Many kids complain loud and long about summer reading. One Colleton County students not only did not complain about summer reading; she turned it into a personal challenge and succeeded.
Kylee Ayer is a third-grade student of Cyber Academy of South Carolina (CASC), a leader in online education for over a decade. In Kylee’s case it was not CASC who assigned summer reading, she assigned it for herself. Kylee set a goal of reading 150 books over summer break, and she did it! Over the last two summers Kylee’s book total increased. Last summer Shanna, Kylee’s mom, set a goal for her to read 50 books. That goal quickly increased to 100 books, and this summer the magic number was 150. Kylee read everything from Dr. Seuss to Little Golden Books. To keep up Kylee’s motivation she did receive awards for completing a book or books. She is a fan of My Life dolls and accessories, and she was rewarded with items for her dolls. Kylee explains she received a bed, a vanity, a school desk, a hair salon, a fish tank, and a closet. Kylee received a lot of support from her family. She read to her great Aunt Faith, her grandaddy Popple, Mimi, her mom and dad, and even her cats, Tiger Lily and Moonlight were treated to story time. Kylee also fit in her reading time around swimming in the pool and attending three different Vacation Bible Schools making for a very busy summer. Some of her favorite titles are Ivy and Bean, Betty Confetti, The Berenstain Bears series, and True and the Rainbow Kingdom (Epic Books account). At the end of her second-grade year Kylee had a Developmental Reading Assessment of 30 which is above expectation and with her excellent progress she is poised to continue excelling at reading.
Despite her obvious love for reading, art happens to be Miss Kylee’s favorite subject at school. She like to draw, color, and paint too.
Kylee said she “doesn’t really, really like school, but she kinda likes it,” which is an honest and probably a par for the course answer for a lot of students, but with her self-motivation and family support Kylee seems ready to take on third grade. Maybe next summer Kylee will challenge herself to read 200 books. We will have to wait and see.
Congratulations Kylee on your incredible summer reading achievement and best wishes in the new school year.
