Summer Reading Has Its Rewards

Hello Everyone! We are so excited that Summer is drawing near; we have great plans for our kiddos at The Academy of Gateway. From Kindergarten Bootcamp to Water Days, we will have fun activities to fill our summer! 

With Summer a month away, lets not forget about our summer reading! :) Power your child's love of words with these fun games and activities. They'll never guess how much they're learning! We fell in love with these ideas and will definitely be implementing them in our older classrooms. :)

Play Matchmaker

Early reads will get a kick out of recognizing words. Toss a bunch of household items--your kid's plastic dino, a seashell, a pencil--into a bucket. Write the corresponding words on note cards. Your child's mission: Match each item with its written description.

Swap Stories By The Campfire

Pack your kids' favorite (not too) spooky tales and a flashlight, and act out the stories in your best ghostly voice. Not into camping? Just head to the backyard after dark.

Tell A Zany Story

Preschoolers love to chat, and DIY mad libs power your child's active imagination while boosting literacy skills. Brainstorm a list of people, places, things and actions with your little one. Write them down onto slips of paper. Place the nouns and verbs into two different bowls. Ask your child to draw one slip from each, them come up with a story involving the two. They'll be excited to you all about a bicycling bear. For more storytelling fun, check out the Innovation Machine powered by Energizer online at scholastic.com/summer

Fish For Sight Words

Beginning readers can recognize some short words--such as "the" and "to"--at a glance. Help them practice by playing a round of reading inspired Go Fish. Write about 20 sight words on note cards (make sure there are two of each word). Then, deal four cards to yourself and your child. Place the remainder between you. In order to make a pair, your child will need to figure out what words are in her hand, then ask if you've got its match or draw from the deck.

Build Some Words

Energize their pattern-recognition skills by creating word blocks. First, jot down common syllables like at, an, op, and it on sticky notes then affix each to a block. Next, put consonants on another set of stickies and affix those to blocks as well. Then let your kids stack 'em up to build as many words as they can. 

Take It Outside 

Grab a pair of walkie-talkies and a couple of your child's favorite books. Then head outside and find separate places in the yard where you can get comfy. Take turns reading to each other through the walkies and encourage him to spell out words he gets stuck on. This activity can also work with larger group of kids, like kids from the neighborhood! :) 

For more information about the Power Up and Read Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, please go to scholastic.com/summer

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