Rising Pre-1st Summer Learning
Optional Summer Work
For families looking for ways to keep their students engaged with pencil and paper this year, Athens Academy suggests the following optional workbooks:
Summer Bridge Activities PreK-K Workbooks, Ages 4-5, Math, Phonics, Handwriting, Science, Summer Learning Kindergarten Workbook Summer Big Fun Workbook Bridging Grades P & K (Highlights Summer Learning) Practicing consistently every week of the summer will help students reinforce their math proficiency and ensure a smooth transition back to school in August. |
Summer Reading Note from the PS Librarian
I hope everyone is excited for a summer full of reading! Our school provides suggested book titles for every grade to encourage summer reading, but these titles are not required. During the year, I cultivate a list of my favorite finds from the previous year that are best suited to each age. The lists feature diverse books in style and content, so hopefully, you will find something that will connect with your children.
We recommend that your student try to read 20 books over the summer. It's a great time to revisit your favorite childhood classics with your children, reread some of their favorites, or explore award-winning titles. The most important thing is that you are continuing to read throughout the summer weeks.
This list is just a starting point! Local libraries and bookstores can also serve as great resources when selecting books, and of course, additional book suggestions can be found in the K3 or K4 lists on the summer learning website.
Happy reading!
We recommend that your student try to read 20 books over the summer. It's a great time to revisit your favorite childhood classics with your children, reread some of their favorites, or explore award-winning titles. The most important thing is that you are continuing to read throughout the summer weeks.
This list is just a starting point! Local libraries and bookstores can also serve as great resources when selecting books, and of course, additional book suggestions can be found in the K3 or K4 lists on the summer learning website.
Happy reading!
Recommended Titles
Additional book suggestions can be found in the K3 or K4 lists as well as your local libraries and bookstores.
The Amazing and True Story of Tooth Mouse Peréz by Ana Cristina Herreros
Long ago, throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the Tooth Mouse brought children their permanent teeth, strong and straight as a mouse’s. Tracing the Tooth Mouse’s beginnings through to his descendants, this book artfully weaves the Tooth Mouse’s changing habits as the world industrializes, with the growing independence of the child, as teeth fall out and the child learns to care for themselves.
As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After Dark by Donna Jo Napoli
From microscopic organisms to giant cats, it's surprising who you'll find awake in the middle of the night! Dinoflagellates guzzle floating bacteria, bumblebee bats loop and swoop, racer snakes slither, weasels sneak and circle, and spot-bellied eagle owls leap and sweep. One by one, the animals of the food chain find their next scrumptious treat.
Bridges by Marc Majewski
Bridges can be high or low, long or short, straight or curvy. Some are designed to blend in, while others stand out. But each one tells a story: a reminder of our history, a testament to ingenuity and engineering, an invitation to imagine the possibilities of the future. Literally and symbolically, bridges connect us—to new places, new cultures, and new people.
Down the Hole by Scott Slater
When a suspiciously polite fox attempts to coax his next meal out of a burrow, he is met with a clever rabbit who has been cooking up a surprise for this very moment! Careful readers may spot what is in store for fox before he does in this darkly funny cautionary tale that roots for the underbunny.
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
Evergreen the squirrel is afraid of many things: thunder, hawks, and the dark paths of Buckthorn Forest. But when her mother tasks Evergreen with delivering soup to her sick Granny Oak, the little squirrel must face her fears and make the journey. Along the way, Evergreen is met by other forest dwellers – some want to help her, but some want her mother’s delicious soup! It’s up to Evergreen to stay the course, and those who help her will surprise and delight young readers.
The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination by Brad and Kristi Montague
Every day, special figment agent Sparky delivers all the mail the FBI receives to the proper department, like the Office of the Unexplainable or the Department of Dreams. It's a big job, but Sparky keeps everything running smoothly...until disaster strikes when the Cave of Untold Stories overflows and threatens to topple the whole bureau. It turns out too many people have been holding in their big ideas, and now Sparky must recruit more agents to share their dreams, songs, and stories with the world.
Snake's Big Mistake by Sarah Kurpiel
For weeks, Snake has looked forward to sculpting the most spectacular clay pot in art class. But when his pot breaks and his teacher confuses Snake’s pot with Turtle’s, Snake takes home Turtle’s masterpiece to show his family and pretends that he made it. Now, Snake will have to craft a way to repair a broken pot and a broken friendship.
The Tiny Tailors by Kat Macleod
Join the Tiny Tailors in the garden as they stitch, weave, and piece together their costumes for the upcoming Spring Parade. The berries have been threaded into sleeves and the daisies arranged into a fan . . . but it looks like something might be missing. Will the Tiny Tailors be able to find what they need in time for the parade?
Mole Is Not Alone by Maya Tatsukawa
Mole is invited to a party, which is very worrisome. What if the party is too rowdy for Mole? What if Mole doesn’t know anyone there? What if Mole is just too shy to make friends? Mole worries through the tunnels, around Snake’s burrow, under the forest, past Bear’s den, and all the way to Rabbit’s door. But despite all those worries, maybe Mole can find a quiet way to make friends...
Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space, and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.
What If One Day by Bruce Handy
What if one day, all the birds flew away? Mornings would be quieter. Skies would be plainer. Worms could relax. What if there were no more bugs? What if there ceased to be day and night? By asking how our world would change if it lacked birds, water, or people, and how we would feel about that, this playful text invites readers to celebrate the beauty and wonder of existence, and all that makes our world what it is. So often, our gaze is on the future, on that better world to come, but what if the world as it is—with light and water, salt, earth, and animals, plants and insects, air and stars and French fries—is sufficient, and it is only us who have not known how to cherish it, or to love it all well enough? This book reminds us that all we need is here, if only we attend!
