It’s that time of year again…Summer Break!! ☀️ Well …we still have about ten hectic school days to finish here in CT but we can see the finish line! As much as I love a break from the routine, I don’t love the kids complaining they’re bored, bickering and expecting me to be cruise director EVERY SINGLE DARN DAY!! So that being said I still try to provide some casual structure to our summers. My kids know they have to be responsible for their rooms, cleaning up after themselves around the house , some chores and get some reading time in on the daily. But I also like to keep their brains from shriveling up which means some learning needs to happen, but just a tiny bit.
When my oldest finished her first year of preschool her teacher gave each student a Bridge book for the summer. What an amazing and generous gift that was and it’s now been our tradition for ten years! Every year as the school year comes to an end I order my kids each a Bridge book based on the grade they finished and the grade they will be entering. Every (well that’s an exaggeration, so let’s say most) weekday mornings in the summer I will ask the kids to do 20-30 minutes in their Bridge books. When they were little they loved it and they would want to keep going and often even pull out the book during the day. As they get older and pages get harder it’s certainly more of a chore. But I’m here to help and I enjoy having my morning coffee in the kitchen while they sit and do some work.
I used to order on EBay but this year I ordered from Amazon, and they’re super cheap! Most books are less then $10.
As you can see the book is to ‘bridge’ your child from the class they just finished to the grade they will be entering. So the early activities are things they are familiar with and the book then gets harder as they go farther. The back is usually full of flash cards for spelling, math facts, vocabulary…anything that they are working on for those assigned grades. The book is divided into sections and then days. So your child can easily do a day at a time, or more if it’s easier and they finish quickly. There are even stickers in the back if you decide to review their work when they’re complete. 
My kids have always gotten excited when their books arrive and enjoy doing them, at least for the first few weeks! 😂
I let everyone pick out a small basket or bin at the dollar store to keep in the kitchen for the summer. They each put their Bridge book, whatever book they’re reading, a devotional and anything else in there that they plan to work on daily throughout the summer. 
This year my husband ordered for our Kindergartener through her subscription to High Five magazine. So hers was a bit pricier but she got a bunch of other fun books thrown in!
And being that my oldest will be 13 in a few short weeks 😱 and did amazing in her first year of middle school, I let her off the hook this year. But instead we’ve propositioned her with a Reading Challenge! She loves to read but sometimes there’s too many distractions, so we’re offering a little reward for every book she completes this summer.
I wish someone would reward me for every book I finish! 📚
~Elena 💖
Elena And Erin.....It Is What It Is 