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The 2020 Summer reading program with the Rome-Floyd County Library is in full swing! The program kicked off on June 1st, and the virtual story times are well under way on their Facebook page! I would recommend following the Rome-Floyd County Library Children’s & Young Adults Facebook page. This page is the main host for the online experiences in this year’s program.
Tracking Your Reading
This year the program is on a new platform, Beanstack. In comparison to the old platform, READsquared, I am happy with the change. From a parent’s perspective the Beanstack registration was a lot easier for me to set up for my multiple kids. I also feel the dashboard is a lot easier for me to toggle through and add books to multiple children. You can register your children HERE. I personally would recommend registering yourself and as well as your kids if you are a reader too. In the past the library has hosted adult reading programs as well as the children’s. It might be easier to get your account fully set up now with all your family members, rather than trying to add adults later. Beanstack also has an app to help you track your reading! You can find the Apple App HERE or the Google Play App HERE. The app is a real time saver! I can log reading the same book to multiple children all in one place instead of having to navigate to each child’s profile like in the past application. Along with the new platform comes new badges and activities!
Badges and Activities
As your kids complete books, meet time milestones and participate in activities on the Facebook page they will earn badges! These badges are a fun way for smaller kids to visualize meeting goals! When a badge is earned the image will show up in color instead of in black in white. Above is a picture of the activity badges available. Multiple times a week the library has virtual activities for you kids to participate in. Some of the activities include storytime, comedy bits, and even cooking shows! I would recommend checking the Facebook page the morning of to see what supplies you might need for the hands on activities. Once a child watches the online activity there is a code word to input into Beanstack for you child to earn the activity badge! If you don’t know what you need to do to earn a particular badge you can click on it and see a description along with a schedule of applicable events!
Reading
While badges and activities are all well and good, the program is about reading. As we continue this summer in semi isolation the library has stepped up to the challenge to provide books for our kids! The Rome-Floyd County Library has set up a curbside service for book check out so we can all still get our hands on new favorites! For more information on the curbside service check out their website. If you don’t know what books to start with I have a couple recommendations for you! Pete the Cat is a favorite with my Preschooler. My kindergartener loves Fancy Nancy. My middle schooler enjoys books by Gordon Korman and we like to read Magic Tree House and Harry Potter as a family. You can also check out eRead Kids and RBDigital for digital and audiobooks provided through our library, and check out our previous post about all perks the library has to offer.
Overall I am really pleased and excited with how this new program looks and performs so far. The ease in using the app is a big deal for me when logging books for five kids! Another plus is you do not have to have a library card to participate! Maybe you just moved and haven’t been able to get a card, you can still track your progress as you read books from your own collection. You can also add your own reward incentives to keep your kids engaged. We like to make popcorn for the virtual events and have the kids pick a full sized candy bar for every ten books completed. You can easily tailor a rewards system for your own family’s needs! We hope to see you all in the Rome, Georgia with Kids community group as you progress in your reading program from home!
What book(s) would you recommend for a young reader?