The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy
The Vasylenko family are all adventurers who love wild places and wild things. All, that is, except young Oktober. He also dreams of adventure, but it’s the kind that takes place between the pages of a book, indoors, where it’s safe and warm. Unlike the rest of his family, he dreads venturing out where it’s cold, wet, and home to a creature he calls the Wilderness. His father assures him the wilderness isn’t a monster, but out there, Oktober can only see slimy tails and sharp teeth and so many places for the terrible Wilderness to hide. One day on a hike, Oktober gets separated from his family, and because he doesn’t believe he’s brave enough to be an adventurer, he’s certain his fate is sealed. But maybe getting lost is just what Oktober needs to find courage and a new perspective...and an unexpected friend.
Long ago, throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the Tooth Mouse brought children their permanent teeth, strong and straight as a mouse’s. Tracing the Tooth Mouse’s beginnings through to his descendants, this book artfully weaves the Tooth Mouse’s changing habits as the world industrializes, with the growing independence of the child, as teeth fall out and the child learns to care for themselves.
As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After Dark by Donna Jo Napoli
From microscopic organisms to giant cats, it's surprising who you'll find awake in the middle of the night! Dinoflagellates guzzle floating bacteria, bumblebee bats loop and swoop, racer snakes slither, weasels sneak and circle, and spot-bellied eagle owls leap and sweep. One by one, the animals of the food chain find their next scrumptious treat.
Bridges by Marc Majewski
Bridges can be high or low, long or short, straight or curvy. Some are designed to blend in, while others stand out. But each one tells a story: a reminder of our history, a testament to ingenuity and engineering, an invitation to imagine the possibilities of the future. Literally and symbolically, bridges connect us—to new places, new cultures, and new people.
Down the Hole by Scott Slater
When a suspiciously polite fox attempts to coax his next meal out of a burrow, he is met with a clever rabbit who has been cooking up a surprise for this very moment! Careful readers may spot what is in store for fox before he does in this darkly funny cautionary tale that roots for the underbunny.
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
Evergreen the squirrel is afraid of many things: thunder, hawks, and the dark paths of Buckthorn Forest. But when her mother tasks Evergreen with delivering soup to her sick Granny Oak, the little squirrel must face her fears and make the journey. Along the way, Evergreen is met by other forest dwellers – some want to help her, but some want her mother’s delicious soup! It’s up to Evergreen to stay the course, and those who help her will surprise and delight young readers.
The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination by Brad and Kristi Montague
Every day, special figment agent Sparky delivers all the mail the FBI receives to the proper department, like the Office of the Unexplainable or the Department of Dreams. It's a big job, but Sparky keeps everything running smoothly...until disaster strikes when the Cave of Untold Stories overflows and threatens to topple the whole bureau. It turns out too many people have been holding in their big ideas, and now Sparky must recruit more agents to share their dreams, songs, and stories with the world.
Snake's Big Mistake by Sarah Kurpiel
For weeks, Snake has looked forward to sculpting the most spectacular clay pot in art class. But when his pot breaks and his teacher confuses Snake’s pot with Turtle’s, Snake takes home Turtle’s masterpiece to show his family and pretends that he made it. Now, Snake will have to craft a way to repair a broken pot and a broken friendship.
The Tiny Tailors by Kat Macleod
Join the Tiny Tailors in the garden as they stitch, weave, and piece together their costumes for the upcoming Spring Parade. The berries have been threaded into sleeves and the daisies arranged into a fan . . . but it looks like something might be missing. Will the Tiny Tailors be able to find what they need in time for the parade?
Mole Is Not Alone by Maya Tatsukawa
Mole is invited to a party, which is very worrisome. What if the party is too rowdy for Mole? What if Mole doesn’t know anyone there? What if Mole is just too shy to make friends? Mole worries through the tunnels, around Snake’s burrow, under the forest, past Bear’s den, and all the way to Rabbit’s door. But despite all those worries, maybe Mole can find a quiet way to make friends...
Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space, and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.
What If One Day by Bruce Handy
What if one day, all the birds flew away? Mornings would be quieter. Skies would be plainer. Worms could relax. What if there were no more bugs? What if there ceased to be day and night? By asking how our world would change if it lacked birds, water, or people, and how we would feel about that, this playful text invites readers to celebrate the beauty and wonder of existence, and all that makes our world what it is. So often, our gaze is on the future, on that better world to come, but what if the world as it is—with light and water, salt, earth, and animals, plants and insects, air and stars and French fries—is sufficient, and it is only us who have not known how to cherish it, or to love it all well enough? This book reminds us that all we need is here, if only we attend!
The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy
The Vasylenko family are all adventurers who love wild places and wild things. All, that is, except young Oktober. He also dreams of adventure, but it’s the kind that takes place between the pages of a book, indoors, where it’s safe and warm. Unlike the rest of his family, he dreads venturing out where it’s cold, wet, and home to a creature he calls the Wilderness. His father assures him the wilderness isn’t a monster, but out there, Oktober can only see slimy tails and sharp teeth and so many places for the terrible Wilderness to hide. One day on a hike, Oktober gets separated from his family, and because he doesn’t believe he’s brave enough to be an adventurer, he’s certain his fate is sealed. But maybe getting lost is just what Oktober needs to find courage and a new perspective...and an unexpected friend.