I tried to start a book club once. The only problem was, I was often the only one at the “meetings” that had read the book. So I guess I actually started a dinner club that I got to go to as a reward for finishing a book. It was fun, but I still craved a book club.
My husband is an avid reader and textbook introvert, so book clubs in theory are appealing to him, but the social aspect is a no-go. BUT there’s a workaround. What if the book club was with someone he enjoyed spending time with? The Super-Cool-Megan-Kyle-Book-Club was born. We decided to read a book per month, and have a date night book club. We’ve never been good at holding ourselves to “date nights,” but the book club made it like a real excuse to have to go out.
One unexpected result of our book club was that it inspired our oldest son (then in second grade) to want to start a book club of his own. We encouraged him to talk to his teacher and principal to try to get one going at his school. After several meetings and no action, I think the guy gave up.
Then Coronavirus hit. School closed, and we were home for what was to be a super long summer. When August snuck back up, we were not quite ready to send our kids back into school and opted to take advantage of remote learning. One of our biggest concerns was just the lack of connection to other kids that our children get in school. I reached out to a few friends who were opting for remote learning as well, and their concerns were similar. After talking to our son, we decided it was the perfect time to start up a book club – for kids!
The Remote Readers
They call themselves The Remote Readers, and it’s a group of four kids (three 3rd graders, one 4th) who actually enjoy reading (which is kind of hard to come by!) My husband did the ground work and came up with a list of books for them to choose from. The kids take turns getting to pick the next book from the list. They meet on Zoom at the end of each month. Before the meetings, my husband and I help our son come up with a short list of questions to keep the meeting rolling. At the end of the meeting, whoever picked the next month’s book announces it to the others.
It is so fun to see my son in the “moderator” role. I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the conversations I’ve overheard. They also have plenty of time in their Zoom for kid silliness. (Somehow every month ends up with a conversation about pickles!) My son looks forward to his book club every month, and he has been able to feel connected to his friends even though we are all remote learning. I think his only complaint is that it isn’t more frequent!
Tips For A Children’s Book Club
Have parents or an adult pick a “master list” for the kids to pick their next book from. This ensures that they’ll read a variety of books! Not to mention, kids may not know where to start when picking books for a book club.
Keep it small. It is super easy for the kids to get off track, and the more kids there are, the more likely it is that they’ll get distracted!
Have an unofficial moderator. If one of the kids seems very into the book club, talk to them about being an unofficial moderator. Explain that they’ll be in charge of getting the group back on track when they get off topic. My son also is working on asking questions and then asking each group member for a response so everyone gets to participate!
Prepare questions ahead of time. Sit down with your child or the moderator and help them prepare questions. If they’re meeting on Zoom, show them how to keep the window open to reference during the meeting. If you’re doing in person meetings, print the question list! (You can visit my Books For Kids page to download the discussion questions we used.)
Let the kids have their book club. There will be times you want to intervene, but try to let them have their club, their way. The second meeting will be better than the first. Depending on their ages, they may not have super deep conversations. This is fine! Think about your purpose. Is it social? Want to get them excited about reading? Want to have them engage in conversations about books? All of this will be accomplished by a kid-led book club.
Get Going!
If you don’t know anyone with kids of a similar age or aren’t quite ready for a full on club, check out my kid friendly reading challenge! If you’re interested in helping your kids start their own book club, I say go for it! Click here for the complete list of books that the kids choose from each month. As they meet, I will update the blog with our question guides for each book as well. You can see the ones we have done so far at this page:
When working towards a zero waste lifestyle, making adjustments to the way you’ve always done or thought about things can be really hard. Throw kids into the mix, and it’s even harder. Throw kids’ teachers/schools/friends in, and it seems like an uphill battle you will never win. Luckily, you can help the transition to a zero waste school with simple ideas.
Part of living low waste is accepting that you cannot change anyone else – though you can certainly influence others through your actions. The waste that comes in from outside the home is often hard to quit. However, when we send our kids off to school each year, there are some things we can control. If you remember to use what you have whenever possible, refuse what you do not need, reuse/repurpose when you can, and recycle what you can’t, you’ll be on the way to a zero waste school year.
*This post contains affiliate links – that means if you make a purchase from one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting my blog!
