We understand that this has been a stressful time for families and schools all across the country. With some schools closed since early March, parents and educators have had to make a very sudden shift to full-time virtual/distance learning. We applaud all that you have done for your children during this difficult time, and Scholastic is proud to be your partner in supporting literacy at home during this pressing time.
On Monday, May 4, we’re kicking off Scholastic Summer Read-a-Palooza, our free program that celebrates reading for fun while increasing access to books during the summer, without adding additional burdens on parents or caregivers. This year, we are excited to share a brand new kids experience in Scholastic Home Base, a free digital destination which offers full books, live events, and games in a moderated and safe online community!
While in the Home Base summer zone, kids will be able to:
- Read free digital books. Exclusive to the summer zone, kids will have access to select full ebooks in their entirety.
- Unlock book donations for home libraries. For every two consecutive days a child checks into the zone they will create a Reading Streak which will unlock a new free print book for a child with limited or no access to books. Reading Streaks are earned when kids check in to the Read-a-Palooza zone to confirm they have read that day. With the goal of unlocking all 100,000 books by July, United Way Worldwide, the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit, will distribute the books across the country to locations where access to more high-quality books is needed most.
- Share reading progress. Kids will be able to create and print individualized reading reports summarizing their reading progress. These easy-to-download and printable reports can be shared with teachers or parents to show reading accomplishments.
- Earn personal reading milestones. Kids will be able to earn accolades ranging from bronze, silver, gold and diamond levels for their reading streak progress while collecting summer-specific accessories to dress up their avatar.
- Join a community of readers. The summer zone offers kids a safe social platform to interact with friends and make new companions along the way. Through this summer reading community kids will share and discover the joy of stories and help provide books to their peers with limited or no access.
The program runs from Monday, May 4 to Friday, September 4. To learn more about Scholastic Summer Read-a-Palooza and access free summer reading resources, visit scholastic.com/summer.
