Reading aloud: Take it outside

With summer days on their way and the anticipation of beautiful weather, kids should be clamoring to spend time outdoors. Yet kids spend less time outside each day than inmates in maximum security prisons. Prisoners get 2 hours of outdoor time, whereas a recent survey of 12,000 parents who have children aged five to 12, found that one-third of kids spend fewer than 30 minutes outside each day.

The list of benefits for kids who spend time playing outdoors is impressive. Playing outside

• Strengthens the immune system
• Provides opportunities to practice solving problems
• Builds language skills and vocabulary
• Teaches respect and empathy
• Contributes to fitness, overall health and fewer behavioral problems.

What can you do to get kids outside? Fortunately, the book is an enticing portable technology that can go almost anywhere! Here's a selection of titles and ideas that will help you take reading outside.


• Go on a bear hunt 
Take advantage of the beautifully illustrated call-and-response title We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and get physical outside as kids search for a bear in the great outdoors. No cave in sight? Have them use their imagination to “discover” grass, a river, mud, a cave, etc. on their adventure. 





• Have a wild rumpus
When Max cried, “Let the wild rumpus start!” he and the wild things begin dancing wildly.  Take your wild things outside to read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and encourage kids to respond to the words and pictures with their own expressive movements.  

• Pitch a tent with Amelia Bedelia
Pitching a tent isn’t like pitching a baseball, but both are fun to do outside. Warm kids up with a few baseball tosses, read aloud Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat, and then pitch a tent together.

• Punt with Mr. Gumpy
Turn you outdoor setting into a riverbank and take a boat ride with Mr. Gumpy. Read aloud Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham, then designate spots along your riverbank where the animals decide to hop on board. Reread the book with everyone taking a part to act out as the boat tips and everyone falls into the water.

• Play outside with Elephant and Piggie
The weather keeps changing Elephant and Piggie’s plans to plan outside in Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems. Read this title aloud outside then have kids act out how they would change their outdoor play with changes in the weather. Call out “Rain!” “Wind!” “Snow!” etc., and see what interesting pantomime kids come up with.

• Dig a hole with Sam & Dave 
There is something enormously satisfying about digging a hole. Read Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen, and pass out the shovels! If there’s no digging spot available to you (please check before digging anywhere), set up a digging station or two in wastebaskets or other large containers filled with sand or soil. You can even hide a few treasures so kids can discover something spectacular! 

There are, of course, also many excellent nonfiction titles to share about the great outdoors, but try first to build wonder and connection before filling in too many facts about nature. Story can do a lot to inspire kids to engage with the natural world — even your own personal stories about a hike you took, a bird’s next you found, or a wonderful wet walk in the warm rain can spark a connection and kids’ imagination. 

But the best thing to do is to take kids outside to observe budding flowers, follow an ant’s trail or turn over rocks and let them find their own nature stories.

Guest blog post by Belle of the Book, Rachael Walker.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Hello Ocean

Hello Ocean, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, translated by Yanitzia Canetti and illustrated by Mark Astrell, is one of TRC's favorites for reading aloud. The lyric language, rhyming text and rich description of a child's day at the beach engage readers and listeners of all ages. The book's lush and vibrant acrylic illustrations capture the sun, wind and water's movement and strength.

As an ode to a summer day, it is delightful, but as an exploration of the five senses, it is masterful. Ryan moves carefully through each of the senses as the young beach-goer describes her experience.  

Each of the senses is treated to several pages of evocative text and beautiful illustrations, and a concluding section repeats each of the senses, anticipating a return trip to the beach in the future.

The author emphasizes words relating to each sense by using bold font, and includes different forms of the verb for each (see/looks, hear/sounds, touch/feels, smell/smells, taste/tastes), ensuring that kids notice the sense being showcased. You might think that with this framework the language would sound stilted, but it doesn't.  The story and rhyme flow beautifully. 

This aspect of the story, along with rhyme and repetitive structure, helps the reader engage the listeners and builds anticipation about what the girl will experience next. Available in a Spanish/English bilingual format, the book makes this beach trip widely accessible.

