Try it Tuesday: Battle of the Books

This is my first year at a Battle of the Books coach and I cannot say enough about how well I love this program!  Here are 10 reasons you should have your child check out Battle of the Books and become a participant:

1. Good Books!  The books used in our local Battle of the Book program are all Bluestem Readers Choice Award recipients with a few exceptions this year to make questions easier for our library to write.  They often have great lessons in empathy and are fun and interesting to read!
2. Reading is critical!  Reading is critical to your child's success and this program is a wonderful way to get them reading and keep it fun!
3. Social Activity.  Get your child out of the house and away for screens for a fun activity that involves friends and classmates!  They'll meet new friends that they will soon be attending the same middle school.
4. Fun!  Our Battle of the Books team meets after school for an hour usually once or twice a month for practice.  We play games, have a snack and socialize.  Once a month we have a battle that is often attended by parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and classmates.
5. It gets whole family to read!  This is a wonderful opportunity to take the whole family to the library or a book store and get everyone reading!
6. It creates a better bedtime routine and good nights sleep!  Now, you may be wondering where this came from but studies have shown that reading before bed can lead to better sleep.  Use the BOB to create this pattern for your child because it will create a routine that tells their body to shut down, reduces stress, and gets them off their screens (screen time before bed produces lack of sleep).
7. Prevents a summer slide in your child's reading test scores.  You want a reading plan for your child's summer that will keep them engaged and reading?  Well this is it!
8. Teaches good sportsmanship.  Just like an athletic team, this teaches them good sportsmanship lessons, like supporting your team members, accepting judges calls, acceptable competition behavior, shaking hands after a battle, taking pride without rubbing it in, helping a team mate who has given the wrong answer with confidence and accepting a loss.  If you have a child who is not an athlete, they can still learn these skills here!
9. Creates a love for the public library.  Some of our students are not in the library system and have not had an opportunity to visit the library.  Or maybe, you've just been busy with sports and activities that have kept you from visiting the library, but every child should know what libraries can offer them and understand their importance and value!
10. Creates a desire for future academic competitive teams. Your child will have so much fun they will consider joining future academic competitive teams in middle school and high school. 

So bring your child to watch the North Stars compete in our next Battle on April 22, 2019, at the Sycamore Public Library!  Battles will begin at  5:15 pm.  Or see us on May 4, at 6:00 pm same location for our final battle.  Contact Mrs. Parsons, Mrs. Jordan or Mrs. Dempsey for more information.

Try it Tuesday: Subscribe to Brightly

When you become a parent you begin to set goals for your child.  Some goals seem small and easy, like teaching them to walk, and some goals seem large and more difficult, like a college degree.  And some goals you set are goals you have for their life long habits, like manners, empathy and being a good person.  One of my life long goals as a parent is to raise a reader.  It is also, one of my goals for the students in my grade school library.  That's why I love the website Brightly!  

In fact, this week they had an article on how reading to your children can help them develop a Yes Brain.  It's a wonderful article about how reading creates empathy, resilience, insight and balance in your child.   If your a parent who hopes to raise a reader, I encourage you to try Brightly!

Not only do they have wonderful articles on raising a reader, but they have sections for age groups:  Pre-K, Growing Readers, and Tweens.  The site gives book recommendations too!