Back to School Prep
Clothes Shopping – Who doesn’t love a new back to school outfit? It’s fun to dress fresh for the first day of school. Unfortunately, one of the biggest culprits in the climate emergency is the fashion industry. According to this study conducted by Quantis, the apparel and footwear industries “account for an estimated 8.1% of global climate impacts.” Instead of buying new clothes every year, try searching secondhand/consignment stores or organizing a clothes swap for friends & friends of friends. When you must buy new, consider styles your kids will actually wear vs what you want them to wear, and buy well made clothes that will last instead of fast fashion that will break down quickly. It is also important to note that like us, our kids will have their favorite clothes that they put in a short rotation. Do they really need 10 brand new shirts to crowd the closet?
School Supplies – One of the mantras of zero waste applies here. Use what you have. Pencil boxes, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, erasers, highliters, backpacks, lunchboxes, etc. These are all things my son does not use up in a single school year, yet we are prompted to buy new each year. The list could go on, but you get the point. Reevaluate whether or not your kids need a ‘fresh’ box of pens when theirs write just fine. Buy a backpack with great reviews that is built to last in a style/print that can grow with your child.
After the First Day
Transportation
Did your mom have a carpool with the neighbor ladies when you were growing up? Mine did, and it seemed like everyone else did too. If you take a look at the car line at an elementary school today – it is clear that most today do not. We live close to our school, and we walk – regardless of weather. The exception to this is when there is a severe storm. I have begun walking my youngest to school as well, even though it’s close to a mile away. It gives me some exercise and keeps us out of the car. Those little 1 mile trips add up over the years. Not to mention the idling in line. When possible, walking or biking are the best options. Carpooling is a great choice if you live too far for that.
Lunches
It is so easy to throw in a Lunchable, granola bar, or whatever other prepackaged snack you’ve got into the box and send the kids on. It’s easy to not have your kids bring home dishes. But it’s also easy to teach your kids to rinse out the containers you sent food in and put them in the dishwasher. It’s easy to throw the cloth napkin they took to school in with the rest of the laundry you’re already doing. What’s hard is committing to a change. But you can do it! Try committing to packing with reusable containers and utensils. (No need to buy a shiny new Bento box – I know you’ve got a full Tupperware drawer.) Send a reusable water bottle with your child – they can fill up at the water fountain. And yes, in nearly every city in the country they can drink unfiltered water safely. Pack that cloth napkin, and it can double as a protective wrap for their apple or banana.
Communication
Today, there is very little reason to send physical notes, other than consent forms, to school. Ask your teacher for their preferred method of electronic communication. (We have e-mail as well as a separate messaging/behavior tracking system at my son’s school.) When you do send a note, do it on a scrap you’ve saved. I could fill a pool with the front-used-only sheets of paper sent home in a given year. Need to send money or something more secure? Take one of those used school papers and fold it into a little envelope, or designate a specific envelope you will reuse to send lunch money and write “Please Return Envelope” on the outside. This does not have to be difficult.
Single Use Items
One principle of zero waste we’ve already talked about is using what you have. Another is ditching single use items. This has been addressed in both lunch preparation and communication, but there are other areas where this comes up with regards to schools. Once you’ve been at it for a while, you will find yourself noticing just how many single use items we chunk out regularly. One example of this is staples. Sure they’re metal, but how many of us are removing and recycling staples? Are they even big enough to recycle? While I can think of some scenarios that staples would be very handy, most of the time that I use staples (single use) a paperclip (reusable) would suffice. Can you find an alternative to using Scotch tape in at least some cases? Can you send your child with a handkerchief when they are battling dreaded allergies instead of two boxes of tissue/kid?
Parties
I know some parents who truly hate school parties. I am not one of those parents. Truth is I love a good party, and I like to think about my kid having fun at school. However, school parties are a huge waste generating machine. Offer to bring in a set of reusable plates/cups for the class’ parties, and offer to take them home to wash them afterwards. Talk to your teacher about organizing a list of food items that do not come in single use packaging. (Some ideas are fruit, home baked goods, treats from a local bakery, etc.) I also think that kids would be just fine without the Dollar Store gift exchanges. My kids do love bubbles and cheap slinkies, but out of sight out of mind, right? The key here is offering to help as much as you possibly can. Nobody wants to make a change that equals tons of added work on their party plate!
The Busy Day to Day
After School Snacks – We have a house full of hungry boys. After school snacking is part of daily life. We’ve switched from individually packaged convenience foods to fruits and snacks that I can make ahead from bulk bin ingredients. Some of our personal favorites are homemade granola bars and Larabars. We also make trail mix regularly from bulk bin nuts and dried fruits. I make these snacks once per week. Once they’re gone, the kids eat apples or whatever else they can find until the next week.
