways to get out of the house and DO something.  What could be better?

The focus here will be local for me, but I am also trying to provide some nationally-based programs for the non-local readers.  As always, a quick google (or swagbucks ;) ) search will find similar programs in your area if these aren't local to you.

Public Library

• First, the Ames Public Library summer reading program.  They have TONS of reading groups for all age groups from birth up through high school, and they offer them several times a week so they will be sure to fit into your schedule.  Our family favorite last summer was the family craft story time.  It is made to be a little more multi-age, so you can take several siblings together.  It's an hour long, which includes stories, songs, dances, and a make-and-take craft.
• The Nevada Public Library, while much smaller, has some great activities geared a little more toward the school-aged set.  These usually involve magic shows, science demonstrations, etc.   It looks like they are continuing the activities on Wednesday afternoons.  There are also some age-based story times listed.
• Obviously, your own library will have something similar.  Just looking around during my research, I found many fun and interesting themes and incentive programs.  Both of our local libraries offer summer reading programs where children are rewarded for reading a certain number of books or attending library programs.  

National Programs 

If you are very isolated or don't have time to make it to the library, there are still many reading incentive programs available to help you encourage your children to continue reading over the summer.

• Borders has their Double Dog Dare program.  Read and document 10 books, and get another book free!  Last summer, they also had some story times available for children.
• Barnes and Noble is also offering a great summer reading program!  With B&N, kids read 8 books and get one free, but it looks like they have to do a small review on the book.  That's ok!  It's an opportunity for your child to work on their hand writing and reading comprehension at the same time.  There are also free resources for you to download and print to use.
• Scholastic also is offering a great summer program.  They have separate sections for kids, parents, and educators.  If you are "only" a parent, still take some time to peruse the educator section to get some great ideas.
• Half Price Books also has a program, where children can qualify for a $3 gift card per week if they read for 15 minutes per day.

On Your Own

Are you wanting to do it all on your own in your house?  There are still many great resources available to you, and most are free or very low cost.

• This page is through the New York Public Library system, but there were so many great resources that I thought it should be posted.
• The CSLP offers more great resources for parents, kids, and educators.  Browse around the site to find the information that is relevant to you.
• This page looks to be a more commercial site, but they have tons of free resources available.  Just clicking around, I found some great information and advice, along with printable activities and reward charts.
• Finally, if you missed my post earlier about the educational materials sale on BookCloseouts.  Everything here is under 99 cents, and there are many great items available for purchase.  If you're not keen on online shopping, Dollar Tree is a surprising resource for inexpensive educational materials.  If you've never been to one, check it out some time.  They have great items like charts, workbooks, and flash cards, and everything is $1!

I hope that this series of posts provides some useful information to save your sanity this summer.  This is the first, but I hope to be able to release a couple per week as the school year winds down.  I will tag (meaning the little words at the bottom of each post) each one SSSS.  On the right side of my blog is what is called a "Tag cloud."  This has all the keywords I've tagged posts with, so you can always click on one of the words in the tag cloud to find more of the type of posts you like.  Be sure to click "more old posts" to read all of the posts on the topic.

Thank you to everyone who ups my stats page, clicks the ads, and comments.  All of those things encourage me to keep blogging, and I really enjoy being able to share the information with others.