There are lots of programs out there that even offer prizes for summer reading. One such program I found on a search on Amazon called Journey Forth’s Summer Reading “Read in the Deep End” program on the BJU Press website: Click here for more details and you might win a Amazon Kindle Ebook reading device. They have age-appropriate reading lists, reading logs to print out and accepts several forms such as print books, electronic books etc and you have until August 31st to turn in your completed logs for each of your children!

Barnes and Noble also has a Summer Reading Challenge for you and your kids (Grandkids) with a Reading Journal to download and print out. You just have to read through the rules, read the books, complete the journal entries and turn them into your local Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp Give a try and see how you do!

Don’t forget your local library and your local school systems has information about summer reading programs on their websites. Most kids are given a summer reading list by the end of school as well as a couple of pages of reading logs or journals to fill out. Please remember that your child needs to see you reading as well as encouraging them to read. And reading to them during the day or at bedtime shows them that reading is important to you and is a great time for bonding. If you cannot afford to buy books for your kids the library is always a great resource for books. Perhaps at the end of summer you can reward your child or grandchild with a brand new or used book that they can keep from your local bookstore.

One of my more recent books that I have read was Laurel Hamilton’s Divine Misdemeanors I wasn’t able to get the book when it was first release in December of last year like I normally do, you know Christmas expenses, but when I did read it it was well worth the read. Ms. Hamilton’s stories are always good and this book is about her second set of characters that she writes about Merry Gentry – Private Eye also known as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. It is the eighth book in the series and on her website you can still download the first chapter and read it. If you like books about supernatural stuff and murder mysteries then give this author a try. Her books have a great story line with suspenseful plots, great characters that are well fleshed out and she gives informative details about the worlds she has created that seem so believable that they could actually happen. Both her series that I read, Anita Blake – Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry – Private Eye are set in the U.S. Anita Blake is set in St. Louis and Merry Gentry in Los Angeles. All of her works are great reads and take you out of the everyday!

Another website I would recommend is the EBOOK88 website at: http://www.ebook88.com/about.html This website has some great information about Ebooks themselves. If tells where you can get them from, where some free resources of ebooks can be found, and more. “eBook88 is an independent web site for eBook resources. We provide a list of some educational eBooks that are available at different eBook Stores. Some of them are free. We also have an ebook directory where individual authors can submit his/her works.” I found the site to be informative and helpful.

The Lil-fingers website features online books and applications to review words and letters. It also has some free coloring pages, games to play and stories to read. It is called http://www.lil-fingers.com/index.html Check out their site. There are not too many advertisements that get in the way of clicking in the right areas. Which is important because I have found that most sites that offer things for free has too many advertisers and they are right in the middle of what you are really trying to access.

To encourage the “poet” in your little ones try out this Rhyming site at:
Seventy-One Other Take Home Rhymes They have a listing by the first line in the nursery rhyme and you click on it and it opens up an Acrobat Reader file with the rest of the poem.

PBS Kids is also a great FREE Resource for online learning. They have books that are read aloud, music videos, activities and games online to play and printable pages to print out and color. There is even a “Tips for Parents or CareGivers” section. This is a fun website that you and your children can enjoy.

Now, I have been reading to my grand-daughter since she could sit on my lap and pay attention. Before that I would sing to her or tell her stories. I did the same thing with each of my children as well. That is how it starts. Singing to babies and telling little ones stories begins the process of teaching them how to read. Reading to them on a regular basis is the next step. Granted with most little ones you will have to read the same story over-and-over again until they get fascinated by something else. It doesn’t matter only that you read to them every day. Children like routine and they learn better if you try to make a routine of it. Don’t forget to make it fun as well! They should see you reading other things as well. We read books, newspapers and magazines. When we are not working, cleaning, car-pooling and have a variety of all the other things that we have to do in our busy lives we relax by reading.

I was cruising the web for some FREE resources for new parents and grand-parents to use to help get their little ones interested in reading and found some great resources. One of them is the Reading Rockets. There are free guides to download and print out. They have tip-sheets, program guides to PBS shows, and much more. Give them a try and see if their information will help you.

For older children between 4 and 7 you can use the services that are offered for FREE at the www.Starfall.com website. There are interactive programs about letters, numbers, words and more. These are offered for FREE. They do have a store attached to the website with some low-cost materials but just the volume of free stuff is great so give them a try.

Cheers
jolenemacinjax
admin

If you would like to try some more free ebooks you can go to the Gutenberg website and download as many of the “out of print” books in text format. You might want to try your local library as well. Some have ebooks available for checkout but you will need access to their online website. These are 3 sources that I trust. If you find another source of free ebooks and would like to share them then please feel free to comment or email us at: jolene.macfadden@jolenesreadingguide.info

http://jolenesbooksandmore.com/Freestuff.html