Not that I expected anything different

[justamouse]

Dd17, senior year, senior English.

 

*headdesk*

 

Books? Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rip Van Winkle. The Great Gatsby. The Scarlet Letter.

 

*bangsheadrepeatedly*

 

AND they use these books in HONORS English, too!! :svengo:

 

We need an Education Intervention in this country.

 

I am SO not putting my others in PS for HS.

Edited September 7, 2012 by justamouse

[Mommyfaithe]

:grouphug: yep.....wait til you see some of those first college readings...oy! What a load of cr@p. At least they are real books......sigh....

[Melinda in VT]

Dd17, senior year, senior English.

 

*headdesk*

 

Books? Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rip Van Winkle. The Great Gatsby. The Scarlet Letter.

 

*bangsheadrepeatedly*

 

AND they do these books in HONORS English, too!! :svengo:

 

We need an Education Intervention in this country.

 

I am SO not putting my others in PS for HS.

 

Are those the only books for the year?

 

I must confess I'm not seeing a problem with The Great Gatsby and The Scarlett Letter. I read both of those in high school and I read The Scarlett Letter in college, as part of a class required for my English degree.

[Barb_]

:grouphug: yep.....wait til you see some of those first college readings...oy! What a load of cr@p. At least they are real books......sigh....

 

That's what I was going to say. Count your blessings. My dd's best friend never did read a book the whole of her freshman year. They started to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but they ran out of steam and didn't finish it.

[justamouse]

Are those the only books for the year?

 

I must confess I'm not seeing a problem with The Great Gatsby and The Scarlett Letter. I read both of those in high school and I read The Scarlett Letter in college, as part of a class required for my English degree.

 

I read those in 9th. She's already read The Scarlett Letter. There's a few more, but those were the big ones. Rip and Sleepy Hollow are on my 4/5 list for this year. Sigh.

[Night Elf]

That's what I was going to say. Count your blessings. My dd's best friend never did read a book the whole of her freshman year. They started to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but they ran out of steam and didn't finish it.

 

I can't remember reading books in my English 101 and 102 classes in college, but I remember lots and lots of essay writing. I finally read some really good books in a Comparative Literature course. I think I read maybe 3 books in my entire high school career and I was in Honors English. I remember Catcher in the Rye (I read the Cliff Notes), Lord of the Flies, and The Outsiders.

 

Dd14 is in 9th grade Honors English and the teacher has not put out a yearly book list. Right now they are reading and annotating Fahrenheit 451. Would I be seen as a helicopter mom if I emailed the teacher and asked what other books he has planned for the year?

[tex-mex]

I recall Black Boy, Lord of the Flies, On Golden Pond (play script), and Earth Abides in my 9th grade English class. Black Boy by Richard Wright was powerful and still affects me to this day.

Edited September 7, 2012 by tex-mex

[blondeviolin]

I'm lucky enough that I was in a gifted English program my high school years where we read REAL BOOKS and PLAYS. My sophomore year we read a book every three weeks, to include the Count of Monte Cristo, Cyrano de Bergerac, Oedipus Rex and sequels, etc, etc. My freshman year we were required to memorize 1,000 Latin routes. I thought this was typical for PS honors English. When I married my husband I found I was completely off base with that. I was just lucky with where we lived.

[Mom-ninja.]

Let's see I remember reading Our Mutual Friend in my AP English class.

[Barb_]

I can't remember reading books in my English 101 and 102 classes in college, but I remember lots and lots of essay writing. I finally read some really good books in a Comparative Literature course. I think I read maybe 3 books in my entire high school career and I was in Honors English. I remember Catcher in the Rye (I read the Cliff Notes), Lord of the Flies, and The Outsiders.

 

Dd14 is in 9th grade Honors English and the teacher has not put out a yearly book list. Right now they are reading and annotating Fahrenheit 451. Would I be seen as a helicopter mom if I emailed the teacher and asked what other books he has planned for the year?

 

I may be misunderstanding you, but I meant 9th grade, not freshman year in college. I think our 101 and 102 classes were all comp too.

