whoever above complained about allergies.....mine went away with about 6 treatments of acupuncture. even more amazing, becuase I didnt believe it would work. at least, there are no side effects (if the needels are clean!!). anyway, something to consider. of course, this is anecdotal experience only and just one case, and not professional advice by any stretch!!
Click on: Summer of Unfortunate Events Journal and Instructions. You can print off a sheet for each child. Then they read 8 books and bring their completed sheet to the store to trade for a free book. We went last week, and there must have been 30 books for my kids to choose from. What a great reward for reading!
Writing camp is almost over. Tues, Wed. and Thurs. went MUCH better. I had Sylvan clarify what they expected from the parents. Grandma and Grandpa have been in town, so I have had Grandma work with Nathaniel on the spelling/grammer while I take on the books. Sylvan does lots of toy rewards at the end of the day, so Nathaniel has been motivated to read books that have AR tests on Sylvan's site: Bookadventure.com (he wants to earn more stuff). I have been checking the reading levels, and picking books off his shelves that are fun and easy for him. His confidence is building!!!!!!!
If it's any consolation, my allergies were really bad today and I got to the point where I had ot lay down with a cool cloth on my eyes and had my oldest read from my current book to me. At some point I fell asleep (because everyone was taking a nap) and my son was still reading for almost 30 minutes before I started to snore! He got extra marks on the chore chart because I felt so bad, then he asked if he could read the book when I was done.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
OHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh, thank you gals. I had a "Shawn" day today. The Writing Camp didn't sit so well with my boy. 2 hours of camp, and 2 1/2 hours of (on and off) rewriting his first draft. It was UGLY!!!! I had no idea a summer camp could have homework! Anyway, the dictionary came out unscathed. We'll try again tomorrow.
Eastside Eagles - Barnes & Noble also usually has a summer reading table that's appropriate for lots of grade levels. I'm pretty sure Borders and Waldens does the same thing, or even your local library. They all also usually have a schedule of guest readers and activities for the summer.
Our school has a summer reading program so that every book a child reads and summarizes (no AR testing during the summer) he/she gets a BEAR token to be "spent" at a little carnival at the beginning of the year. This incentive worked for about a week for my kids (6 & 5 yrs.), but the goal was too far away, I think, for them to stay motivated. So, my husband and I decided to add reading and summarizing 3 books a week to their chore list as part of earning their allowance. At least my son is a little more motivated.
Shawn - If you're looking for something less academic, check with your local movie theatres. I know that Regal Cinemas has two days a week that they offer free movies in the morning - of course they're hoping you'll buy concessions, but it's not required. All movies are G or PG. You can check the website for the showings or if the program is offered near you.