When you read Hello Ocean aloud, encourage kids to point to their eyes, ears, hands, noses and mouths as the story works its way through the senses. Ask the kids to brainstorm more words describing the wind, sun, sand, salt water and all things beachy.

Many kids TRC serves may have never been to the beach. You can provide an actual sensory experience by bringing sand and shells to look at and touch (TRC has some in the office for your use), salt water and seaweed for the kids to taste, sunscreen to smell and audio recordings of ocean sound for kids to listen to. Round out the experience with towels and beach balls to play with, or set up a deep sea fishing expedition like this one at a Read-Aloud. 

Whether you are reading books about beaches and oceans, summer adventure or the five senses, Hello Ocean will be a hit with the kids.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Summer Read-Aloud outlines

School is out and kids are set to celebrate! But that doesn't mean it is time to stop learning. Summer vacation allows kids the time to explore new things and new places -- going to the beach, visiting the zoo,watching a soccer game or many other possibilities. Unfortunately, not all families have the resources or the time to go on these adventures.

Fewer resources doesn't mean that kids have to miss out on fun experiences that also build their knowledge base. Books and a well-planned Read-Aloud can make these adventures easily accessible. 

Here are some great options for exploring something new with the kids at your Read-Aloud this summer.

Animals and animal homes

Some animals come out in full force in the summertime (fireflies and bats, for example). Why not read about different ecosystems and the animals that live in each?

Ocean Animals

Nocturnal Animals

Bugs

Dinosaurs

Tropical Rain Forests

Zoos and Aquariums

Sports

Summer is the perfect time to get outside and run around. This summer, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil provides a great hook for a soccer Read-Aloud. Cycling, swimming and running are also popular summer sports. 

Summer Sports
Soccer
Running and Racing




New Places

Why stay at home over summer vacation if you can go on a trip to the beach, Europe or another planet?  Can't actually make the trip? Travel somewhere new through books! There are so many things to learn by exploring new places.

Beach
Paris and France
Space

Weather

Summer is all about the temperature heating up and people and animals finding ways to cool down. Sometimes that heat brings thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes. Explore the science behind the weather and what it means to endure it or embrace it.

Heat
Extreme Weather





Food

Gardens are blooming with fruits and vegetables in summer. Try to find a garden near your site and see if the kids can name the different vegetables growing there. Gather some ingredients and make tasty dishes. Cooking is a great gateway to talk to kids about measurement and nutrition.

Gardening
Chefs and Cooking

Types of books

Exploring books that feature interesting design or word play can excite kids at your Read-Aloud. Some books have no words at all. Allowing the kids to tell the story through the illustrations really gets their creative juices flowing. Other books feature figures of speech that make hearing the book read aloud extra fun. Some authors have written so many great books that you can devote an entire Read-Aloud to their work.

Onomatopoeia
Wordless Books
Doreen Cronin

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Freedom Summer

Try to see it from a kid’s point of view. School is NOT in session. The days are long, warm and sunny. There’s finally time for TV, video games, bike rides, swimming and theme parks. Summer feels like freedom to kids. 

Educators and years of research tell us that there’s a cost for that freedom: students falling behind. 

The stakes are high. According to the National Summer Learning Association “more than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.”

So what can we do to let kids keep their freedom without the cost of summer learning loss?

Snappy headlines like Parents: Preventing Summer Slide (on a Budget) or 74 Creative Ways to Stop Summer Brain Drain seem to insist that we can easily do something to keep kids from falling behind. In reality we know it is not that easy, especially when reading may not be a favorite thing to do or kids just aren’t interested in the trip to the museum or keeping a journal. 


Start by finding out what kids really want to do this summer. So much advice for parents focuses on what parents would like to do with kids or what parents think kids should do during the summer months. Try not to let your nostalgia for camping interfere with your child’s desire to learn to code. 

Find out why reading is not a favorite activity. If kids are really miserable about reading, find out why. Talking honestly with kids might make them more passionate readers.

Drop your preconceptions of what reading is. Just because the school or library recommended reading list is filled with book titles, that doesn’t mean that a child who is thoroughly engaged instead by online news articles, magazines, comic books, recipes or even trading cards isn’t reading. Really talk to your kids about what they are reading — no matter what it is — and help them feel validated as readers even when their reading material of choice is not a book.

