Barnes & Noble Reading Program

Have you heard of the reading program sponsored by Barnes & Noble? A free book is a great incentive at my house and I need to keep my little one reading this summer.

Here's How It Works:

1. Kids read any eight (8) books of their own choosing.

2. Kids use the Summer Reading Journal to tell us their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs the journal when it's complete. You can also get a Spanish-language Reading Journal.

3. Children bring their completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 26th & September 7th, 2009.

4. We'll give them a coupon for a FREE book! They choose from a list of exceptional paperback titles.*

* Eligible books will be listed on the coupon. Choices must be made from available stock. No special orders. Limit of one (1) form per school-age child (grades 1-6), please. Incomplete forms will be ineligible for free books.

I thought this article was interesting:

A University of Missouri study shows that the average child loses one month’s worth of
instruction in reading and math during summer vacation. Math computation
and spelling skills suffer most — at times the equivalent of more than two
months of progress — resulting in an estimated four to six weeks of review
in the fall, researchers say.

Teachers say they can easily identify which
students exercised their minds over the summer, and which took a mental
vacation.

“It’s absolutely obvious,” said Bette Kundert, a math support
teacher at Cradlerock School in Columbia. “If you play tennis and you lay off
for three months, your skills drop off. It’s the same for reading and math. You
use it or you lose it.”