Weeknight Dinners – My oldest is only 7, but we already have begun the weeknight hustle during sports seasons. The key to keeping waste down during the week is planning and preparation. At the end of each week, I meal plan for the following week. I plan quick and easy dinners for nights that are busy, and we build in leftovers once per week to help battle food waste. When we revert to convenience foods, it is usually due to a failure in planning on my part. Planning helps us reduce waste, but also saves me the stress of thinking about what’s for dinner every night. Win-win.
The Bigger Picture
There are some schools out there doing truly amazing things. I’ve read about huge community gardens maintained by the kids and teachers. There are school districts who are battling food waste by sending unserved food home with students who may not otherwise eat dinner. Some have begun large scale composting programs. There are classes participating in zero waste school initiatives such as online assignment submissions.
If you have an idea for your school, pitch it. The worst that could happen is a rejection – which really is just keeping the status quo. Best case scenario, you are a catalyst for change on a scale bigger than your home. Living zero waste is a great start, but for real change to occur there simply is not enough we can do inside the walls of our homes. By getting involved in our communities and proposing changes for the better and helping implement those changes, we can start a zero waste school snowball rolling. Hopefully it doesn’t melt too fast.
Don’t forget to check out my post about how we started the Zero Waste journey as a family! If you’re just getting started, check out this book – (the zero waste option here is literally – check it out!)
Our county’s Master Gardeners group maintains the gardens at one of the parks in town. As part of the park, they have an area that is designated as a butterfly garden. We started taking our kids to this park early last summer when the ‘hunting painted rocks’ craze was raging. This park was a hotspot for painted rock activity! In any case, my kids (and I) fell in love with the butterfly garden. I started to think about if it would be possible to start one at home.
Around the same time as all of the rock hunting activity, we were gifted a new-to-us swing set. We already had a swing set, but ours had not fared very well on the move from our old house to the new one. It seemed wasteful to just chunk it to the curb, so my wheels started turning on a way to repurpose the set. Our yard has very little area that can be considered full sun (which is most of the time awesome, not so much when starting a garden!) I thought we might be able to turn the swing set into a hub for our butterfly garden, and had a vision of vines growing over the top of the slide and up the wooden uprights.
Getting Started
Round 1
We pushed the old swing set into the sun and against the fence. I enlisted my husband’s help to get the ground torn up around it and install a border. We ran chicken wire up the slide (for a vine to be determined later!) and replaced the swings with hooks for hanging baskets.
I started this endeavor very late in the summer last year, and my first go ’round was an epic fail. I chose a few plants I liked and a vine that I knew butterflies liked (a passion vine!) My hanging baskets burned up in the hot July sun, and my passion vine was planted way too late to gain any traction. It was not what I hoped it’d be. I shared a picture of what it looked like after last year’s failure here.
I decided this year we’d start early, do our research, and attract those butterflies!
Round 2
My oldest son and I Googled information regarding butterfly gardening in Texas. If you live in another region of the country, a quick Google search should provide a list of plants that will do well in your area! I’ll share what has started working for us. I’ve included a link at the end of this post to a helpful resource that I started with!
Here’s how our butterfly garden is looking right now. We are just getting into the hotter days of the year, and several of these plants should be taking off soon! I’ll update when they get larger, but wanted to go ahead and share so you can go ahead and get after it too.
I’ll break it down left to right so you can see what we’ve got going on!
The Plants (and Visitors!) in Our Butterfly Garden
On the Slide:
My mom and dad have a passion vine that reseeds every year. This year, they’ve had several sprout up around their yard and offered to allow us to attempt to transplant some for our butterfly garden. I hadn’t decided what vine I was going to put on the slide, but since these were going to be weedwhacked anyway I thought, “Why not?”
The passion vine is a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary, meaning it is what the caterpillars feed on. I’ll be real honest. Until researching butterfly gardens I hadn’t given much thought into whether or not caterpillars were finicky eaters. Turns out, some are.
The little guy in the pictures above either hitched a ride on one of the transplants or was laid very shortly after planting here. The pictures of him are only a few days apart. They grow fast! I’m hoping my plants can keep up with him. He’s already stripped one and has moved on to another. The plants had a bit of a shock when I moved them, but two have started putting on new growth! Hopefully he’ll move on to the next phase of his life soon, and my vines will have a chance to recover before the next one shows up.
