Beat the Summer Learning Loss with this Summer Reading List

The temps are rising, the midwest misquitos are emerging, and my freezer is stocked full of popsicles, which can only mean one thing: summer is here.  But if your kids are anything like mine, the “I’m Bored” whines have also started.

With an English teacher for a mom, my kids know that I fight summer boredom with trips to the library and daily summer reading time.  This not only brings a few minutes of peace to our otherwise chaotic house, but also helps my kids fight that pesky summer learning loss.

A recent article summarized several findings regarding the phenomenom of summer learning loss.  The authors concluded that on average, students’ achievement scores declined over summer vacation by one month’s worth of school-year.

If you’re looking for books that are both educational and high-interest for your kids or students, look no further than The Museum of the American Revolution’s #ReadTheRevolution 2019 Kids Summer Reading list – highlighting the best children’s literature for learning about American history.

The list is broken down by grade level, from pre-school to high school:

Preschool to 2nd Grade

• Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, by Margaret McNamara (Author), Esme Shapiro (Illustrator), Phillipa Soo (Afterword)
• Cheer Up Ben Franklin!, by Misti Kenison
• My America The Beautiful, by Katherine Lee Bates and Kate Melrose
• She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed The World, by Chelsea Clinton

3rd to 6th Grade

• Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution, by Laurie Halse Anderson
  
• Saving The Liberty Bell, by Marty Rhodes Figley and Kevin Lepp
• I Survived the American Revolution, 1776, by Lauren Tarshis
• A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent, by Anne Rockwell and Floyd Cooper
• Diary of Sally Wister, by Sally Wister
• Sibyl Ludington: Revolutionary War Rider (Based On A True Story), by E.F. Abbott
• Flashback Four #4: The Hamilton–Burr Duel, by Dan Gutman
• Revolutionary Rogues, by Selene Castrovilla (Author), John O’Brien (Illustrator)
• Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington’s Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve

7th Grade and Up

• Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, by L.M. Elliott
• Forge (sequel to Chains), by Laurie Halse Anderson

And if you want to expand your list, check out the 2018 #ReadTheRevolution Reading List.