Early Literacy in Everyday Places: The Campground

Going camping is a favorite summer pastime in many families, and it's a great way to take a break from the stresses of regular everyday life, including technology. Bond with your kids during this screen-free time by sharing some of the following early literacy activities.

• Tell stories around the campfire. Besides eating s'mores, this is the best way to enjoy a campfire. Though it might be traditional to tell spooky stories, if these are too much for your little guys, try telling your own versions of fairy tales, funny stories from your family's own history, or round-robin stories, where each member of the family takes a turn adding to the story. 
• Look up the names of the plants and animals you discover. Borrow or buy a field guide for the region you will be visiting. This will help you identify unfamiliar animals and plants you may encounter at the campsite or on a hiking trail. (This is actually a fun activity to do at home, too. My husband and I still talk about the day a brown thrasher popped out of a neighbor's bush and scared us half to death!) 
• Talk about the names and stories of the constellations. On a clear night, without the light pollution of more heavily populated areas, you might be able to show your kids some of the constellations. Identify the ones you know, and tell their associated myths, then have your child look for his or her own pictures in the stars and make up stories to go along with them. 
• Sing call and response songs on hikes. Though I never went camping as a kid, I did go to Girl Scout day camp, and I can remember singing many call and response songs as we walked the hiking trails. Here are some good ones to get you started: 
• I Met a Bear
• Book-Chick-a-Boom
• Bill Grogan's Goat 
• The Littlest Worm 

For more outdoor early literacy activities, check out my posts about early literacy in The Backyard, The Mud, and The Park.

48 Hour Book Challenge: Finish Line

My 48 hours expired this morning at 8:15, when I was still fast asleep. I managed to read for a good chunk of time last night, though, including 15 minutes before bed, which left me with a final total of 14.5 hours spent on the challenge.

During that time, I read 10 middle grade novels:

• Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman
• Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
• Saving Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar 
• The Sister Solution by Trudy Trueit 
• Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang
• Ava and Taco Cat by Carol Weston 
• A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord
• Boy with a Pack by Stephen W. Meader 
• Drive Me Crazy by Terra Elan McVoy 

Some of these have been sitting on my Nook for months, so it was great to finally get through them. I wish I could have done more, but considering I was chasing a toddler all day Friday and out half the day celebrating Father's Day yesterday, I think I did pretty well. I'm definitely not disappointed! 

Here is the finish line, where I'll be adding my post in just a moment. 

48 Hour Book Challenge: Check-In Post #2

I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough last night to read quite as much as I wanted, so in the past 16 hours, I've only read for about four more. My total time now is 10 hours, 10 minutes. Reaching 18 hours is seeming less and less likely, but I will certainly make it to at least 12 and maybe a bit beyond that.

Since last night's update, I have once again read four books (all ARCs from NetGalley and Edelweiss) and started on a fifth. Full-length reviews won't be up for a while, but brief reviews are below:

• The Sister Solution by Trudy Trueit
  This book has an odd premise - a genius little sister is promoted two grades mid-way through the year, joining her sister as an eighth grader and immediately complicating her social life. The characters were fairly well-developed otherwise, but the far-fetched situation made the overall story feel like it didn't quite hang together cohesively. 
• Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang
  This is another strange - but quick - read. Unfortunately, I didn't know it wasn't a stand-alone and it ends on a cliffhanger, so I was somewhat dissatisfied. I did like all the coding lessons within the story, though. There aren't any other books like this one. 
• Ava and Taco Cat by Carol Weston
  I really liked Ava and Pip, but the sequel is really just more of the same and it isn't as well done. There was also too much cliched cat stuff for me to really connect with it, and though some of the wordplay and jokes are funny, it felt like too much. 
• A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord
  This is not Lord's strongest work. A solid three-star book, but not especially memorable. The main character wants to make enough money for a surgery to save the eyesight of her beloved dog, while her friend, a girl from a migrant family, wants to win a pageant to earn money for college. The story moves very quickly, which interferes with the reader's ability to connect on an emotional level. It will definitely win points with readers seeking more diversity - but I enjoyed last year's Half a Chance more.

Even after being charged all night, my Nook battery is super-low again from this morning's marathon reading session, so my next two books are not ARCs, but library books: Drive Me Crazy by Terra Elan McVoy, which I have just barely started and Boy with a Pack by Stephen W. Meader, the 1940 Newbery Honor book my husband has been bugging me to read for at least a week. (I am heading outside to read that one while he stays in and supervises toddler nap time. It will be a nice change of pace, as the other books I've read this morning involve lots of girl drama!)

And... with the 20 minutes it took to write this post, I am now at a solid 10.5 hours. Time to get back to it!

48 Hour Book Challenge: Check-In Post #1

I am just over twelve hours into my 48 hour book challenge, which I started this morning. I have spent roughly half my time reading so far - 6 hours and 15 minutes - and I have completed four books and started a fifth. Full-length reviews of these books aren't due to post to my blog until the Fall, but here are some quick thoughts:

• Bandit’s Moon by Sid Fleischman
  This is the 37th book in my Reading Through History Project, and I selected it to represent the 1840s and the Gold Rush. It's a fast-paced story about a young girl who falls in with a band of thieves in order to escape a horrible woman holding her captive. I gave it a solid three stars, as it was fun but didn't have a lot of depth, even though it was based in fact. 
• Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
  And this is book 38 on my Reading Through History list. Many different voices relate the events of the Battle of Bull Run. I was just in Manassas last weekend, so reading this seemed very timely. I read the book in about 45 minutes this morning while pushing my daughter in the stroller, and somehow I think reading it outside in the heat of summer made me appreciate more what it might have been like. I also love the suggestion from the author to use the book for reader's theater. My full review will have a lot to say about this book! 
• Saving Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
  This entire series is something I probably could have skipped. It's obnoxiously inspirational with characters who sound nothing like real kids. This was the least believable of the three titles. I only gave it one star. 
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
  This was short, sweet, and very different. It's not funny in the way of some of Sachar's other titles, but it's a really interesting science fiction story about the impact some strange "fuzzy" mud has first on three kids, and then on an entire community. Definitely compelling. 

The next book I'm working through is The Sister Solution by Trudy Trueit - I'm about halfway through. I'm hoping to get in another solid 2 hours or more tonight, now that Miss Muffet is in bed, so hopefully I'll finish this book and squeeze in one more. Counting the 15 minutes I spent writing this post, my total is now 6.5 hours. Now I'm going back to reading.