Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Summer's here and right about now your kids are probably driving you crazy looking for things to do to keep busy. With that thought in mind, I thought I'd highlight several of my past summer articles with ideas for keeping those kids busy and learning all summer. If you've missed these articles, here's your chance to read them for the first time. If you have read them before - I'll bet you'll find something new to use with your kids this summer. Enjoy!

Making the Most of Summer first published on May 25, 2003.

Summer vacation is just around the corner for most schools in the country. While the kids are thinking of having endless days of fun in the sun and taking refreshing dips in the local watering hole, parents should also be thinking of ways to make the most of these golden months and ensuring that the many gains their children made during the school year aren't lost in the hot summer sun.

One of the best ways to keep kids involved with learning is a local summer reading program. Most libraries, schools and states offer some kind of summer reading program for kids to get involved in. The programs are similar, but they all involve asking children to read a certain number of books or a certain number of minutes during their summer vacation. This varies, but there is also usually some kind of a reward or incentive built into the program, and often there is a "party" of some kind for successful participants.

Paired with reading lists often provided by the schools, these programs can be a great way to keep your kids reading during the summer.

Classics for a Summer Day first published on July 7, 2002.

Summertime, the perfect time to curl up under a tree, or at home in the air conditioning, with a good book. And what's better than making that book one of the timeless classics. This month I'll remind readers of a great series by author C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia. Next month I'll share another of my all-time favorites.

It seems that everyone has heard of the Chronicles of Narnia series. I remember my first encounter with these books. I was about 7, maybe 8, and in the third grade. My teacher, the long-haired Miss Ilaria, read what was then the first in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to us in chapters. I was captivated by this quintessential allegorical tale of good versus evil. I imagined the amazement of the four siblings at finding the magic wardrobe, and for may years after, I was always on the lookout for a magic closet or passageway that might take me into such a mystical world!

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