Read aloud. Again, it doesn’t have to be a book. Reading together offers many opportunities to talk, talk, talk about what you’ve read. If you aren’t comfortable reading aloud, try listening to an audio book together. And make sure that you are visibly doing your own reading. We can’t expect kids to see the value of reading if adults are modeling something different.

Let kids explore. That always sounds like such a great idea. Turn kids loose

and they will magically find things that interest them. If kids were good at exploring, you wouldn’t be hearing “I’m bored” so often. Check in with them about the things that seem energize them, like caring for a pet, a little karaoke or baking cookies with friends. Those are leads to explore further. You also have to show them what’s out there in the world — and not just the things you are interested in or what you think kids are interested in, but the real unknowns. Just because a young girl loves pink and coming up with new hairstyles for dolls, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t love to spend time looking at cells under a microscope.

Go to the library. Preserving kids’ freedom doesn’t preclude trips to the library. In fact, the library is actually kids’ greatest opportunity for choice. Local public libraries have books, audio books, magazines, newspapers, access to online resources, free Internet access, clubs, opportunities to read to dogs and more, including events and programs that encourage and reward reading. Check out: Arlington Public Library Summer Reading, Alexandria Library's SummerQuest,  SummerQuest Jr. and  "Spark a Reaction" Teen Reading Challenge. For a canine flair, try Arlington Public Library's "Paws to Read" program and Fairfax County Public Library “Paws to Read." DC Public Library has teamed up with the Washington Nationals to offer summer reading for readers of all ages.

Seek advice. If the long lists of parent ideas aren’t cutting it, a teacher or librarian would be happy to make suggestions for some summer learning fun. There are also Web-based resources that can guide you with reading recommendations and activity ideas that won’t have you spending half your summer at the craft store. Try Start with a Book for fun and meaningful interactions around books and things of kid interest. Sign up for Camp Wonderoplis and head online for exciting scientific explorations. Or pursue a reading challenge together with Scholastic, Barnes and Noble or BOOK IT!

Summer is important for learning, but it can be a different kind of education. It can be about learning to make choices, try new things, and finding and exploring new interests. Once kids realize there are no worksheets involved, they’ll see that books and reading were made for this kind of summer learning. They can linger in the barn with Charlotte and Wilbur, get inside the head of Albert Einstein or George Washington Carver, feel free to laugh louder at Captain Underpants, Walter the Farting Dog and Timmy Failure. They can have more chances to think more deeply about the world and their place in it.

Guest blog post by TRC Advisory Council member and Belle of the Book, Rachael Walker.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

How I spent my summer: interning at TRC

College students all across the country compete for internships that will develop skills and build résumés. Some dream of a "Washington internship." Everyone wants one with great coworkers and many valuable experiences. At The Reading Connection (TRC), I got all of that and more.


As a rising junior studying early childhood education at Wheaton College in Norton, MA, I don’t think I could have found an internship that fit better with my professional plans. Throughout the nine weeks I have been with TRC, I have been able to learn about the day-to-day and long-term operations of an influential nonprofit, plan and help run many Read-Alouds, help coordinate volunteers, work on fundraising projects and assist the staff with tasks that needed completion. I’ve even learned how to get jammed card stock out of a printer! Although I was here for a short time, the staff welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like a regular staff member. I was included in all staff meetings and lunches, and even got to interact with some of the many friendly and dedicated board members.

TRC's book supply

The office fish

Getting to plan and help carry out the Read-Alouds was a great learning experience. Doing research and outlining the Read-Aloud elements were important practice for the many lesson plans I will be writing at college and as a teacher someday. It has been interesting to find out what works and what doesn’t.  This experience has really taught me to think on my feet and go with the flow.


The most valuable experience that I will take away from this great internship is the time I spent with the children at Read-Alouds. TRC is doing such important work and I was proud to help accomplish it. Seeing a young boy’s eyes light up when he learned that he could keep the book he had just chosen was just one of the many moments I will always be grateful to have had.