[jujsky]

Sleep Hollow and Rip Van Winkle....aren't those jr. high level books? I think I read them in 5th grade.

 

I read Scarlet Letter my sophomore year and Gatsby my junior year. Those are really the books they're having her read as a senior?

[Kathryn]

Yikes. I know I read all those before then because I left school halfway through my junior year. And I'm going to have to agree on the Irving stories, WAY below grade level there.

[Night Elf]

I may be misunderstanding you, but I meant 9th grade, not freshman year in college. I think our 101 and 102 classes were all comp too.

 

Oops, I misunderstood. Glad to hear your college courses were all comp. I thought it was just my university experience. :) My high school Honors English classes, 10th through 12th, were truly awful though.

[Melinda in VT]

I read those in 9th. She's already read The Scarlett Letter. There's a few more, but those were the big ones. Rip and Sleepy Hollow are on my 4/5 list for this year. Sigh.

 

I think I read Gatsby in 9th also. The Scarlett Letter was in 11th grade, since that's when we did American literature. (It was my son's summer reading this year for his American lit class.)

 

It's unfortunate that your daughter isn't getting exposed to books that are new to her (I once had Heart of Darkness as assigned reading three years in a row--one in high school and two in college), but I don't think those are bad choices for high school.

 

Now, Rip and Sleepy Hollow seem weak choices unless the class is focused on early American literature.

 

And I understand your frustration over the number of books.

[Carrie12345]

My son's summer reading for 9th grade honors English was The Book Thief. Reading level 4.0, but with cussing. I don't mind cussing, but I had never heard of the book, lol.

[Live2Ride]

Ugh! We're reading those this coming year and mine are 8th and 9th graders...

[Sara in AZ]

In senior year AP English were reading Dostoyevsky and Faulkner, some Hemingway, maybe a little Edith Wharton in our down time. It's been a while, so I forget. At least it sounds like your daughter will have plenty of time on the side to read things you'd like for her to read. ;)

[justamouse]

Sleep Hollow and Rip Van Winkle....aren't those jr. high level books? I think I read them in 5th grade.

 

I read Scarlet Letter my sophomore year and Gatsby my junior year. Those are really the books they're having her read as a senior?

 

Yes. It's wretched.

 

I think I read Gatsby in 9th also. The Scarlett Letter was in 11th grade, since that's when we did American literature. (It was my son's summer reading this year for his American lit class.)

 

It's unfortunate that your daughter isn't getting exposed to books that are new to her (I once had Heart of Darkness as assigned reading three years in a row--one in high school and two in college), but I don't think those are bad choices for high school.

 

Now, Rip and Sleepy Hollow seem weak choices unless the class is focused on early American literature.

 

And I understand your frustration over the number of books.

 

It is focused on Am Lit, which is good, but those? How about Willa Cather? Or Hemmingway, or Steinbeck...I mean, for Senior English?

 

 

I think it's just SO BAD out there that the teachers have to start from the beginning because these kids might not have read any of these--but 12th grade is not the time?

 

 

In senior year AP English were reading Dostoyevsky and Faulkner, some Hemingway, maybe a little Edith Wharton in our down time. It's been a while, so I forget. At least it sounds like your daughter will have plenty of time on the side to read things you'd like for her to read. ;)

 

Exactly! Narcissus and Goldmund, The Brothers Karamazov, For Whom the Bell Tolls-that's what I remember from my senior English, and I wasn't honors.

[AdventureMoms]

My Jr year english class had no books. We watched some movies of the great books, but didn't read anything. Sr year I think we read Macbeth. That's it, nothing else. We read Macbeth and did a couple of reports. Freshman year we read Romeo and Juliet and the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. I don't remember sophomore year. The Tempest, maybe? The basic formula was if you read one Shakespeare play per year, you're doing great. You certainly don't need to read more than ONE thing per year. The freshman English teacher was an overachiever.

 

So yeah, that list sounds pretty good to me...

[magic]

The senior Honors English here reads Crime and Punishment, The Metamorphosis, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness, Pride and Prejudice, Invisible Man, As I Lay Dying, Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Elmer Gantry, The Odyssey, Red Badge of Courage, and Great Expectations, as well as essays, speeches, and poems. It is a very intense class that requires much work and independent reading. I have read all of the required material and update my list as the school's list changes. I mentor a group of highschool girls and like to discuss with them what they are reading for school. There always seems to be 6-8 titles that are always on the list and then several others rotate in throughout the years.

[extendedforecast]

All of those except one were required reading my freshman year. And I didn't go to a prestigious school or anything. That's a bit discouraging.

[Farrar]

I still see no problem with Scarlet Letter and Gatsby. Those are NOT below grade level and I find it weird that some people seem to be implying that. I also read them before senior year, but different schools put different novels in different years. Once you're in high school, pretty much everything should be at a certain reading level and it's more about the themes for the year than the specific sequence of books. People read them in college too and I wouldn't say that's sad or anything. Those are great American novels.

 

Now, Sleepy Hollow and that being the bulk of the books... that's pathetic. In agreement there.

[Farrar]

I read those in 9th. She's already read The Scarlett Letter. There's a few more, but those were the big ones. Rip and Sleepy Hollow are on my 4/5 list for this year. Sigh.

 

The senior Honors English here reads Crime and Punishment, The Metamorphosis, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness, Pride and Prejudice, Invisible Man, As I Lay Dying, Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Elmer Gantry, The Odyssey, Red Badge of Courage, and Great Expectations, as well as essays, speeches, and poems. It is a very intense class that requires much work and independent reading. I have read all of the required material and update my list as the school's list changes. I mentor a group of highschool girls and like to discuss with them what they are reading for school. There always seems to be 6-8 titles that are always on the list and then several others rotate in throughout the years.

 

See, when I was in high school, all those books were done before senior year (ETA: Oh, except Portrait of the Artist and I don't think Elmer Gantry was on any lists for my high school, but you take my point). But does that mean that your students are reading below level or that they should have already read them? Of course not. That's why I find it weird that so many people think Gatsby is somehow baby lit or going back to the beginning.

 

This class the OP is talking about does sound really lame, but I refuse to believe there's something too easy about doing Hawthorne. I mean, is there a single American writer you could analyze more in depth? I did a senior high school lit elective course where we spent a quarter doing Twice Told Tales seriously to the nth degree and it was an amazing experience.

[FO4UR]

We are looking at doing Rip and Sleepy Hollow in 4th/5th grade. Actually, I read a nice illustrated Sleepy Hollow when mine were 8yo, 6yo, and 5yo and they hung on every word. It's a lovely read in October in Ohio when the leaves are falling and it's drizzley outside.

 

 

 

That said, I remember reading Irving and The Scarlet Letter in college, in a gen.ed. English course. I read Gatsby in high school.

 

 

You simply cannot compare the literature in a PS to the literature in a quality program like ambleside (where Irving is scheduled in year 4). You cannot participate in the Circe Institute threads and be content with the PS Literature course...it's not possible.:tongue_smilie: and :grouphug:

 

 

We can hope that your dd will glean something of benefit out of the class even if the books are easy and previously read. Maybe b/c the books are easy for her she'll be able to focus on gleaning more from the teacher...we can hope.

[Heidi]

Honors English my junior or senior year... I remember reading Frankenstein, but then I didn't read any other books because the teacher would go over the test answers the day of the test.. :confused: I got an A and graduated with honors. I skipped most of my senior year. This is why I homeschool.

[idnib]

I can't remember everything but I'm sure we read Macbeth, Dante's Inferno, Iliad, The Stranger, and Native Son. There were probably 3 others I cannot remember. Also a bunch of short stories like The Lottery and The Yellow Wallpaper, plus essays such as those written by Joan Didion.

 

I think we read Scarlet Letter in junior year and while the reading was not particularly challenging we had good deep discussions about it.

[tammieb]

I won't mention any names, but I graduated hs from the state currently ranked 49th in the nation for education!! Never read one piece of classic lit in hs!! Went on to attend college in the same wonderful state -- finally read Jane Eyre in sophomore English! Only required reading for my entire degree!

 

And folks still ask why I homeschool :confused1:

[idnib]

I won't mention any names, but I graduated hs from the state currently ranked 49th in the nation for education!! Never read one piece of classic lit in hs!! Went on to attend college in the same wonderful state -- finally read Jane Eyre in sophomore English! Only required reading for my entire degree!

 

Just curious, what did you read in your high school classes?

[Joker]

I remember reading, and doing a paper on, The Scarlett Letter in 8th grade. The only thing I remember reading in high school was Ethan Frome. I seriously don't remember being required to read anything else, but I do remember we watched a lot of movies. :glare:

[Perry]

My dd is a senior at a ps that is supposed to be one of the best in the state. They don't even have senior English, let alone honors English. They do offer an AP English class - maybe that's the same thing. The kids are required to take 4 years of English, but basically 2 of those years can be electives. Most of the electives are a joke.

 

One of dd's electives is "College Grammar". The first day, her teacher told the class they used to call it "Basic Grammar" but parents complained, so they changed the name. He then told them that it was the grammar they should have learned by 5th grade but didn't. I took a look at the syllabus and we had covered most of it by Rod and Staff 5. She better ace this class. :glare:

 

In 9th and 10th grade English, the assigned readings were almost all read aloud by the teacher and sometimes round robin by students. We were told they had to do this, since none of the kids would read the books otherwise. Some of the projects dd did for those classes included decorating a paper bag and filling it with "artifacts" that described her, posters, a rap song, and PowerPoint presentations. There was almost no writing. She will graduate from high school without having written anything longer than 2 or 3 pages, and there were only a couple of those. She has never done a research paper.

 

Dd2 is doing English at home for high school.

[Cinder]

I still see no problem with Scarlet Letter and Gatsby. Those are NOT below grade level and I find it weird that some people seem to be implying that.

 

:iagree: Ds1 read those last year for AP English along with Invisible Man, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Our Town. This year for senior English they're reading Brave New World, The Importance of Being Earnest, Heart of Darkness, and Frankenstein. Both courses include poetry and selections from other novels.

 

I didn't read many of these titles when I was in high school. Our English department focused on covering two Shakespeare plays per year along with other titles. We even read The Phantom Tollbooth in 10th grade as part of a unit on etymology. That is one of my best memories of high school English. A good teacher can take a "younger" work and turn it into something worthwhile.

[readinmom]

Is this AP Lit? If so, it sounds right based upon last year's test. Our district book choices only vary by or two books each year. I will say that foir some of the responses, my former students used To Kill a Mockingbird for their written responses (we read that 9th grade year).

 

Not defending, but you would be hard-pressed to find a reading list comparable to what used to be required of students. AP has no requirements now. Anyone can take the class! My mom and her sisters memorized the majority of Julius Caesar in their 10th grade year.

 

For what it's worth, I value the books I read independently without someone trying to tell me "what it says". It was when I got to college that I realized that most of my classmates were taught in a box that I couldn't open! Thank God! :D

[Georgiana Daniels]

Dd17, senior year, senior English.

 

*headdesk*

 

Books? Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rip Van Winkle. The Great Gatsby. The Scarlet Letter.

 

*bangsheadrepeatedly*

 

AND they use these books in HONORS English, too!! :svengo:

 

We need an Education Intervention in this country.

 

I am SO not putting my others in PS for HS.

 

Banging my head with you!

 

I realized how much I want to keep my littles out of ps when our oldest was out of school for a WEEK in 11th grade and didn't have one assignment to make up. Not. One.

[Melinda in VT]

One of my junior's assigned books for this year is Moby Dick. I've never read it, so I'm planning to read it along with him.

[Night Elf]

One of dd's electives is "College Grammar". The first day, her teacher told the class they used to call it "Basic Grammar" but parents complained, so they changed the name. He then told them that it was the grammar they should have learned by 5th grade but didn't. I took a look at the syllabus and we had covered most of it by Rod and Staff 5. She better ace this class. :glare:

 

I took a similar class when I was in college and I think it had the same name! I loved it because it was an easy 'A' course, but I was surprised at how much the kids around me didn't know.

[ktgrok]

I remember reading, and doing a paper on, The Scarlett Letter in 8th grade. The only thing I remember reading in high school was Ethan Frome. I seriously don't remember being required to read anything else, but I do remember we watched a lot of movies. :glare:

 

See, I just don't think an 8th grader has the emotional experience to truly delve into a book like the scarlett letter. You are still too black and white in your thinking at that point. Some of these books really are better with some life experience behind you.

 

I remember reading the Awakening the first time in highschool and hating it. Read it again in college and it was ok. Read it again after I had my own child, had been in a hard marriage, etc and LOVED it.

[Carrie12345]

FWIW, I don't blame high schools directly. A friend of mine is a high school English teacher. She receives (private school) students who don't know the parts of speech, and have never read any type of classic lit. She's tried some higher level stuff with disaterous results. There's just not enough time to remediate AND advance.

[Catherine]

There are plenty of great books for the middle school set that would be far more interesting to them and relevant to their lives than The Scarlet Letter. A girl I know read A Tale of Two Cities in eighth grade. It's one of my very favorite books, but, I just don't think 13 and 14 year olds will 1) fully grasp the language, which is challenging, but more importantly, will 2) appreciate the subtleties. It's wasted on them.

 

However, I totally share the OP's views of what often passes for high school lit. My eldest read ONE book in ninth grade, To Kill A Mockingbird. A great book, yes, but they did it to death and ruined it for him. The remainder of the year was spent on remediating grammar, very simple writing exercises, and vocab. My middle ds was luckier-his teacher did some interesting things with them-cross-cultural mythology, Greek drama, poetry (lots of reading it, and writing it as well). It's a little bit of luck of the draw-which teacher you get.

[justamouse]

FWIW, I don't blame high schools directly. A friend of mine is a high school English teacher. She receives (private school) students who don't know the parts of speech, and have never read any type of classic lit. She's tried some higher level stuff with disaterous results. There's just not enough time to remediate AND advance.

 

You are right, but that's how far off the beam we are. I am NOT a get your kid to read by three mom. Not in the least. My best reader so far started reading well by 9. By the time he was 11, he was pulling Gulliver's Travels off the shelf himself. Read through all of LOTR, glommed down The Once and Future King--it's all I can do to keep this kid in books.

 

But here's the thing, though we took it slow, and though there were many tears, we used hard language. Howard Pyle's The Wonder Clock comes to mind. We narrated, so there was *understanding*.

 

You can't remediate that stuff as a senior in PS. The tools are just not there. So the whole of it has to be dumbed down.

 

My daughter is NOT getting as good of an education in PS HS as I did, and that's a stinkin shame.

 

There are plenty of great books for the middle school set that would be far more interesting to them and relevant to their lives than The Scarlet Letter. A girl I know read A Tale of Two Cities in eighth grade. It's one of my very favorite books, but, I just don't think 13 and 14 year olds will 1) fully grasp the language, which is challenging, but more importantly, will 2) appreciate the subtleties. It's wasted on them.

 

However, I totally share the OP's views of what often passes for high school lit. My eldest read ONE book in ninth grade, To Kill A Mockingbird. A great book, yes, but they did it to death and ruined it for him. The remainder of the year was spent on remediating grammar, very simple writing exercises, and vocab. My middle ds was luckier-his teacher did some interesting things with them-cross-cultural mythology, Greek drama, poetry (lots of reading it, and writing it as well). It's a little bit of luck of the draw-which teacher you get.

 

 

Language in our house isn't a problem, like I said, we tackled good language early. My kids used McGuffy's Readers (none of that first step stuff), and I picked out old books for them.

 

I really agree with Hicks in Norms and Nobility-anything can be taught, it all depends on the teacher.

 

Will we be open to deeper understanding as we age? Of course! That is life! Even if I read a book at 18, 30, and 80, my experiences when reading at 80 will far deepen the material--as it is with good literature. But that doesn't mean you don't tackle stuff that they have no experience to measure by, otherwise we'd all be reading the great books at 75.

