The Benefits of Summer Reading

The school year is over and the summer fun is about to begin. This is a time for the busyness of the school year to take a back-seat and make way for family and friends, and to simply get recharged to face another school year in August. So does this mean we simply put away the books and hide them until the fall? Your child’s teachers would hope that this would not be the case. At MCA we encourage our students to be readers in the summer. This doesn’t have to be a negative thing – it can actually be a great time for families to connect over a good book. A child’s independent reading performance improves when the child has a chance to listen to, discuss, and read a book on topics he/she chooses. Families can read together and discuss the book, making this time well spent together. Let your child choose a good book this summer, and this in turn will not only improve reading skills, but it will build language skills, vocabulary skills, and even writing skills, helping him/her stay academically sharp for the coming school year. So let’s all grab a book this summer and read on!!

MCA’s Summer Recommended Reading List:

Students entering 6th grade:

**The Magician's Nephew, by CS Lewis
Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
The Secret Garden, by Francis Hodgson Burnett
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
White Fang, by Jack London
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor

**Students who read The Magician's Nephew will receive a Homework Pass which can be redeemed for an extra day of grace to finish a homework assignment for Mrs. Atherton’s English class.  This pass has no expiration date.  


Students entering 7th grade:

**The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare
**The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
Light in My Darkness, by Helen Keller

**Students who read The Bronze Bow or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer will receive a Homework Pass which can be redeemed for an extra day of grace to finish a homework assignment for Mrs. Davidson’s English class.  This pass has no expiration date.  


Students entering 8th grade:

**The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
**The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank
Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

**Students who read The Hiding Place or The Diary of Anne Frank will receive a Homework Pass which can be redeemed for an extra day of grace to finish a homework assignment for Mrs. Davidson’s English class.  This pass has no expiration date.