Two stories of Summer Reading Gone Right

Summer Vacation is officially over (even though the weather continues) and summer reading is complete. The addition of the Milliarium Aureum to Coram Deo's summer reading program inspired some students to ramp up their reading and awarded others for their bookworm tendencies.

An Appetite for Reading is Whet

The Milliarium Aureum had perfect timing for first grader Garrett Clark. The program was there to inspire him at the just right time in his burgeoning reading career, as Garrett had discovered a new joy for chapter books. After hearing about the CDA award, his mom Tina said to him, "It's a thousand pages, so let's do our best and see what happens."

Trips to the library became a summer staple. There Garrett found the series called A-Z Mysteries. In his morning forays to the library, he would take three or four home with him and have two done by the afternoon. Not a bookworm, but an active 6 year-old boy on his summer vacation, Tina says she was continuously surprised at how quickly he would devour a book.

Another series he came to enjoy was the recommended summer reading series Henry and Mudge. Voracious for more, Garrett enjoyed approximately 20 tales of Mudge and Henry's adventures, sometimes reading them to his younger brother.

Box Car Children were the next to be consumed. About 12 of them fell prey to his love of chapter books. Tina says that series chapter books introduced him to the joys of character development- the experience of growing with a character, becoming intimately invested in their failures, victories and maturation.

Throughout this experience, the Milliarium Aureum stoked Garrett's reading appetite. Every time they tallied up the pages read, his countenance would brighten. Tina says, "It was fun for him to have that challenge and to know that he had earned it." By the end of the summer, Garrett had read 5,000 pages, earning the award five times over. Congratulations Garrett! As rapacious readers we welcome you to our ranks.

A Love of Reading is Rewarded

Isabel Nichols has grown up in a family of readers. Reading is part of her family culture. Melissa Nichols says that Isabel sees her parents make reading a priority, sees them reading their Bibles daily and wants to join in the fun. So participating in the Milliarium Aureum was a natural occurrence for Isabel. 

In the first two-and-a-half weeks of summer, Isabel had already read 500 pages. And over the rest of the summer she read 1,200 more. All the while, she was partaking in somewhat normal summer activities- family vacations, enjoying the sun and helping take care of a neighbors dog. By the beginning of school, she had read 1,700 pages all on her own and many more with her daddy at bedtime.

Through the recommended summer reading list, Isabel discovered a new love, investigative stories. Choosing the series geared more toward the male contingent of 4th Grade, Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective, Isabel came to love a good mystery. From there she found a new series to enjoy called Scripture Sleuth which provides an excellent matrix for solutions to life's problems and mysteries. Each chapter holds a mystery that can be solved by looking up the scripture verse placed at the end. The scripture then holds a clue to the solution.

When asked about why she participated in the Milliarium Aureum, Isabel answered, "Because I just love to read, and you learn so much!" a simple response and yet so profound.