The Ladder:
At my last house, I had a wonderful blackberry vine. As I mentioned earlier, we have very little sun in this yard – which is a bummer if you want blackberries! I decided to give the blackberry vine a shot on the ladder, knowing that it may ultimately be overrun by caterpillars. I’m not using any chemical pest control in this area (because caterpillars = butterflies!) so if it goes, it goes. But I will say, so far the caterpillars have stuck to their preferred host plants.
To the left of the ladder I’ve planted an Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii). I hear they don’t love clay soil, but my nurserywoman convinced me to give it a shot. So far, so good. There’s one species of caterpillar hanging out around the buds of this one, and my research suggests it’s that of a southern pink moth. I’ll see how much damage these guys do to my flowers before I decide how badly I want to see a southern pink moth. (There’s seriously like 10 of these little suckers at least! And it’s very strange – they eat at the bloom instead of the leaves! If you have tiny black spots, aka caterpillar poo, on the leaves of your salvia, check the blooms for these guys.)
Just to the right of the slide, I’ve planted a milkweed I found at the master gardeners’ plant sale. I know you need quite a few to attract monarchs. But my plan is just to start slow and see if it will reseed next year before I buy a bunch of them! Also, I had no idea how large those guys got!
My husband put his cacti on top of the platform so that they will be a) getting great sun and b) inaccessible to our boys/dogs. We actually have had them bloom in the past, so if they do, they’ll be another nectar source.
The Middle Ground
In the middle of the swing set we’ve got hooks for hanging baskets. I’ll take a look around now that it’s getting warmer for a few more nectar plants to put up there.
In the main area of the bed just to the right of the platform, we were able to score a perennial lantana from my husband’s mom. I’m excited to see if it’ll do well here – hers usually get pretty large by the end of the summer and is covered in butterflies!
In the front of the open area, the large bushy thing you see is a bronze leaf fennel. This was purchased as a small starter plant, and again, I had no idea how large this would be! It sends up new fronds nearly every day. But this fennel is where a lot of butterfly action happens.
The Fennel
So far on the fennel, we’ve seen a green caterpillar with white stripes (I’m pretty sure it’s just a moth!) and an abundance of black swallowtail action. I am fascinated by these butterflies, and I was even able to see – and photograph – this little lady lay her eggs here! (Which have since hatched. I brought one frond with an egg inside so the boys and I could be on baby watch!)
The Dill
Also in the center area of the garden are several dill and parsley plants. We sowed seed for these early in the spring, and have quite a few moderately sized plants. Our very first visitor (a black swallowtail caterpillar) was on one of these dill sprouts. I actually went out one morning to relocate one of the small dill plants – and couldn’t find it! It had been stripped clean. I was able to find the culprit on a nearby dill, where he stayed until he was very, very fat. He went missing while my family was on a camping trip, and I’ve been telling myself he went off to pupate and NOT to be fed to a cardinal baby.
We’ve since had another black swallowtail caterpillar hang out in our parsley, and several of my butterfly friend’s eggs have hatched.
I think these guys are so fun. Did you know that if you poke a black swallowtail caterpillar they shoot out tiny orange horns and emit an offensive smell? Me neither! But now we do.
Our first visitor!
Yikes!
The Other Herbs
Like the blackberry, there were a few herbs I’d been wanting to have around. I decided to go ahead and take a chance and put them in with the butterfly garden. If the caterpillars end up liking them, next season I’ll find a new spot.
I planted a lemon thyme in the front of the open area so that I can run my hands through it and smell its delicious lemon scent. One of these days I’ll see if there’s a dish I can cook with it, but I honestly just wanted it to be able to smell it! In the galvanized tub on the right of the open area I put a chocolate mint plant. Also for the smelling, but for the mojitos and cooking too! So far, the caterpillars have steered clear of both of these plants.
Coming Soon
I’ve sown some purple coneflower seeds throughout this area, so I’m hoping to see those guys coming up very soon! They (along with the lantana) will be great nectar plants for the butterflies we hope to attract. We will also be finding ‘the perfect sitting rock’ for butterflies to bask on. The butterflies will also need a shallow muddy area, as that is where they will sit to drink water.
