One thing we did was to create a summer reading list or course based on local "fancy" private school syllabi a couple of years ahead. So, if she's going into 4th grade, maybe 6th or 7th (or 8th or 9th! :-)) grade reading list. The syllabi are often public and online, and this approach has two virtues: (1) the syllabi often suggest great books to read, and (2) pursuing this kind of structure might (for my dcs, it did) generate some cred beyond "Mom says I should read this." My dc's aren't all that competitive in life, but academically they are, and so they got a bit of a kick from knowing that they were easily knocking off "fancy" (:-)) private school stuff many years ahead. You could either just have her read the list or possibly start her on some essays as well -- it's not too hard to come up with compare/contrast or character-analysis that can easily be done in a 5-paragraph format. It's a good discipline to start to pull ideas together into a thesis and use evidence, although I know 9 is young.
Just a thought!
