Dear Parent,

Did you know that when kids don't read over the summer they are likely to fall behind when they head back to school? These learning losses are often called the "Summer Slide," and our school has made it a priority to keep our students' skills sharp by encouraging them to read all summer long.

Our school has signed up to participate in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, a free online reading program that invites children to log their reading minutes to help set a new world record for summer reading. The goal this year for schools around the world is to break last year's reading world record of 304,749,681 minutes! With your help, we can do it.

We are excited to share that the theme of this year's program is Power Up & Read; as kids log their reading minutes, they will unlock stories written by bestselling authors. Plus, throughout the summer, kids will earn digital rewards and learn about great new books to read. You’ll also find free articles, activity sheets, and book lists for parents on the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge website.

The fun begins right now, and ends on September 4, 2015! The school that logs the most minutes will win a visit from a bestselling children's book author and will be featured in The 2016 Scholastic Book of World Records.

We invite you to learn more about the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge at www.scholastic.com/summer. If your child forgot his or her summer reading username, please contact any of the language arts teachers at HPS directly, or contact Scholastic at 1-800-SCHOLASTIC.

Sincerely,

The language arts teachers at Haledon Public School

For articles, tips, and free resources for parents, visit scholastic.com/parents. For games, book recommendations, videos and free activities for kids, visit scholastic.com/kids.