Series: Ten Terrific Weeks Reading Adventure Programs.
Subject Areas: History, Science, Literature, Fantasy, the Arts, Geography, Anatomy/Physiology.
Ages: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12.
Type: Curriculum Guide

With the approach of summer vacation, and all those hours begging to be filled, you should take a look at our Ten Terrific Weeks Reading Adventure Programs, based on groupings of Usborne titles. The authors of these guides tell us that “each one is designed to keep your child active, learning, and thinking. These programs are designed to help you learn more about your child’s thoughts and personality.” You'll need to purchase the guide AND the books that go along with that guide.

The preparations needed for these programs are generally simple and easy to do a day or so ahead of time. In each guide you’ll find a list of topics to be covered, any materials needed for hands-on activities (these are all simple items, and inexpensive.) Next is a day-by-day outline of the assignments to be done, and at the end is a certificate that you present to the student when the course is completed to recognize their achievement.

Each day, specific short reading assignments are given. Thought-provoking questions follow, which are to be used for discussion and/or journaling. The various hands-on activities are described, internet explorations are suggested, and some easy field trips are recommended for additional experience and information. It's a varied and interesting approach to learning which could also work well for curriculum during the regular school year. These assignments could be done with a single student or a group of students; I've heard of small neighborhood groups doing these together so the kids enjoy the company, as well as the added advantage of seeing and hearing peer thoughts and ideas. I do really advocate the journaling part! We have required this of our children beginning in elementary school. It's a low pressure way to teach them to express themselves on paper -- a very important skill, even more so now that the College Boards require writing!

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Of Interest To: Parents, Home Schoolers, Day Care Providers, Camp directors, Librarians and Media Specialists, Teachers