Reading Archives - The Workout Mama

For reference my older kids are 6 and 4 and my two littles are under 3. This post contains affiliate links.

Two years ago I shared a very detailed post on how we do preschool at home in the summer. When our family started fostering last year I began looking for inexpensive summer learning activity books. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to put together binders for each child like I had the year before. What I purchased worked out so great and I am planning to use the same products again this summer.

Here is a roundup of what we are going to be using this year plus purchases from last year that we loved!

Workbooks & Reading Programs

These Summer Brain Quest Between Grades books are fantastic! Fun enough that your kids will ask to keep working through the book but still educational. We had to limit the number of pages done each day so we didn’t finish the book in the middle of summer.

We love Curious George in our house. So this Curiou s George Sight Words Reading Program was a no brainer to buy last summer. This program is under $15. It comes with flash cards, 10 reading books, and a sight word tracker chart that includes stickers to mark off which words have been mastered.

Keeping with the Curious George theme. I bought Curious George Math and Science Readers STEM Program to add to our collection this year. This boxed set includes ten fun stories and activity cards featuring Curious George designed to introduce young readers to science, technology, engineering, and math.

I plan on visiting our local library often over the summer with the kids to keep our reading material new and exciting. My goal is to read to them often and to cut back on the amount of television they watch. Wish us luck! Our plan right now is to let each kid pick a show 1 day a week. This will equal out to 30 minutes of television Monday-Thursday with Friday being a family movie day.

Our son’s school uses Spalding and he has learned the first 70 phonograms this year. It was a little challenging for me to learn these so I could help him with his homework and I don’t want him or myself to get out of practice over the summer so we will be reviewing these often ;).

Bible & Theology Resources

We are still working our way through Old Story New. I plan on using these 10 Minute Devotionals along with The Gospel Story Bible and The New City Catechism during our summer school time. We have been reading The Jesus Storybook Bible again in the mornings at breakfast and plan to continue this also.

FREE Resources

There are so many great resources also available for FREE! Here are a few that we have used in the past.

Spot and Dot Alphabet Pages These are excellent for helping your preschooler work on their hand-eye coordination, their fine motor skills, and so much more! We use the Do-A-Dot Markers for this activity.
Number Playdough Mats
Create Your Own Handwriting Sheets I use this to generate sheets for the kids names. I finally got smart and instead of printing one out for each kid everyday I put the paper in a clear sheet protector. The kids now use a dry erase marker and once a week get to practice with a pencil.

I am just so excited to have all my kids home together this summer. We don’t have any huge plans, just good quality family time!

You can tell a lot about a person by who they hang out with, what they read, what they watch, and how they prioritize their time. Today I thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into what I have been reading this year.

Here are 6 books I have read this year or by authors I love reading that I think you might enjoy too! There are 3 fiction books and 3 non-fiction books. Plus I am also sharing what is on my reading list for the rest of the year.

I wanted to note that I while I love reading I tend to do most of my reading after the kids have gone to bed and on days when Josh is at the fire station. I really try to read my bible most days during the week and when I am doing a bible study I usually will wake up before the kids to be able to spend time while the house is quiet reading and praying.

FICTION

I have a bit of strict criteria for what I read. I won’t read books that have profanity. I don’t speak that way so I really don’t prefer to read it. I also seek out books that have an underlying faith/inspirational/uplifting message. There are already so many dark things in this world that what I put into my mind I want to be positive. And lastly if I know a book is basically soft porn I won’t go near it. And yes, I am talking about books like 50 Shades of Grey.

In March I discovered Josh had signed us up for a kindle unlimited account over a year ago. I now love kindle unlimited and have found some amazing authors!

Resolutions by Jenn Faulk

I adored this book. The storyline is about 3 friends who have 10 resolutions and a year to complete them. Emily the main character is the daughter of a megachurch pastor and the assistant to a sensational and exhausting wedding coordinator. Using the resolutions as a challenge to make life about more than being a mindless drone at work, she ventures out of her comfort zone – trying new hobbies, picking up new exercise habits, travelling abroad, helping out in new ways at church, DATING – and discovers in the process that there’s more to life than weddings and work. I deeply connected to the characters and story and was so sad when I finished. Thankfully I soon discovered that Jenn has written multiple books about these same characters.

Storm Clouds Rolling In (#1 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) by Ginny Dye

This book totally caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did and took a chance off all the reviews on Amazon when I decided to read it. The first book in this series is available on Kindle Unlimited but the additional 8+ books in the series will need to purchased. Trust me. They are worth the money and you will want to keep reading this series.

The main character Carrie Cromwell comes of age as the dark clouds of the Civil War swallow the country. Born with a fiery spirit and a strong mind, she finds herself struggling between the common wisdom of the South and the truth she has discovered. If you love history you will love this book and if you don’t love history you will still love this book. I have found myself in tears, laughing, and turning the pages in suspense while reading this series. All the characters are well developed and I was given a new understanding or what our country experienced during the Civil War.

Waves of Deception by Hope Callaghan

I love Hope’s books! I had never heard of the Cozy Mysteries genre before I started reading her books. Cozy Mysteries are stories that are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.

Samantha Rite is in desperate need of a vacation. Her life is shattered when after 21 years of marriage, her husband walks out on her, leaving her for another woman. As Sam is trying to pick up the pieces and start over, her family decides now would be the perfect time for her to take a relaxing vacation. Sam finds herself caught in the middle of a deadly adventure of a lifetime.

Be sure to check out her other series: Made in Savannah, Southern Sleuths, and Cruise Ship.

NON-FICTION

For non-fiction books I tend to lean more towards health/fitness, parenting, and marriage topics in addition to my bible and bible studies.

NIV, Giant Print Compact Bible

This bible is so great. Large enough to read. Compact enough to carry. This compact NIV Bible makes the comfort of giant print especially portable. This isn’t a study bible but it is very easy to read the font and it fits great in my larger purses and bags without taking up all the space. I am so committed to finishing the entire book this year. I have read the New Testament the beginning of the Old Testament and still need to read Judges – Malachi.

Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting by Johnny Carr

This book totally broke my heart and opened my eyes to how Christians are clearly called to care for orphans, a group so close to the heart of Jesus. In reality, most of the 153 million orphaned and vulnerable children in the world do not need to be adopted, and not everyone needs to become an adoptive parent. However, there are other very important ways to help beyond adoption.

I love that this book clearly outlines numerous ways you can become involved in caring for orphans. This book sparked amazing conversations with family and friends and I highly recommend it to anyone considering adoption/fostering or if you are just curious on the topic.

The Well-Versed Family by Caroline Boykin

This one-of-a-kind resource makes Bible memory doable – with proven memory tips and tools, engaging games and activities, quick family devotions, 90 memory verse cards, and more.

I have really enjoyed the tips mentioned in this book and have noticed that our kids have begun to memorize scripture with more ease and it has also been beneficial for Josh and I too!

In addition to the books I have read I am also looking forward to reading World’s Healthiest Foods, 2nd Edition: The Force For Change To Health-Promoting Foods and New Nutrient-Rich Cooking, Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health, and I know I will be brushing up On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep and also Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting From Birth to Six Years . The first two books I have just barely opened but I am super excited to dive into them and since we have used Baby Wise with both our kids I will be giving myself a refresher by skimming through the pages.

If you have any books you think I might like to read please let me know! I am always looking for great recommendations!

Summer Learning For Preschoolers & Early Elementary Students