in2books

There's a program that I have been involved with for the past year called In2Books that I want to share with you. I've actually blogged about it before on my "Sleeping with the Pastor" blog, but since that one went private, I wanted to share it here.

In2Books allows schools (especially title 1 schools) to sign classrooms of kids up to receive an adult pen pal. The kid and the adult each read the same book and then write letters to one another via email (basically) about the book. For Title 1 schools, the books are free to the kids. All adults must purchase their own copy or find one in the local library.

I highly recommend this program for older elementary kids. Not only did my fourth grade class participate, but I was also a pen pal to a little girl in Texas. The adults are screened, and ALL letters are screened before the kids see or send any. The teacher is responsible for reading each letter his/her students receive and then passing it on the student's inbox, and the teacher screens the kids response to his/her pen pal to make sure no personal info is being shared. The teacher then passes the kid's letter onto the adult pen pal.

Clear as mud?

If you have a few minutes to spare (because in all actuality, it takes for the ENTIRE school year about two hours of your time), I would ask that you consider checking out the website to see what it's all about. There is never a shortage of kids, but as always, there is a shortage of available adults.

The program is not without problems, however, so be patient. Sometimes it takes a while to hear from your penpal after you sign up, and teachers---sometimes it takes awhile for the program to send the books to you or for you to be assigned pen pals. If I encounter some of these same problems this year, I do intend to speak with them about this as I am a huge advocate of the program, but won't continue to recommend it if they don't get their act together.

Give it a look-see and help if you can!