summer

Leave a comment on this weekly challenge post with the following:

• Book Title
• Genre
• Age Category
• A short review

Nationwide, research is consistently showing that over the course of their summer break, our kids are losing some of the critical skills they have previously learned. One study showed that when students are given a test at the beginning and end of their summer break, they score significantly lower at the end of their summer break, even though it's the same test. It’s what experts call Summer Learning Loss.

According to Reading is Fundamental, “the greatest areas of summer loss for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, are in factual or procedural knowledge.”

Summer learning loss has some serious consequences, which is why many parents and educators are asking school districts around the country to consider changing school calendars to accommodate differences in student learning.

While discussions about what changes should and should not be happening to school calendars, we, as parents, can do our part to ensure that our kids continue learning throughout their summer break.  

School’s out! Summer’s here! And so is the Annual K¹² Week Summer Reading Challenge! Reading can be done in all sorts of cool places - in the car, lounging in a lawn chair next to the pool, and even while canoeing!  The options are endless!

Take advantage of this challenge to keep learning alive during the summer and discover or re-discover how much fun reading can be!  

Here’s how it works:

1. Yes, it's open to to parents, students, friends, grandparents, and anyone that can read a book!
2. Read 12 books over the designated 12 week period.
3. The challenge runs from June 11, 2012 through August 31, 2012. 
4. Participants may join at any time but the goal is to read at least 12 books.
5. All books are acceptable --picture, youth, young adult, adult, etc.
6. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
7. Re-reading books is fine as long as they are re-read sometime during the duration of the challenge.
8. Each Friday during the challenge, return to our blog and leave a comment on the weekly challenge post with a short review of the book you read.
9. Keep track of your read books. 
10. At the end of the challenge, post the full list of read books!  That should be 12 books total! 

“If you can’t play sports or video games or hang out with your friends or watch TV, I guess it’s okay.” A preteen boy, asked what he thinks about reading.

We all know kids spend more and more time in front of the television, video game console, computer, or smart phone instead of picking up a book. Several recent articles, blog posts, and research findings indicate that boys are reading less and less and it’s showing in lower and lower test scores. For almost 20 years now, boys have been underperforming girls on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (The Nation’s Report Card).

Rather than a few more scary statistics or some dismal data, how some suggestions for getting your sons (and daughters!) up and reading this summer?