2014 Summer Reading Programs for Kids

Don't let the summer "brain drain" get to your kids this year.  Keep their reading skills up and their imaginations growing by getting them excited about some of these fun summer reading programs just for kids.  Best of all they are FREE!

Barnes and Noble - Download the Imagination's Destination Reading Journal. Read any 8 books and record them in the Reading Journal. Bring the Reading Journal to Barnes and Noble and choose one FREE book from their special selection of books for kids.

Bob Jones University - Read for 40 days during the summer and track your progress on a reading log.  Kids will receive a prize just for completing their reading log but will also be entered to win more prizes from drawings.

Chuck E. Cheese -  Print the reading calendar from the Chuck E. Cheese website.  Read each day for 2 weeks and record it on your reading calendar.  Turn in the completed calendar and receive 10 free game tokens.

Half Price Books -  Print your reading log from the Half Price Books website.  Read for 15 minutes a day for the months of June and July.  Record your minutes on your reading log.  Once you've read for 300 minutes you can turn in your log to earn HPB Bookworm Bucks for each month.

Pizza Hut - From June 1 - August 15, kids can read 5 books and be entered to win prizes in random drawings.

Pottery Barn Kids -  Kids can read all of the recommended books from now until August 26th.  Turn in your reading log at your local PBK store and receive a free book as well as a chance to win a backpack full of books.

Scholastic - Kids read and log their minutes all summer to earn rewards and participate in setting a reading world record.

Sylvan - A free online reading program for kids in grades K-8.  Kids read then take quizzes and are awarded points based on how well they understood what they read.  Their points can then be traded in for cool prizes.

These are some great summer reading programs that will help get your kids reading throughout the summer.  But don't overlook a great resource right in your own community.  Public libraries all over the country offer some wonderful summer reading programs for kids so be sure to check them out!

Our Little Dancer's Year End Recital

Rachel loves taking dance classes.  She especially loves recital time because she gets her hair curled and she gets a new sparkly dance costume to wear.  Fortunately I had grabbed her curlers and costume when we were packing up to move into the hotel!

Daddy and Nicholas went to get a bouquet of flowers to give her after the recital while Rachel and I stayed in the hotel room getting her ready for the show.  She looks so grown up in this picture (well, except for the chocolate milk moustache!)

 

Daddy and his little princess walking into the building.

 

Rachel just loves being all dressed up.  She informed us that she is the most beautiful girl ever when she is wearing her costume.  I would have to agree but I don't think the costume is the reason.

Although Stuart bought me a new "tough" camera at Christmas, we were disappointed with the video quality and returned it.  Unfortunately, I haven't replaced it with something else so the only camera we have right now is the big D90 or our cell phones.  We recorded the dance with the D90 but it made for still pictures and has only a rudimentary video function which doesn't include auto focus!  It is quite a challenge to use so just bear with us.  I've ordered the professionally made DVD of the recital but here you can see the videos that we made.  

Here is Rachel's ballet dance... 



And her tap dance....


Don't forget the finale!  There are always lots of squeals when the curtains finally close :)
After the recital, Daddy gave Rachel a sweet bouquet of flowers.

After the recital, Rachel got to pick where we went for dinner.  She wanted crab legs at Joe's Crab Shack.  We don't usually eat there because it is kind of expensive but went since it was her special day.

She insisted on cracking the crab legs herself and she did a great job.  

Progress on Floor Repairs

Although there are workers in the house all day long doing repairs, we can't help but stop by at times to check on the progress.   Stuart told me that our contractor had called him with an update that the kitchen tile was complete and needed to set up overnight so we couldn't walk on it if we came to the house.  Well, I couldn't wait another minute and we headed over there as soon as we thought the workers would be done for the day.  

When we moved into the house, the kitchen was pink.  I mean all pink.  Pink wall paper, pink countertops, and even the vinyl flooring has some pink tones in it.  Ugh!  We quickly painted the walls and Stuart replaced the countertops himself but we never did get around to tackling the kitchen floor.  This year we had actually made the plan for Stuart to take a whole week off of work and the two of us would work together on replacing that vinyl flooring with tile ourselves.  But that task was a little daunting since we have never worked with tile and there are so many nooks and crannies that would have to be covered including the bathroom, 2 closets, and the laundry room.  So when I walked into the house and saw that we had a new beautiful porcelain tile everywhere that used to have pink vinyl flooring, I was truly overwhelmed.  

Our contractor is such a blessing to us.  Insurance paid to replace the vinyl flooring with new vinyl flooring but Richard was able to find us a great deal on this tile and he helped us decided on some other items that we would repair on our own in order to put that money into the tile upgrade.

I just can't help but do the Happy Dance as I look back at these pictures!  I'm so excited!