An afternoon project: create a bus Read-Aloud

This post was written by TRC's summer intern Margaret Fogarty. TRC has two intern positions open for the fall semester: one is a program internship, similar to the one described by Margaret. The second is a communications internship, working on electronic media outreach. For details on both positions, see the TRC website.   

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

More Summer Read-Alouds

Sounds too good to be true. Reading research has demonstrated that having fun doing new things makes you a better reader. Really. Going to the zoo, having a picnic, learning to swim or ride a bike, going to the county fair — they all make you a better reader. 

Everyone is talking about summer learning loss these days, but summertime can also allow for new life experiences and vocabulary that translate into learning gains. Long days and no school can mean more time for adventure and exploration. Summertime provides many kids with the opportunity to have new experiences, building their bank of knowledge and vocabulary, which, in turn, can strengthen their reading comprehension.

At The Reading Connection, we try to build on kids’ personal experiences, and provide some new ones, to build both motivation for reading and reading comprehension skills. Here are four more Read-Aloud outlines about common summer experiences for you to try with the kids at your site or in your life. 


Carnivals, fairs and amusement parks Read-Aloud
What do you think of when you hear “county fair” or “amusement park?” Thrilling rides? Sticky foods? Games of chance? How about crowds, bright lights and giant vegetables? Explore this summertime phenomenon at your Read-Aloud with books about roller coasters, fairs and contests, and then play some games of chance, learn about centripetal force or judge a contest.

Picnic Read-Aloud
Eating outside is fun. And risky. Do your Read-Aloud picnic-style, with a blanket and snacks. Outdoors, weather permitting. The books explore the ups and downs of picnicking and the activities bring picnics, and the books, to life.

Summer sports Read-Aloud
Do you remember learning to swim, ride a bike or play baseball? Read about all kinds of summer sports and then PLAY for a super sporty Read-Aloud!

Zoo and Aquarium Read-Aloud
Kids love wild animals. Explore the world of zoos or aquariums (the animals, the people who work there, and the visitors) at your Read-Aloud session. Learn about specific animals or endangered species. Then let the kids try their hands at feeding the animals or making their own aquarium.



Whether you are creating an experience for a child for the first time, or reinforcing an adventure they’ve had this summer, these summer Read-Alouds will be sure to please the kids and boost their knowledge at the same time.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.
 

Online resources for summer fun

Do you find yourself always telling your children to get off of the computer? Instead of doing that this summer, go on the computer with them. Here are a few fun, engaging websites that contain educational games, activities, recipes and more that can be done on- and offline.

The website Start with a Book is, coincidentally, a great place to look for summer reading ideas. It provides you with a theme, like bugs, dinosaurs, tall tales, or music, and gives you related books and activities. It's a great resource for Read-Alouds or for an afternoon at home!

Have you ever wondered why donuts have holes? How about why mosquito bites itch? You can find the answers at Wonderopolis, a free, interactive website that features one “wonder” each day, with an archive of hundreds available to look up. Each wonder contains a story, a video and a jumping off point for more exploration. This could be a fun site to make a habit of visiting and discussing –- it could be once a week, or even once a day!


Hosted by Disney Channel, Pass the Plate offers recipes from around the world and information about the unique foods used in the recipes. Some of the recipes are simple enough that they could easily be made at a Read-Aloud. Why not take a recipe from the site once a month, gather the kids in your life and prepare it? The site also provides useful information about the recipe's country of origin, a seamless way to expand knowlege about world geography and culture. 


Can't make it to the museum? Take a cyber field trip! The National Gallery of Art's website lets kids view and create their own art. National Geographic Kids lets kids encounter wild animals and go globe trotting, all without leaving home. The Smithsonian website's kids' section allows you to visit and explore its collections -- history, science, art, animals, and much more!  You can even explore the Louvre through short animated stories.

Another great website to check out for interactive activities is the Marvel Kids Comic Creator. It gives children the chance to create their own comic strips using a vast array of Marvel images and characters. The resulting comics could be hung up around the house or even made into a book. This website allows creative kids to learn about storytelling and art while being entertained.

