There I was rolling down the grassy hill on one of the hottest summers I can remember. The slight wind from my decent cooled me down and made me smile. It was freedom at its best. Of course, the yelling caught me off guard.
"The books!! Stop!! The books!" cried my Mom.
Right....the books. You know the ones I'd just checked out now cascading over the side of the hill. I guess I should have taken off my book bag.
You see we frequented our local library every week in the summertime. We'd check out books, enjoy the summer program activities and earn our prizes from our summer reading charts that usually amounted to a pan pizza or a free frozen yogurt and then, propelled our bodies down the grass covered hill outside our library.
It was summer at its finest.
Those memories are some of my favorite from my childhood. My siblings and I packed in a hot van headed for the oasis that was our library.
These are the memories I want for my own children. To love the library, love reading and enjoy being together for summer vacation.
As a parent, we've frequented our local library for the past 7 years. It is important to me that I encourage my kids to read. Even at a young age.
However, our summer reading program went digital last year. Which is fine. I don't fault them for that. It saves on paper, time and resources.
During the summer I try to cut out as much screen time as possible. Yes, I'm probably ruining their lives since they don't realize they can have their own avatar from the library.
But my 3 year old keeping track of his reading on a computer is not exactly what I imagined summer reading programs would include.
There is something magical about keeping track of your progress on paper. Like your fitness goals or your to do list.
That's why I decided our family still needed the traditional summer reading chart printable.
I wanted to share the free printable with you! Since I can't be the only one that likes charts.
I've added their reading charts to our summer diy command center that helps us stay organized and it has been a success so far.
Summer Reading Chart Printable
How does it work? It's simple really. Each child gets their own. We hang them on our hall, fridge or door.
When they've completed 20-30 minutes of reading each day, they get to add a sticker of their choice to their chart.
Once their chart is filled, I can go in on the computer and log their progress for the library. This way they can still earn their prizes but without the hassle of them getting on the computer and getting distracted.
I call that a win.
All 3 of my children LOVE stickers. So they've loved sticker charts. However, my daughter has become quite the crafty little person.
I decided to also create a coloring reading chart. Each day she can color in a different image to keep track of her reading. It satisfies her need to color and still helps us keep track of her reading.
It is a great alternative for older kids or parents that hate kids having stickers. (I can relate.)
It is so important the kids read during the summer. To help them retain what they learned during the school year, as well as, encourage them to be great readers.
Simply print out the charts. Add your child's name. And find those summertime stickers that they'll love.
Now you are all set to keep track of all the books they read and minutes the spend enjoying a good book. Plus, making those memories they'll remember as an adult and hopefully carry on with their children.
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You can print both of these summer reading charts for free. Simply CLICK HERE to download both PDF printables.
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