Some of the laminate flooring is in as well.  Here is our school room.  They will replace the base boards next.

The playroom that the kids are standing in used to have old builder grade carpet in it but now it has the same new hard surface as the rest of the downstairs.  It will be so much easier to clean.  I pray that getting rid of the dust-collecting carpet will help Nicholas and me with our allergies and asthma.

As we see our new kitchen coming together it is really hard to look at that builder grade stove that is 23 years old and doesn't work well.  Insurance has paid us to replace some of our personal items that were damaged in the flood but we've decided to not replace those and put that money into getting a new stove.

We have been doing really well about eating breakfast and lunch in the hotel room to try to save money.  We have a little fridge in the room so we keep milk and sandwich meat and a few frozen items there and it has gotten us through great.  But we decided to go out for lunch today and I let the kids pick where they wanted to go.  I was craving a big salad so that was the only requirement that I gave for the restaurant.  I think that gave Nicholas the idea for picking Souper Salad. They have a full salad bar as well as pizza, pasta, baked potatoes, soups, tacos, etc.  And it is all-you-can-eat so the kids loving going back to the bar as often as they want.

After our lunch, we went to many places to shop for stoves and even to look at kitchen cabinets because that may be another blessing our contractor is working on.  Insurance has paid to replace the insides of the lower kitchen cabinets because they absorbed water from the flood but our contractor said that the cost to do that will probably not be much different than just replacing the whole cabinet.  He is working with the numbers to see if he can find a way for us to replace the upper cabinets as well and still stay within our budget.  The kids did a great job and behaving well after hours of shopping.  So I didn't feel too bad when we left our last store, Home Depot, and we all got a little treat.

Environmental Classes in Irving

I have always worked with the kids on planting a few fruits or vegetables in pots in our backyard.  We've grown strawberries and peanuts but they never really did well.  We usually have good success with tomatoes and various types of peppers...well, at least until it gets really hot in July and August and we don't go outside as much for fear of melting under the sun's burning rays.  We also have problems with bugs eating away at our veggies.

This year we were hoping to take the leap to a real garden.  We like the idea of square foot gardening.  We have seeds sprouting indoors waiting to go into the ground. We have the wooden frame of what will someday become a nice square foot garden.  However, with the flood and us now living in a hotel, the garden is at a standsill and the seedlings indoors are not looking very healthy.

However, we are still trying to learn a lot more about how to grow our own food and making sure our kids learn along with us.  I was excited to find these classes that are coming up.  Irving’s Think Green, Be Green Department is offering several classes to help residents learn to be better stewards of the planet.  Click HERE to register online. 

·   Beneficial Insects: 6 to 7:30 p.m., May 20, West Irving Library, 4444 W. Rochelle Road. Most insects are friends of the gardener. Dallas County Master Gardener Carolyn Rozier will help students identify insects that are helpful to the gardener and offer tips on how to effectively decrease dependence on pesticides.

·   Rainwater Harvesting: 9 to 11 a.m., May 31, location provided upon registration. Learn about water conservation through the harvesting of rainwater. Students also will learn how to build a rainwater harvesting collection barrel. At the end of the clinic, students will receive a rain barrel ready for use. Registration required. $30.

Backyard Composting:  6 to 8 p.,. June 3. Learn how to compost using the hot and cold methods.  Students also will discuss types of materials to use in building a compost pile as well as troubleshooting composting problems. Students also will learn about the benefits of compost and applications in gardening.

 

Free DVD for Your Homeschool: Stossel in the Classroom

Each year I get a free DVD from John Stossel's series, Stossel in the Classroom.  It is for teachers to use as supplement material in their lessons.  The 2014 edition is 47 minutes long.  It includes 8 segments from Stossel's television programs that have been specifically edited to use in a class setting for children.

Here are the video segments on this year's free DVD:
- College Tuition and Campus Luxuries
- Product Liability Lawsuits: Who Gets Burned?
- High Speed Rail: Boondocks & Boondoggles
- The Fracking Debate
- Food Nannies: Who Decides What You Eat?
- Entrepreneurs: Doing Good by Doing Well
- The Psychology Behind Political Campaigns
- Taxi Licensing: Are We Being Taken for a Ride?

This DVD is competely FREE.  They even cover the shipping for you!  To order your free DVD or to get more information, including segment descriptions, click here: http://stosselintheclassroom.org/freedvd/?source=ftc
I was just on the website to get the link to order the DVD and I realized that they now offer all of the video segments as streaming videos right on their website. Check it out HERE.  That means you don't even have to order the DVD anymore.  It's just all on the website and you can even see the segments from previous years as well.  You will surely find something here that can help you in your homeschool plans for the year.