On the Right
You can see in this photo a better shot of the mint in the tub. It is true what they say – it spreads fast, so unless you want a bed of it, contain it! You can also see some of our random dill plants from seed sprinkled in there.
In front of the post, I planted a blue mistflower. This one should grow considerably and be a wonderful nectar source as well. Most of the nectars I’ve got planned like the heat, so they should be showing off soon.
Right beside the galvanized tub we’ve planted Turk’s cap. This one will also be much larger and a nectar source once it reaches maturity. In the meantime while there’s still empty space around it, I placed another of the milkweed I got from the local plant sale in this area. Along with some dill, of course. So much dill.
The Rewards
So far, this year has already been a success in my book. We’ve attracted several species of caterpillars, so I’m certain once our nectars get going we will be seeing butterflies regularly. My kids and I so far have observed butterfly eggs along with super tiny baby caterpillars and have watched them through many stages of their caterpillar lives. We have yet to see one form (and come out of) a chrysalis, but I think the odds are in our favor.
My 6 year old son checks on “our friends” every day, and my 3 year old is particularly interested in ‘the spiky guy.’ This has been a great little biology experiment for us, and not to mention a visually pleasing addition to our back yard.
Click the image below to print a free butterfly garden planner!
If you’re looking for more summer fun, check out these posts:
Let me know if you have any questions about starting your own garden! If you do decide to start one of your own, I’d love to see a photo! Check out the resources below for more information and helpful plant lists!
*This post contains affiliate links – if you make a purchase from a link, we will receive a small commission – at no extra cost to you! Read my full statement here.
Why Take A Reading Challenge?
When I was young, I was a reader. I was one of those kids who always had my head in a book. (Usually from the Thoroughbred series or a Goosebumps book!) Somewhere along the way around junior high or high school, I lost my need to read for pleasure. I didn’t stop liking reading, but it just quit being something I did for fun. Maybe I had myself too busy with extra-curricular activities. Perhaps it was that all of my reading energy was used up for books I had to read for school. I finally got that joy of reading back in college, and though I’m not as consistent as I’d like, I still read for pleasure now.
My kids love reading, and we have books all over the house. Literally. We also try to take somewhat regular trips to the library to mix it up a bit. I want them to continue to view reading as a fun activity as they grow. Though they haven’t lost their joy yet, I started to brainstorm ways that I can make (and keep) reading fun for them. It’s also easy to get caught up in the summer shuffle and fall down on our daily summer reading. I don’t think there’s a chance they’d go to bed without a story, but I love sitting down with them during the day for a quiet minute too! (2020 update: My son has started a book club! Read about it here!)
My husband is a reading challenge guy. He currently has at least 3 different lists/challenges he is working on. Some are to complete in a short period of time (like the Popsugar one he wrote about earlier!) Others are “lifetime” lists like Amazon’s 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, and his personal challenge to read nonfiction books with protagonists from each country of the world. The boys hear him talk about his reading challenges, so it seemed natural to create one for them!
Summer Reading Fun
There’s lots of different types of reading challenges out there. Some are lists of books to read. Others are categories to choose from. There’s also some fun reading “task” challenges (for example: read a book outside). I asked for Kyle’s help creating our personal summer reading challenge, and we went with a topis/categories challenge.
Our intent is to let the boys choose an item from the list, and take them to the library to find a book that fits the criterion. Does anybody else get so tired of your kids’ personal book collection? I swear it’s like we have a library of our own here, but sometimes I just can’t pick anything I want to read again. We chose to include 22 topics, which averages to 2 books per week of my kids’ summer vacation. This seems like a super manageable number considering that most of the books they will pick will be books we can read in one sitting! If you’ve got an older kid reading longer books you can still join in. Make it a challenge for the rest of the year, or just pick a reasonable number of items from the list together.
I am hoping it will be fun for them. If it turns out they view it as a chore then we’ll table it. But I really don’t see that happening with them.
Join In!
The graphic at the top of the post has all of our challenge items so you can join in. Click the image below to sign up to receive a free .pdf tracking sheet straight to your inbox. This way you can have something to print off and take with you to the library to check off! Update: If you’d rather just purchase books, consider doing it from Bookshop! A percentage of every purchase with Bookshop goes to support independent bookstores. Pretty cool! You can read more about it in this post! Also, feel free to join our Summer Reading Challenge group on Facebook to share all of your picks and see what everyone else is reading!
If you’re looking for more summer fun, be sure to check out these posts:
