Are your middle and high schoolers required to read books?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so glad that my kids are no longer in FCPS.

7th grade - Animal Farm, The Outsiders, The metamorphosis, Maus

8th grade - I Robot, Romeo and Juliet, Frederick Douglass autobiography, and something else I can't remember

9th grade - Picture of Dorian Gray, Hamlet, Kindred, Dracula, and some choice book from a short list

10th - Invisible Man, Ceremony, Macbeth, Great Gatsby, The Oresteia, and 1 or 2 other things I can't remember.

Sounds like your private school is comparable to WSHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think novels are the only important kind of reading there is. In fact, learning close reading of other kinds of material might be more important as a life skill. (I did not read the Atlantic article- so no context).

My kids read tons of novels at home, but also don’t enjoy dissecting novels in English class. I’m not sure I see a ton of value in it either. Maybe once a year to discuss point of view and how to engage a reader. But all other reading it important for life- how to critically read news, science, historical documents, etc.

It's not so much that dissection of a novel is the important part but simple reading stamina that students increasingly lack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think novels are the only important kind of reading there is. In fact, learning close reading of other kinds of material might be more important as a life skill. (I did not read the Atlantic article- so no context).

My kids read tons of novels at home, but also don’t enjoy dissecting novels in English class. I’m not sure I see a ton of value in it either. Maybe once a year to discuss point of view and how to engage a reader. But all other reading it important for life- how to critically read news, science, historical documents, etc.

It's not so much that dissection of a novel is the important part but simple reading stamina that students increasingly lack.

That makes sense, I guess. Mine read so much at home, I don’t worry about it, but sustained focus is definitely important

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so glad that my kids are no longer in FCPS.

7th grade - Animal Farm, The Outsiders, The metamorphosis, Maus

8th grade - I Robot, Romeo and Juliet, Frederick Douglass autobiography, and something else I can't remember

9th grade - Picture of Dorian Gray, Hamlet, Kindred, Dracula, and some choice book from a short list

10th - Invisible Man, Ceremony, Macbeth, Great Gatsby, The Oresteia, and 1 or 2 other things I can't remember.

Good for you. We can’t afford the top tier of private school (but wouldn’t qualify for financial aid). The rest do not meet my expectations in many many ways. I’m glad it’s working for you, though.

[Anonymous]

The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

The same thing is required in AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think novels are the only important kind of reading there is. In fact, learning close reading of other kinds of material might be more important as a life skill. (I did not read the Atlantic article- so no context).

My kids read tons of novels at home, but also don’t enjoy dissecting novels in English class. I’m not sure I see a ton of value in it either. Maybe once a year to discuss point of view and how to engage a reader. But all other reading it important for life- how to critically read news, science, historical documents, etc.

They are no longer required to read social studies books or science books because they have no textbooks. The bulk of them are ill prepared for college reading assignments.

[Anonymous]

Mine is in public school and team taught regular classes and yes, plenty of books and plays cover to cover and some excerpts. I assume it is far more intense in the honors and AP. Our list was similar to the one given by the private school person. I went to private school decades ago and we read far more books than that person's list and than my teen reads, but I assume in honors and AP they are reading as many as I had to read.

I suspect the teens who are so averse to books benefited from when schools for SAT optional and would have been weeded out quickly with SATs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article about how many kids are no longer required to read books in high school -- even in good public school districts -- is depressing: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/.

Have your middle and high school students been required to read full novels for their English classes? If so, how many per year? I have elementary school students and they have so far been assigned several age-appropriate middle-grade novels each year. Now I'm wondering what to expect in middle and high school.

Almost none and my DD is honors/DE English (no AP for this subject). Maybe 2 books in MS. I thought it was a fluke bc it was distance learning. But no. In HS she’s read maybe -maybe- 4 books. This includes The Outsiders and Lord of the Flies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

The same thing is required in AP classes.

I’ve heard that AP has become more geared toward preparing for the exam va going in depth into the subjects. Is this not true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

The same thing is required in AP classes.

I’ve heard that AP has become more geared toward preparing for the exam va going in depth into the subjects. Is this not true?

DP. My kids read a ton of books in their AP language and lit. classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

The same thing is required in AP classes.

I’ve heard that AP has become more geared toward preparing for the exam va going in depth into the subjects. Is this not true?

DP. My kids read a ton of books in their AP language and lit. classes.

That’s good to hear. Maybe it’s school
based.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe this. Of course my kids were required to read, and read a lot! No way out of it, they were required to discuss what they read weekly.

[Anonymous]

My kids have been required to read fewer long-form novels than I was in MS/HS, BUT, they are reading many more different kinds of texts including articles, essays and short-form texts. At first I was skeptical because it was unfamiliar to my own education, but I have come around to see the benefit.

Last year in my son's AP Lang class, they spent quite a bit of time on Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and he wrote 2 essays discussing themes in the text and tying it to modern examples.

I find this to be way more useful in developing critical thinking skills than what I had learned. My son is way more aware of what is going on around him than I was at 17 and how to interpret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nice thing about the IB program is that you don't have to question this. Extensive writing and required reading of a variety of texts is built into the curriculum.

The same thing is required in AP classes.

I’ve heard that AP has become more geared toward preparing for the exam va going in depth into the subjects. Is this not true?

DP. My kids read a ton of books in their AP language and lit. classes.

That’s good to hear. Maybe it’s school
based.

It is not school based.

AP requires kids to read. IB is not a unicorn.