My boys are two weeks into the summer-reading plans I have for them.

This summer I decided to combine all the reading reward-programs that I wanted them to participate in (our local library & the Berean Christian Bookstore) plus my plan to have them read for 20 minutes a day.

I made a simple chart out of manilla file folders for each of them that covers all of this in an organized manner.  I guess this, at the least, helps my sanity 🙂 .They simply color in either a 15 minute space or a 20 minute space as they accomplish each goal. When needed,  I’ll transfer the information onto Berean’s official forms; and, as we go along, I log their library reading online.

The extra things you see there are some hand-outs on safety and  from a past field trip about trains that I have the boys working on this summer too.

Berean Christian Bookstore has two challenges that my boys are working on: first, to read eight books and second, to read the bible for 15 minutes each day for 40 days. Kids earn $5 for each of those two goals they accomplish.  Our public library simply has the kids set a goal as to how many books they will read and I believe they are entered into a drawing for a big prize.

Two-weeks into our goals and one boy has read his 30 book goal for the library and the other is one book away from the same goal. They will have to continue reading though, as I’m having them read for 20 minutes a day (most days).

They need to finish their Berean challenge of 15 minutes reading the bible by July 26th. I like that this helps motivate me to get the boys reading the bible on their own. Usually Joel and I do bible time with them separately – me during the day (some days) and Joel reads/teaches them before bedtime. The boys and I were reading through Proverbs and since we started the 15 min. of them reading I’ve dropped the Proverbs reading and I’ve missed it! I really want my boys to be familiar with the wisdom God provides for us from that book. I think I’ll resume Proverbs once school starts.

But again, its nice to have them learn to read the bible for themselves. Our 7 year old still needs help with reading though so he reads to Joel or me; and our oldest just likes to read to one of us instead of by himself. In the fall I think I may encourage my oldest (9 years old) to read the bible by himself along with a notebook so he can journal. Baby-steps, right?

Above is a picture of almost 50 of the 60+ books they’ve read so far in the past two weeks!  Many of the books they are reading are books I’ve told you about in this post.

If you’re interested, you can see my home-made summer reading chart  (<— that link)  for 2012. Are you doing something special this summer to get your kids reading? Please share in the comments!

*Sharing at these link-ups:  Think Tank Thursday, Homeschooling On the Cheap, The Answer is Chocolate, Serenity Now, Tater Tots & Jello, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Collage Friday, The Mommy Club,