I don’t know about you, but this summer is flying by WAY too quickly.  There are only a few weeks left in July…What??  We have made lots of fun memories this summer, but I have lots more fun to check off before we get back to school.

Here are a few things I have learned from my tween this summer;

- His little brain gets rusty when he is away from school too long.  I need to keep up on math especially or he will forget.

- He LOVES The Magic Tree House series.  He will read them over and over again and never gets bored of them.

- He needs structure even if life is crazy and we travel and have visitors….when we get back to our ‘normal life’ he needs structure immediately.

- If he runs around barefoot too much, his little feet start to get all dry and crackly.  We have to keep them moisturized so he can spend another day running around barefoot.

- He needs quiet time every day.  Even if he fights it, he is alot happier when he has it.

- It isn’t fun to be outside in the heat for him if there is not water involved.  He gets hot and grumpy and tired….it isn’t fun!

- He loves meeting new friends and laughing and playing with friends as often as possible.

- He has a blast with his sisters, even though they fight, they really love each other and at times make the happiest memories together.

What are some of the things you have learned about your tween this summer?

Books really are the BEST!!  I have found that some of the most educated people I know are avid readers!  You can do all the spelling words and sight words you want, but the very best practice for children is reading books!!  It is an all-inclusive deal.  While reading, children practice sounding out words, reading comprehension, a range of emotions, excitement, surprise and they get to learn about lots of different topics!!

You hear the statistics all the time…read to your children, read to your children, read to your children!!!!  There simply must be some kind of truth to this.  I love reading to my kids, some days I do better then others, but it is such a fun way to bond.  I have a lovely little memory from my childhood of being cuddled up with my mom on her bed with my two sisters while she read to us the book, Charlotte’s Web.  I have such a special place in my heart for that book because it is such a happy memory of my childhood.  Books make happy memories, individually and together as a family.

As a family, we read the Bible and other Scriptures together.  The words in the Bible are pretty big and often hard to sound out.  Our son is pretty good at reading the Bible because he has been doing it for a while now.  While chatting with his grandaddyon the phone the other night, Lincoln shared how he is ‘obsessed with books!’  I felt like one heck of a mom at that moment.  I live for those moments of success because I feel like they help outweigh all the other not so successful moments!!!

Skip the dishes tonight and pick up Amelia Bedilia and read to your tween….now THAT is one funny book!!!

What is your favorite book to read to your kids?

This is the second of my Holiday Gift Guides. See my previous post on Electronics, if you don’t believe me.

It’s a chore, but we try to get Mini to read more than watch television shows or play online video games (It’s some site called “ZwinkyCuties” this week…). Getting her to read really isn’t that hard. She likes reading. But when we’re at the library she often goes for the “easy reads” over mentally challenging books. It’s a safe bet that there will be some books under the Christmas tree for her.

Here are some tips on looking for good books for your tween.

Mini has already read the Harry Potter series and you really can’t go wrong with the collected editions. These books have it all for young readers: twists, turns, love, hate, joy and sadness. The books entertain and they’re a sure winner, especially the all-in-one sets.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kidseries is pretty entertaining, too, even if it’s not all that educational. The stories of young Greg Heffley are hilarious and may remind some of us of what children go through on a daily basis. The books are easy reading, so you may want to get two or three or all four of them.

There’s a number of other multi-volume stories out there for tweens: The Olympian series, The 39 Clues series, and Artemis Fowl quickly come to mind. Don’t forget about the classics from our youths, though…

I was thoroughly entertained by the Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown and Judy Bloom’s The Fudge series’. There’s no reason we can’t try to give our growing kids a little bit of our own childhoods.

Do you have favorite books you want to share with your Tweenager? Do you need some advice on what books to get? Ask questions, make suggestions or share your ideas in the comments.