The website iWASwondering provides biographies of female scientists, inspired by a book series, Women’s Adventures in Science. It also features games and a place for kids to ask questions about science. It’s a great place for girls and boys alike to explore influential women with different careers in science, and could be a starting point for more reading and research.

There are endless options to check out online for summer reading and activity inspiration.  This list is a great place to start!


This post was written by The Reading Connection intern Margaret Fogarty.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Summer Read-Aloud outlines

It's summertime! The temperatures are heating up and kids are antsy for summer vacation to arrive. Kids think about freedom from the classroom and time to spend outdoors and with friends. Adults think of ways to entertain their kids and how to prevent them from losing everything they learned during the school year.

We think about that a lot at The Reading Connection too. Studies have shown that kids can lose two to three months of math and reading skills and at-risk kids, like the ones who come to Read-Alouds, can lose even more. These studies have shown that two of the biggest factors in preventing summer learning loss are enriching experiences and time spent reading. Read-Alouds present an opportunity to achieve both.

Our volunteer seminar on June 3 presented ways to teach kids new concepts and vocabulary in the context of a Read-Aloud. We showed ways to bring real-world experiences into your Read-Alouds by making your activity a hands-on experience. We'll be sharing these ideas with you over the next couple of blog posts and throughout the summer.

 At the seminar, we presented six Read-Alouds that focus on typical summer experiences that kids at Read-Aloud sites might not get to have because of their current economic or living situations. But, have no fear, the kids will still get to experience camping and air travel. You'll be the ones bringing it to them through at Read-Aloud! 


Click on the following Read-Aloud titles for an outline with books, activities and conversation starters.

Camping Read-Aloud - Set up a tent and read inside. Make a pretend campfire, read by flashlight and then tell ghost stories or sing camp songs. Make s'mores in the microwave.

Air travel Read-Aloud - Make the whole Read-Aloud an air travel adventure. Set carpet squares or chairs in rows like airplane seats. Give kids boarding passes, check them in and make them clear security before reading.

Museum Read-Aloud - Create your own museum of the kid's art and let the kids be the museum docent. Imagine you come from the future and think about how you'd interpret everyday items.

Rainy day Read-Aloud - If it's too wet to play outside, how can we entertain ourselves indoors? Think about forts and old fashioned games like pick-up-sticks, while reading The Cat in the Hat and Jumanji.

Beach Read-Aloud - Lay out beach towels instead of carpet squares and engage all the senses with items you might find at the beach.

Extreme weather Read-Aloud - We've already experienced tornadoes and hurricanes this summer. Read about how they're formed and what kind of damage they can do then make your own tornado with water bottles or a hurricane out of cotton balls.

We encourage you to use these Read-Alouds with the kids at your site. With the planning mostly done, your team can focus on implementation, and the kids will love the hands-on activities and will hopefully learn something new in the process. We'll be posting more Read-Aloud outlines later in the summer for you to use, so stay tuned.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

We Are Readers goes for the gold!

There's one big thing on everybody's mind this summer: the Olympics! The 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, will start on July 27, 2012 and the whole world is going to get worked up over their favorite events. TRC has gotten in the spirit by making the Olympics the theme of this year's summer reading program, We Are Readers.

Phelps' book, published in 2009,
is full of impressive facts about
his impressive deeds: for example,
the total of 60,000 meters that
he swam in training for the Games!

From kid-targeted memoirs by Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to the history of the ancient Greek games to learning more about favorite sports, the topic of the Olympics takes the energy surrounding the games and transforms it into reading fun.  

Our Olympic themed Read-Aloud at ARHA Ruby Tucker Center, which was the final one of three Read-Alouds in our kick-off week, will be repeated twice more at our other summer reading sites--but the Olympics don't start until July 27th and this theme could be reused at other sites before or during the Games!

Olympics! is a great intro to the
Games, giving an overview of the
structure and philosophy-
the emphasis is on teamwork
and good sportsmanship!

Our Read-Aloud

We opened our Read-Aloud by talking about the Olympics and discussing what events are held and where it will take place this year. Then we got the reading started with B.G. Hennessy's Olympics!, a picture book with limited text that explains Olympic traditions and history. After the story, and a little time to read more Olympics and sports themed books in smaller groups, we truly gave We Are Readers a kick-off by holding our own opening ceremonies!

