R-E-A-D!

Reading is part of our lives at camp. Our basket weaving instructor, and stealth social worker, embraced the “Explore 30” program at Runoia last summer. Camps were given the opportunity by the American Camp Association to partner with publishers to encourage out-of-school-time reading 30 minutes a day. By the time summer rolled around she had us chanting a book cheer “R-E-A-D, R-E-A-D, B double O K, BOOKS!” And at every morning meeting we played an interactive “word of the day” vocabulary building game. Summer is rolling around again and we are expanding the reading program at Camp Runoia. We are adding a book club in 2012 and have two books picked out for the summer, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart and Hoot by Carl Hiassen. The concept of the book club is: “join in at any meeting, optional participation, discuss the book or come talk about what you are reading” kind of approach. As educators, psychologists, business developers and legislators alike are looking at Out-of-School-Time and summer losses in academic achievement, camps are doing something about it. Runoia is encouraging literacy by: • Creating a culture of celebrating books and reading • Discussing the books that people are reading • Running a Book Club at camp • Counting the number of books read (competition, you bet!) • Cheering books and reading • Reading out loud at bedtime in every age group in camp • Encouraging individual reading at rest time • Supporting girls with their summer school reading • Providing books for loan in our camp library (donations welcome) • Finding partnerships with publishers (Highlight magazine, chapter books) to share reading material with our campers • Connecting parents with sites like: www.amightygirl.com As we kick off another summer of fun, friendships, songs, outdoor play, building lifelong skills AND reading, we are excited to share reading with you. Check with your library or bookstore or hop online and buy a copy of Hoot or The Mysterious Benedict Society and join us in reading this summer! R-E-A-D, R-E-A-D – it’s a catchy cheer!