Summer Reading

It's that time of year again! The school year is winding down and summer is fast approaching. Have you picked out your summer reading yet? Are you aware of the programs that are out there that reward your child for the books they read this summer? This week I learned of some great programs and tools to help encourage reading.

You can sign up now and start logging your minutes for the Scholastic Summer Reading program: Reading Under the Stars. They are looking to beat last year's reading record of 176,438,473 minutes! This reading challenge runs May 5 --- September 5, 2014. Scholastic also has age appropriate reading lists to help inspire your child to read something new.

It looks like the MWR Library page is up and running to begin registration for their summer program too. It officially kicks off June 15^th and runs through August 15^th. Even if you are not here this summer, you can still log your books/minutes and pick up your prizes when you return.

I know everyone knows about movie trailers and how excited we get when new movies are being released. Did you know there are book trailers too? These are too cool! The YMS digital resource site has several links to trailers, but you can also search for them online. In Google, put the title of your book in quotes, then follow it with official book trailer. Pinterest and Youtube are also fantastic places to search book titles. Who knew? If your kids have a creative bug, they can even make their own book trailer. YMS has lesson plans for this too. What a fun alternative to the traditional book report.

With all the e-readers out there today, the MWR library offers e-book rentals from Overdrive, for free. There's an app for that! You can download e-books, videos, and audio books to your computer, i-device, tablet, Kindle, or Nook. You will need to go to the library to get an account created for you. Fill out a digital request at the checkout counter, and you will be contacted via e-mail with your log-on information. (It will be a different site from the above Overdrive site.) I heard back the next day and downloaded my first book that afternoon. The MWR library really is an amazing resource and has so much more than meets the eye. Be sure to stop by to learn about all the tools they have, most offered for free!

Finally, maybe you'll be on a trip this summer or lounging by the pool, not wanting a book. Audio books are a great solution. Listen to your favorite book in the car, on a plane, or in a train. I love audio books for those longer, more difficult reads. It's such a wonderful way to introduce your child to the classics, especially with a narrator they might already know. There are multiple sources for audio books including Overdrive and iTunes. My favorite site is Audible. You can purchase individual titles or purchase a subscription that gives you a new audio each month and a discount on other books.

Here are some other Summer Reading Programs. If you're out traveling, check out the local libraries too, as they might offer something. I know our hometown library does a challenge for In-N-Out Burgers! (That one is always a hit with my kids.) Being overseas, and not having some of these options available, get creative and offer your own challenges. On a homeschool message board, I came across a thread where parents were mentioning their ideas. A penny a page, with a goal towards 2000 pages. Read yourself a Lego set: break up a Lego set and offer awards based on pages, minutes, or books. Someone even randomly taped money to the ends of certain books!
Barnes and Noble

Pizza Hut

Applebee's

Book Adventure

Check out Pinterest for even more incredible Summer Reading ideas!

 

Earthquake Preparedness

It’s been over three years since Japan was hit with the Tohoko earthquake, the “big one.” Last week, Tokyo experienced one of the largest quakes since then and we had another shaker this morning  I’m sure for many who are new to Yokosuka, and have never felt a quake before, it can be quite a scary experience. I know it got my heart racing!  Do you know what to do during an earthquake? Are you prepared to ride one out?

Down in Yokosuka, not far from City Hall, is the area Emergency Preparedness Center. This is a great little facility to check out and learn about disaster preparedness here. Yes, it is all in Japanese, but the pictures are pretty obvious and the staff very helpful.  If you can go with a Japanese speaker, even better.  KPHS took a field trip here last year that was a fantastic experience. 

The facility’s main attraction is the earthquake simulator.  Here you can ride out a 6.5 earthquake and really get a feel for the power of Mother Nature.  Although only a few of the kids were here in 2011 to feel the big one, they all enjoyed the safe experience.  For another few, this was their first time feeling the sensation.

Earthquakes here are frequent.  Some are small, some have been pretty good, such as that last week.  The buildings here are built to sustain large quakes, and that is a comfort to know.  (Down at the Edo Museum in Tokyo, you can see just how they’re built.) It is always a good idea to know your surroundings.  To have flashlights at the ready; be prepared. Check out Ready.gov for earthquake preparation and what to do.  To get information about an earthquake, visit the Japanese Meteorological Agency. This is the picture from today's quake. It was a 4.9 in Chiba.

Hiking Around Yokosuka

Here are some hiking trails in the area.

Daibutsu hiking trail. This is a longish trail in Kamakura that can be hiked in several different segments. We started in Hase (near the Great Buddha), hiked the ridgeline, then came down into town and hit a couple of the Kamakura shrines. You can also hike all the way up into Kita Kamakura. Pretty gentle hike once you get to the top of the ridgeline, but would be very slippery when wet. More walks and hikes in Kamakura

This is my source for other hikes around Yokosuka. The site is in Japanese, but I use Google translator. The trail maps are all in Japanese and don't translate, but I've had pretty good luck by matching up the kanji for the train stations to figure out where the trail goes. These range from easy city strolls to trail hiking.

Last week we did the hike from Keikyu Taura to Yokosuka. This one is about 5 miles, but has a lot of change in elevation. It goes up to a plum forest park in Taura that has a really great kids' playground if you are taking younger kids as tag alongs. We hiked this one by taking the train to Taura and hiking back to the base. Lots of vending machines along this route, so you don't have to carry a ton of water. There are also drinking fountains and bathrooms at both parks where you can refill water.

I also like the Dollars to Yen blog for hiking and park/playground ideas. The blog author lived in Ikego for a couple years and recently moved down to Okinawa. She has posts with good pictures of several of the local trails.

Books in the base library that are useful include 40 Day Trips Around Tokyo and 40 More Day Trips Around Tokyo as well as Trails of Two Cities. Another fun book is Kamakura: Fact and Fiction. This has wonderful history tidbits about what you will see all around Kamakura. All of these are in the Japanese interest section beyond the internet computers.

Boy Scout Troop 15 in Tokyo has a series of historic trails laid out through the Tokyo metro area. If you hike three of the trails, you can then buy one of the historic trail patches. (Trails are about halfway down the page.) This page also has a good reference for plants and poisonous animals in Japan.

Yokosuka Youth Programs

Wondering what sort of programs for kids you will find at Yokosuka? Check out the new Yokosuka Youth Programs brochure. It has information on all sorts of groups from school clubs to youth sports to chapel youth groups. (Go ahead and accept the certificate. This is a quirk of some military sites.)

H/T: Our ever helpful Yokosuka School Liaison Officer (Thank you)

Yokosuka Area Attractions

I found some cool tourist brochures when we were out at Kannonzaki Park this weekend. There are several different guides, each on a theme (flowers, history, seaside attractions, etc). Turns out that they are actually produced by Coco Curry, a local chain restaurant. If you go through the website and use a translation program like Google Translator, there is quite a bit of local history and information on local Yokosuka attractions hiding here.

I even found a few Yokosuka area hiking trail maps like the trail over Takatoriyama (I think it starts at the Oppama station) or a trail around Taura that starts near the Yokosuka JR station.