June 2026
Dear Eden Central School Families and Caregivers:
Welcome to the Principal’s Summer Reading Challenge! Today, your child is bringing home an amazing bag of incredible books to explore during the summer. I hand-picked these titles for each of our grade levels. They include some of my favorites, as well as some new adventures. Why read during the summer? Here are a few of the facts that we know about summer reading:
- Students who read over the summer improve their phonics, fluency, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary skills and knowledge.
- Students who read four or more books over the summer fare better on comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who read one or no books over the summer.
- Reading during the summer helps to prevent summer learning loss and improves memory.
- Reading fun books over the summer increases a child's desire to read and to enjoy reading and stories.
- It’s just FUN!
There are many exciting ways to share these books over the summer, including:
- Your child reading to themselves.
- Your child reading to you, a sibling, another family member, a friend, or even a family pet.
- Reading to your child.
- Ask your child questions about the stories, such as:
- What was the setting? (Ask for details!)
- Who were the characters? (Ask them to be descriptive!)
- What was the problem? (Was there more than one problem?)
- How was the problem solved? (Give details!)
- Do you agree with how the problem was solved? (Why or why not?)
- Would you have solved the problem differently? (If so, how? Why?)
- How did the story make you feel?
- What connections can your child/family make to this story?
Also included in this bag is a self-addressed, stamped postcard. When your child has completed some or all of the summer reading, I would love to hear from them. Have them write about one or more of the books, draw a picture about one of the stories, etc., then drop the postcard in the mail. It’s all ready to go, no stamp or addressing is necessary! We will display these for the start of school in the fall. Please send your postcards back by Friday, August 14. Along the way, as we receive postcards each week throughout the summer, we will randomly draw for some great prizes!
I hope you enjoy these summer books as a family. It has been a great pleasure picking out books that I think your child and family will enjoy, and bringing this challenge to your home for the summer!
If you have any questions, please reach out to me.
Have an incredible summer,