Parents

Help your child win money for college!

Encourage your K-8 student to take the Reading Makes Cents Reading Challenge.

With schools being closed across Virginia, ANYONE can enter this contest for free from home! Visit www.openlibrary.org to read any number of books for free and enter online below. Hurry, deadline for entry is May 3, 2024!

Watch a reading of this year's featured books!

It Began with Lemonade

Wants vs. Needs vs. Robots

I LOVE Strawberries

Through reading and learning valuable financial concepts, your child could win one of fourteen Virginia529 Invest529 college savings accounts. These come with an initial balance of $529 and may grow year over year to further prepare your child for college success. Winning parents are encouraged to make continued contributions to this account.

If your child’s school is not yet signed up, please reach out to your school’s principal or librarian to encourage participation. Reading Makes Cents benefits schools, too, as the program provides each participating library with three free books covering different economic concepts. Plus, if your child’s school has the highest participation rate in their VaASL region, they will win an additional $500 worth of books for their school library.

To Participate

If your child does not already have one, simply print a copy of the Reading Challenge below. Your student should then track his or her reading activity and, with your help, fill out the log and requested information. You may also complete this log online at the link provided below. Once completed, submit the completed Reading Challenge using the instructions on the form.

Entries accepted until May 3, 2024

Reading Challenge and reading log for students (online)

Reading Challenge and reading log for Elementary Students (pdf) Reading Challenge and reading log for Middle Students (pdf)

Student – $529 Account Contest Terms & Conditions (pdf)

Purpose

The concepts of scarcity, choices, money, and saving for the future are valuable life lessons … and what better way to teach them to students than through great books?

Through active participation in the Reading Makes Cents program, K–5 students will discover, understand, and apply the following History and Social Science SOL concepts:

SCARCITY (limited resources) and that people make choices because they cannot have everything they want
All CHOICES have an OPPORTUNITY COST (the second choice given up when making a choice)
People WORK to earn MONEY to buy goods and services and SAVE to purchase things in the future

Saving and You

Clearly, saving money is important – and in a nation of ever–rising higher education costs, saving for your child’s educational future is more necessary than ever before.

Fortunately, saving for higher education doesn’t have to be scary or difficult. Virginia529, the nation’s largest 529 college savings plan, can help make your child’s academic dreams a reality.

Why Save for College? (link) The Advantages of Saving with Virginia529 (link) Invest529 Overview (link) Open Your Account (link)