For Parents

Why is summer reading so important?

Summer for your child can quickly become an endless stream of television, sleeping in, and video games. A high level of literacy and reading comprehension is one of the best skills a child can develop in our information-rich world. Additionally, summer reading combats “Summer Slide”, a phenomenon that affects children who stop reading over the summer. “Summer Slide” means that students actually lose some of the reading skills they gained during the school year and start the new school year behind where they finished the last. Active reading during the summer months prevents summer slide.

If your child is going into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, the Merchantville Summer Reading program is optional and incentive based.  

In addition to completing Merchantville's summer reading, there are other programs around our school that support reading a certain number books in the months of June, July, and August.  Find out more: 


Barnes and Noble

TD Bank

Pizza Hut