Summer Reading Programs

Barnes and Noble - Read 8 books and get a free book.

Half Priced Books - Read 300 minutes and receive HPB Bookworm bucks.

Local Library - The Metropolitan Library System is doing a summer reading programs for children birth and up. The offer prizes and coupons as you reach your goals.

The Daily Oklahoman - For ages 5-12. Win prizes in random drawings when you send in the answer for the week.

Scholastic Summer Challenge - Children log minutes and complete challenges for daily prizes.  They can also read for the World Record.

Book Adventure - Children read books and take quizzes to earn prizes.

Chuck E Cheese's - Earn 10 tokens for reading for two weeks.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year and usually that means it's time to set some goals. I usually make them and break them but I think it's because I set my goals to high so this year I'm going to try some obtainable ones.

Here's my goals for this year:

Read some classic stories to my children. I'm going to check out some from the library or go to our local discount book store and find them there. 

Read the Bible. I have never read the whole bible and this year I thought I would try it. There is a great app called YouVersion it has several plans for reading and I'm going to use it. I also noticed you can listen to it as well. 

Make a menu each month. I started this last year and it worked out so well. Making a menu saved me time and money at the grocery store. I also started using my crock pot and that is a great time saver. I'll have to post about it sometime. 

Keep my house in order. The house can get crazy with three boys so keeping up with it will be a major task. I am going to focus on doing one big thing for the day and then maybe it will be better. 

Start a bible study. I have wanted to for a long time and I hope this year will be the year to start it. 

Spend time each month as a family. This is a huge one for me. My children are so spread out in age that is makes it hard for us to do anything together but I'm going to make it happen. We can do movie nights and game nights. I will plan a couple a month. 

Say I love you more in different ways by doing small acts of kindness for my family. I say I love you but I don't always show it. I wanted to find different ways to express my love to my husband and my kids. My examples might be taking out the trash for my son sometimes, cleaning the kids rooms, taking the kids to their favorite places, making their favorite meal. 

Send out at least one note each month. I miss hand written letters. I use to send my cousin one each week and receive one back from her. This year I will pick someone each month to write a hand written letter too. 

Make myself a reminder in my calendar for my goals. I tend to forget my goals and get side tracked from doing something about them. This year I don't want to forget. I set up my calendar with reminders through out the month so I will remember. 

Write a love note to Jesus every month. I really want to enrich my relationship with Christ this year and I thought this might be a great way to do it. 

What are your goals for 2013? 

Summer Activities: Story Time

I've been told that children loose part of what they learned in school over the summer. In order for us to help our children keep their brains active and learning we need to feed them. Reading a great way for children to learn. 

I compiled a list of resources for reading whether it's story time at the local book store or swapping books online.

Story Times

Barnes and Noble – Check your local store for dates and times. 

Pottery Barn for Kids – Offers of weekly book club. Children will receive a gift after attending five story times. Check your local store for dates and times.  

Check your local library, malls and museums for more story times.

Online Story Time

Barnes and Noble – Offers a free online story time with authors and celebrities each month. 

Story Time for Me  - Get a free personalized book for your child and free online storybooks. Registration is free.

Storyline Online – Books are read by actors and actresses. Each books has activities and lesson ideas available. Books read by Camryn Manheim, Melissa Gilbert, Amanda Bynes, Betty White and many more. 

Book Swaps

Does your family like to read? Would you like to find new books without paying a lot of money? People around the world get rid of books everyday. Try some of these websites for getting new books.

Paper Back Swap - Membership is free, and the only cost is the shipping of the book to other members. In return other members send books to you. 

Swap.com – This site is free to register and you can swap books and more through them. Swap local or across the world.

Bookcrossing.com – This site is a little different. You register your book and put it out somewhere in your neighborhood for someone else to find it. Track your book online to find out where it’s headed. There are books out hiding in different places maybe you can find one close to home. Registration is free.

Books Free Swap  - Registration is free, and recipient pays for postage.

Book Mooch – Register books you have and earn points for more books. You pay for shipping books to other members. Registration is free.

Listia.com – An online auction site. It’s free to register. Earn points for each book you auction off and use the points to get books. You can get books with free shipping or you can pay for shipping. There are also other things available on this site.

Free Books

Free Book downloads for your Kindle, Nook, IPhone, IPad, IPod Touch or Android devices. .

Amazon  - Find a ton of books available for free download.

Free-ebooks.net – Get unlimited reading from independent writers and rising authors. Registration is free.

ManyBooks.net – Free registration. Over 21,282 eBooks.

Summer Activities: Summer Reading Programs 2012

PBS Kids and IVillage have a FREE six week reading program and a chance for you to win daily prizes for participation.

PBS Kids and JetBlue get a travel activity booklet and track your minutes. You can also send a postcard with Hooper.

Barnes and Noble – Read 8 books and get one FREE. Get a passport online. For grades 1-6.

Feed Your Brain – Half –Priced Books gives $5 for reading 300 minutes or more each month. For ages 14 and under.

Chuck E. Cheese – Read books for two weeks and redeem 10 tokens on your next visit.

Read for the World Record with Scholastic Books. Schools and Students help set a new world record. Sign up with your school or on our own. Keep a reading log online. Schools with the most minutes will be published in the 2013 Scholastic Book of World Records.

Sylvan Book Adventure – Children choose from a list of over 7,000 titles and take multiple choice quizzes and earn points. Redeem prizes with your points. For grades K-8.

Summer Break Reading Challenge Book It Program – Students can read 5 books and become eligible for a chance to win a prize package. For grades K-6. June 15 through August 15.

Pottery Barn for Kids Summer Reading Challenge – Read books from the list and track your progress. Enter for a chance to win a backpack full of books and receive a free book at your local store.

Check with your local library to find out what they are offering.