The running of the Olympic torch is such a beautiful tradition and even more fun when you bring it to life. We introduced the kids to the idea and then represented it with a relay race with a "torch" of our own. Here's how we made it--it's a simple craft involving a 20 oz drink bottle wrapped in aluminum foil and a little bit of red, yellow and orange construction paper. Our relay was non-competitive. 

A runner in our torch relay

After the relay, we continued our opening ceremony by lighting the Olympic torch in our Read-Aloud stadium. Our Read-Aloud tracker this summer takes the form of a giant Olympic torch poster, and everybody gets to add a flame with his or her name on it for every ten minutes he or she reads for fun, all summer! We paraded our readers around the room, each holding a mini American flag (printed out and stapled to a straw) as the Olympic theme played. The march ended at the torch tracker, where one-by-one our readers taped up their first ten-minute flame before moving on to the give-away book box. 

Make it Yours

Adding flames to
the tracker torch

We made our torch in advance, but here's another, even easier version of a torch if you're interested in having kids at your Read-Aloud make their own as a craft! Other Olympic themed crafts could include making olive branch crowns, origami Olympic rings or making a medal tracker.

The Olympics theme could also easily be taken as an opportunity to do a Read-Aloud about other countries and cultures. Talk about geography and show a map, and name athletes from other nations. Have kids design their own flags with markers and construction paper, popsicle sticks and a little bit of tape. Have them make up a story about their country and what sports they're really good at. What events would each kid love to participate in, if they could pick? Use the Olympics as a starting point and plan a Read-Aloud that will best engage the kids at your site.


Book Suggestions
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull

Babar’s Celestville Games by Laurent de Brunhoff

Touch the Sky:  Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper by Ann Malaspina
Koala Lou by Mem Fox

Zeke’s Olympic Pocket Guides by Jason Page

Books about various sports or ancient Greece

To read about the other Read-Alouds in We Are Readers' kick-off week, visit the Summer Reading sidebar of our Arlington Kids Read page.

Post by The Reading Connection intern Anna McCormally.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Start With a Book offers a world of opportunities

With summer vacation around the corner and children promising to be as curious and eager to explore as ever (both in and out of Read-Alouds!)  StartWithABook.org by Reading Rockets presents a fantastic way to pair books and activities for any size group.  Not only could these pre-packaged Read-Alouds be used by volunteers in TRC's programs, but they were designed specifically for parents to use with their children at home so you can use them with your kids and friends at home too.

The main feature of StartWithABook.org, which is aimed at children ages three to nine, is a library of themes from art to weather, all of which come with pre-planned reading and activities. The five steps to discovering the theme with a child (or children!) are listed:

Art and Artists

Choose books and book-related activities

For each theme, Start With a Book provides a list of books, both fiction and nonfiction, with links to where you can purchase them--though you could also  head over to the nearest public library to get it started. 

 

Bugs, Birds and Animals

Explore more hands-on activities 

Family Literacy Bags on every theme are available for download.  Every Bag includes three activities: a Creativity activity (a hands-on craft project), an Imagination activity (with writing, drawing or creative play) and a Get Real Activity that emphasizes how to draw real-world experiences and useful information from the books you've read.  A page of bookmarks suggesting even more titles makes it easy for kids who get passionate about a topic to continue exploring it at the library.

Builders and Building

Try some summer writing

Encourage kids with vivid imaginations who are taken with a particular story to write their own! StartWithABook.org has an archive of kids' writing prompts that you can use to get started--but make sure that imaginations are running wild!

Detectives and Explorers

Dig deeper and play

Reading Rockets has provided links to more resources that kids and parents can use together.  On its homepage, Start With a Book has a list of games and apps related to the themes in its library--so kids can see how the subjects they're reading about are related to the rest of the world. 

The focus of Start With a Book is to keep minds active over the summer, and to do it through books.  Be sure to use it as a resource in the coming months--and recommend it to parents who are struggling to keep children occupied during a long summer.

Post by The Reading Connection intern Anna McCormally.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.