Edited September 7, 2012 by justamouse

[Melinda in VT]

It's certainly possible to read books too young. I read Pride and Prejudice on my own in 4th grade and completely missed the irony and social commentary. I reread in high school and loved it.

 

However, I would rather kids read books too young and not get every possible meaning out of them than have kids never challenge themselves to read something that is a stretch.

 

And it's not as if once we reach adulthood we stop growing and changing. Great books reveal new things to us at different stages of our lives. I read Anna Karenina in high school (again, on my own) and I loathed it. I thought Anna was the whiniest character ever and found her completely unsympathetic. At the time, I'd never had a boyfriend, let alone a husband. One of these years I'm going to read it again to see how I feel about her now that I've been married.

[Onceuponatime]

I still see no problem with Scarlet Letter and Gatsby. Those are NOT below grade level and I find it weird that some people seem to be implying that. I also read them before senior year, but different schools put different novels in different years. Once you're in high school, pretty much everything should be at a certain reading level and it's more about the themes for the year than the specific sequence of books. People read them in college too and I wouldn't say that's sad or anything. Those are great American novels.

 

Now, Sleepy Hollow and that being the bulk of the books... that's pathetic. In agreement there.

 

 

I agree about the Scarlett Letter and Gatsby, those are adult books meant for adult audiences. But, I just read Rip Van Winkle last year to my 2nd grader and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is middle school for us.

 

You all were lucky in your high schools. I don't remember being assigned many books in my high school honors English class, just poetry, Romeo and Juliet, and Lord of the Flies. However, I had a list that one of my teachers had given everyone. I read off that list the whole time I was in school. I gave an oral book report from The Scarlet Pimpernel and other girls gave their reports from Valley Girls or Harlequins. My 11th grade Social Studies teacher wanted to know what a nice girl like me was doing reading A Brave New World.

 

John Hersey visited our school and I was part of a hand picked group that got to meet him. I was the only one that had read one of his books, Hiroshima. And when he asked who had read The Bridge of San Luis Rey, because he used that format for Hiroshima, I was also the only one. This was 30 years ago.

 

So, I don't think it's all that unusual for public school honors English to be light on heavy lit. Think of all the complaints and failing grades if students were actually required to spend time reading stuff that might require reading with a dictionary by your side.

[FaithManor]

I understand your angst. Just thank your lucky stars that your daughter is required to actually read a real book.

 

Our local stupid, pathetic, bottom dwelling, local school district just opted to get rid of books and buy anthologies of literature. The excerpts are read aloud in class for 20 minutes, they write a few sentences - maybe a paragraph - for the next 5 minutes, discuss for 5 minutes, and then move on to multiple choice standardized test prep worksheets/quizzes.

 

Faith

[justamouse]

We are looking at doing Rip and Sleepy Hollow in 4th/5th grade. Actually, I read a nice illustrated Sleepy Hollow when mine were 8yo, 6yo, and 5yo and they hung on every word. It's a lovely read in October in Ohio when the leaves are falling and it's drizzley outside.

 

 

 

That said, I remember reading Irving and The Scarlet Letter in college, in a gen.ed. English course. I read Gatsby in high school.

 

 

You simply cannot compare the literature in a PS to the literature in a quality program like ambleside (where Irving is scheduled in year 4). You cannot participate in the Circe Institute threads and be content with the PS Literature course...it's not possible.:tongue_smilie: and :grouphug:

 

 

We can hope that your dd will glean something of benefit out of the class even if the books are easy and previously read. Maybe b/c the books are easy for her she'll be able to focus on gleaning more from the teacher...we can hope.

 

 

:D

 

 

I remember when I was a brand spanking new homeschooler, looking at AO and thinking it was too easy. Pffft. If only I had the wisdom back then...

 

And, I should add, if anyone reading this wants to know how to get your kid reading that hard stuff, and eating it up, follow Ambleside Online's reading lists. The language, when tackled early, doesn't become an obstacle later.

