Summer is for Learning at Cary Library!Friends of Cary Library logo

The Early Literacy Summer Challenge is for infants through preschoolers. If your child will be entering kindergarten through 5th grade in the fall, please enroll in the K-5 Summer Challenge. Students entering grades 6-12 may participate in the Teen Summer Challenge.

Challenges begin June 25 and end August 27. The last day to claim prizes is Saturday, September 3.

Summer Learning is sponsored by The Friends of Cary Memorial Library.

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Summer is for...FUN! Early Literacy

Early Literacy Summer Challenge

Reading preparation begins BEFORE your child starts school — it begins at birth! There are five early literacy practices that every child needs to get ready to read, listen, and write. This challenge is designed to encourage parents and caregivers to engage in these early literacy practices with their children all while exploring art, science, math, and more! Get ready to talk, sing, read, write, and play!

Complete any 7 of the 10 suggested activities to earn each activity badge! Badges can be completed in any order, so start with what interests you most. Do one activity per week to earn one badge or one activity per day to earn all seven. For each activity badge earned, the Friends of the Library will donate $1 to the Lexington Interfaith Food Pantry, up to $500. Visit the library to vote on how your dollar is spent!

You can also log your reading time towards a goal of 24 hours and a voucher for $5 at the Friends of the Library used book sale! Read just 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week to meet this goal. Time spent reading books for the Read badge does count towards your time goal.

You may track your progress directly on Beanstack, or download the Early Literacy Paper Log [PDF]  and Time Log [PDF] to track offline and log later.

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Summer is for...FUN! K-5

K-5 Summer Challenge

Have fun, stay active, and keep learning all summer long by completing reading and activity challenges. Get ready to read, write, create, play, and explore math, science, music, and Lexington!

Complete any 7 of the 10 suggested activities to earn each activity badge! Badges can be completed in any order, so start with what interests you most. Do one activity per week to earn one badge or one activity per day to earn all seven. For each activity badge earned, the Friends of the Library will donate $1 to the Lexington Interfaith Food Pantry, up to $500. Visit the library to vote on how your dollar is spent!

You can also log your reading time towards a goal of 24 hours and a voucher for $5 at the Friends of the Library used book sale! Read just 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week to meet this goal. Time spent reading books for the Read badge does count towards your time goal.

You may track your progress directly on Beanstack, or download the K-5 Paper Log [PDF]  and Time Log [PDF]  to track offline and log later.

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Beanstack

Beanstack is the online tracker we use for reading and learning challenges here at Cary Library, and you’ll find it at carylibrary.beanstack.org.

If you’ve ever participated in a summer learning challenge or 1000 Books Before Kindergarten at Cary Library, you already have a Beanstack account! Be sure to update everyone’s grades and ages, and then enroll your readers in the summer challenges for which they are eligible. Not sure? Click “Sign In” and “Forgot Your Username?” or contact the library to avoid creating a duplicate account.

Watch our video tutorial for an introduction to using Beanstack.

See our Beanstack Help Sheet [PDF]  for detailed written instructions.

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