Brain Chase: Kids Summer Learning Challenge

Brain Chase is the coolest summer program (100% my own opinion!) and I'm really excited to tell you about it! It's awesome in its own right, but it helps that there is the possibility of winning a really fun family trip and a $10k scholarship too.

While I am so grateful that my kids are able to attend a Montessori school that I love and that they thrive at, I am already looking forward to summer and open ended days of fun and play. I love having my kids home with me. Admittedly, part of that is my lazy nature talking because I also really love not having to carpool all over town and have our time dictated by a strict schedule every day. But really, I have such a fun time with my kids.

Last summer, in an attempt to keep what they'd been learning all year fresh, we stocked up on workbooks at Costco that they used at their own leisure all summer long. This summer, I have a way better plan! Let me tell you about Brain Chase.

What is Brain Chase?

• 5-week online summer learning challenge for 2nd through 8th graders
• A massive global treasure hunt powered by reading, writing and math
• A learning adventure to prevent summer brain drain
• A motivational tool for getting kids to do online academic work during the summer
• A personalized learning platform
• A hunt for a golden mechanical treasure
• A $10,000 scholarship and trophy

Both of my older girls, Esme (8.5) and Eila (7) are signing up and we are all really looking forward to the challenge! We want to find that Sunstone! We are also looking forward to:

• 5 weeks of structured challenges on external reading and math websites
• Weekly writing exercises with feedback from credentialed teachers
• Weekly progress reports emailed to parents
• Exclusive access to an original animated adventure series loaded with hidden puzzles and clues
• 3 adventure tools mailed to your home to help solve special bonus challenges (last year's tools included an awesome compass and decoder ring!)
• Participation in a massive global treasure hunt for a golden trophy containing the key to a safe deposit box holding $10,000

And something that this mama really appreciates is the opportunity for wholesome screen time. I don't know about you, but I do my very best to limit a lot of screen time at our house (we don't even own a television!) and keep the kids engaged in real play, human interaction, and the great outdoors. That being said, screens are here to stay and they do need safe access to screen time. Rather than battle and negotiate all summer about how much screen time and what websites and shows are best, I'm counting on Brain Chase to give my kids a fun, safe, educational alternative to hours of Netflix everyday.

If you need even more to get excited about, listen to this: The winners, when they pinpoint the location of that Sunstone, get to take a trip and dig it up! Last year, the winners (two boys and their parents) found the mysterious Globe of Magellan and took a trip to Spain to dig it up! Check out the video below about last year's winners to get a better sense of how the challenge works and how much fun it can be for the whole family to work together in a challenge like this. I love this video!

So, how's that for a summer activity? Way better than a workbook!

Want to sign up? There is a discount for early registration (before April 15th) and the makers of Brain Chase are offering Some the Wiser readers an additional 15% off (before or after April 15). My girls and I are up for the challenge - we hope you'll join us! The chase begins At 9 a.m. ET on Monday, June 22, 2015. 

Let the “adventure learning” begin! You can sign your kids up here, and don’t forget to use the discount code SOMETHEWISER15. 

Also, if you have questions, I've got a pretty hefty Q&A sheet here so leave them in the comments or send me an email or tweet and I'll do my best to answer!

Disclosure: I am working with The Motherhood and Brain Chase, along with a team of fantastic bloggers and their intrepid, treasure-hunting kids, on a blog campaign between March and June. Opinions are my own.