[justamouse]

I understand your angst. Just thank your lucky stars that your daughter is required to actually read a real book.

 

Our local stupid, pathetic, bottom dwelling, local school district just opted to get rid of books and buy anthologies of literature. The excerpts are read aloud in class for 20 minutes, they write a few sentences - maybe a paragraph - for the next 5 minutes, discuss for 5 minutes, and then move on to multiple choice standardized test prep worksheets/quizzes.

 

Faith

 

Ohh Jesus wept.

 

It is a crime against children to do this to their intelligence.

[ocelotmom]

Honors English my junior or senior year... I remember reading Frankenstein, but then I didn't read any other books because the teacher would go over the test answers the day of the test.. :confused: I got an A and graduated with honors. I skipped most of my senior year. This is why I homeschool.

Similar in my Freshman Honors English class - I quickly figured out that the way to get an A on an essay was to take good notes from the class discussion and regurgitate them in essay form. Any original thought led to a C.

 

The same teacher taught AP Literature and IB Theory of Knowledge. I did not bother taking either.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I'm lucky enough that I was in a gifted English program my high school years where we read REAL BOOKS and PLAYS. My sophomore year we read a book every three weeks, to include the Count of Monte Cristo

 

The Count of Monte Cristo triggered something for me. I read that I think in 7th or 8th grade (public school, honors), then when I was a sophomore or junior in HS we read it again. I got so much more out of it when I was older. That could be because it was the second reading or because I was at a different point in my life.

 

I just think that perhaps looking at a reading list and thinking the books are not challenging enough for whatever level of school is a little dismissive. A mature reader will get more out of any book.

[Wheres Toto]

Our local high school has the following as their summer reading requirements:

 

10th Grade Honors:

Lord of the Flies -and-

Jane Eyre, Rebecca or The Razor's Edge

 

11th Grade:

Peace Like a River

 

11th Grade Honors:

Peace Like a River -and-

The Sun Also Rises

 

AP English Language and Composition:

Angela's Ashes -and-

Seabiscuit: An American Legend -and-

The Poisonwood Bible

 

12th Grade:

Friday Night Lights

 

12th Grade Honors English: Humanities:

Unbroken: A WWII Story.. -and-

Water for Elephants

 

AP Literature and Composition:

Oedipus, the King

Twelfth Night

Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

 

Kind of a mix of classics and newer stuff. I know my oldest read a LOT of books in her classes. They were even assigned to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for her Anatomy and Physiology class (which was also her summer reading for her freshman college writing course).

 

High school for me was a long long time ago but I remember reading Look Homeward Angel, Notes of a Native Son, Canterbury Tales, Macbeth, Medea, The Old Man and the Sea, 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Brave New World. I took a Science Fiction literature course in 10th grade that was only a quarter long so we read a new book every week, in addition to personal selections for a research project (I did The Stand).

 

I read Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Dante's Inferno in Junior High.

Edited September 7, 2012 by dottieanna29

[OH_Homeschooler]

Honors English my junior or senior year... I remember reading Frankenstein, but then I didn't read any other books because the teacher would go over the test answers the day of the test.. :confused: I got an A and graduated with honors. I skipped most of my senior year. This is why I homeschool.

 

You homeschool because you didn't see any inherent value in reading the books since you would be given the answers?

[LNC]

I took dual enrollment for English at Emory University in high school 11/12th grade. Future english major... But for 9th and 10th honors I remember Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights. I'm sure there were many more I don't remember.

[Elinor Everywhere]

My son is in Honors English for 9th grade (always homeschooled prior to this), and it's pretty slow going. One month in, and they're finally starting a writing assignment. Still reading short stories I think, although they will be moving into Homer's Odyssey (excerpts) and reading To Kill A Mockingbird. Not sure what else.

 

I can't take it, so I am supplementing at home with the books I'd already bought to homeschool English this year. School was a last-minute decision, and because I live in a BOTTOM-DWELLING state as far as education goes, I know I need to supplement. I sent him to school for the sake of our relationship, but I hope the educational trade-off isn't too terrible.