Brittany1116 Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 What grade do you introduce this? I have seen recs from 4th to 12th. Interested in reasoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 We just read it (and watched the Gregory Peck version) in 9th as part of American literature. It was DD15s favorite so far this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I said 8th, but 9th would work too. The student needs to be old enough and mature enough to discuss rape charges and racism. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 3 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said: I said 8th, but 9th would work too. The student needs to be old enough and mature enough to discuss rape charges and racism. This exactly. It is a powerful book. I think it’s best to wait until at least 13 because waiting allows for richer discussion and understanding. My present eighth grader just started it Thursday and she is eager to get to it each day—even if she was 35 pages in when she realized Scout was a girl 🙄 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitneyS Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 7 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said: I said 8th, but 9th would work too. The student needs to be old enough and mature enough to discuss rape charges and racism. This was my reasoning for choosing 9th. I think some 8th graders are mature enough, but others wouldn’t be until 9th. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 8th or 9th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I think I did it in 8th grade in school. I was in the gifted program, so we may have been early as a result? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 3 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said: I think I did it in 8th grade in school. I was in the gifted program, so we may have been early as a result? I did it in 7th in school--it was a private girls' school for bright/gifted kids. The (well regarded) high school here does it in 9th. I think now, after having read it several times since then, and having done it with two kids, that 7th is a bit early. Of course it depends on the kid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 1 minute ago, EKS said: I did it in 7th in school--it was a private girls' school for bright/gifted kids. The (well regarded) high school here does it in 9th. I think now, after having read it several times since then, and having done it with two kids, that 7th is a bit early. Of course it depends on the kid. I don't remember if it was 7th or 8th. It might have been 7th. I remember really liking it but not the exact grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 (edited) For me it was 6th/GT class. Racism was something I was familiar with and this book provided context. For my kids, we didn't use the book. We used real life/news and started in 5th/6th. By 8th it was a formal area of language arts inquiry. Edited March 26, 2023 by Sneezyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I definitely read it in middle school, average student English. I don't actually remember much of that book except that my big revelation in it was "Scout is a GIRL!?!" I don't remember rape in that book and vaguely remember the teacher saying something about racism. I vote later than that because now I totally feel like I missed the meat of that book. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 10 hours ago, Clarita said: I definitely read it in middle school, average student English. I don't actually remember much of that book except that my big revelation in it was "Scout is a GIRL!?!" I don't remember rape in that book and vaguely remember the teacher saying something about racism. I vote later than that because now I totally feel like I missed the meat of that book. I didn't get anything out of it except for the parts about Boo Radley. And even that was iffy. I was astonished when I read it again as an adult and discovered the stuff about the rape and the trial and the racism. In addition to being young, I was a poor reader and had attention problems. I chose to read it aloud to my kids just to make sure they got more out of it than I did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 (edited) Dd read it twice, once in our regular English course and once in a Lit as Film elective. 9th and 12th. Edited March 26, 2023 by ScoutTN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I would wait until at least 9th grade. Sure you could read it earlier and get something out of it, but you get so much more out of it the older you are. I just saw the Broadway play and was surprised at how much more the story impacted me even now! That said, you don't need to wait until you're adult to see it either. It's one of those stories that has many layers and you'll probably get more out of it each time you read it at different ages. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdomandtreasures Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Wait, 4th grade for TKAM?! It's an excellent book, but pushing it that early reminds me of this that I read and have been mulling over for the last couple of months: "Even if a young child were able to decode the words on the page and have a vague sense of what the selection meant, they may not be developmentally ready to grapple with some of the ideas, and it's almost certain they haven't read enough other great books to catch allusions. It would be a pity for them to imagine they have read and understood something they are not truly ready for, because not only do they miss the joy of engaging with great writers and thinkers, but they may assume that having "covered" the material, they don't need to re-read when it's age-appropriate to do so." (From https://everydayeducation.com/blogs/news/mcguffey-reader-faq?_pos=2&_sid=09aaea691&_ss=r ) 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share Posted March 26, 2023 2 hours ago, wisdomandtreasures said: Wait, 4th grade for TKAM?! It's an excellent book, but pushing it that early reminds me of this that I read and have been mulling over for the last couple of months: "Even if a young child were able to decode the words on the page and have a vague sense of what the selection meant, they may not be developmentally ready to grapple with some of the ideas, and it's almost certain they haven't read enough other great books to catch allusions. It would be a pity for them to imagine they have read and understood something they are not truly ready for, because not only do they miss the joy of engaging with great writers and thinkers, but they may assume that having "covered" the material, they don't need to re-read when it's age-appropriate to do so." (From https://everydayeducation.com/blogs/news/mcguffey-reader-faq?_pos=2&_sid=09aaea691&_ss=r ) That was my reaction, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Yes, I cannot imagine having a fourth grader read it. They would miss so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 7 hours ago, J-rap said: I would wait until at least 9th grade. Sure you could read it earlier and get something out of it, but you get so much more out of it the older you are. I just saw the Broadway play and was surprised at how much more the story impacted me even now! That said, you don't need to wait until you're adult to see it either. It's one of those stories that has many layers and you'll probably get more out of it each time you read it at different ages. I do think it depends on the kid. I absolutely loved it in middle school and I think got the things I needed to get -- or at least, I don't remember feeling like there was stuff I missed on reread. I'm sure some things were more abstract the first time I read it, that's all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 I didn't read it in school; I read it on my own. I don't remember how old I was, probably at least 13yo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 2 hours ago, Ellie said: I didn't read it in school; I read it on my own. I don't remember how old I was, probably at least 13yo. I read it on my own too. My mom was a high school English and American History teacher, so our bookshelves were well stocked. If I couldn’t get to the library, I just raided mom’s bookcases! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 DS13 began reading it in 2nd. I didn't dissuade him or encourage him. We went to see the movie a few months in, and I don't think he ever finished the book. This is one that I think kids get a lot more out of in high school, when they're weighing social injustices and historical events within context of relationships. The mature content requires them to think about everything from how the news portrays events to mental health. I think it takes a lot more maturity, though, to wrestle with Go Set A Watchman and realize that a childhood perspective gives way to the complicated thoughts and feelings of adults. I don't think I would have been okay with my view of Atticus changing before I was ready for it and I wouldn't want to do that to a kid. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 I picked it up in fifth grade, read the first few pages, and quit because it takes a lot about Jem and football, and I didn't want to read another sports book. When I finally read it some time during high school, I was surprised to find very little football in the book, haha. I wouldn't want to introduce it before about age 13, even for advanced or mature readers because I think readers need to be able to see Scout as a little girl, not a peer, to understand the point of the narrative. Of course, they need to also be able to handle racism and violence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 We did it in 10th because that was the first year of high school we did American Literature. I would think 8th or 9th would be fine depending on the kid, but I wouldn't go much younger or I think you risk missing all that makes it so great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 My kids read it in 8th, along with a Black authored book to compare/contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 We do it in 12th, because there's just so much meat and depth to it that I want to be able to do it justice. I was assigned to read it in 9th or 10th and I remember being mystified about what/who Boo Radley was. The rape and the racism part went over my head completely that first time too. I wasn't all that impressed. So when I became an adult and realized it was on everybody's "great books" list I figured I must have missed something as a teen. I was right 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 Thanks for all of the input. I was considering 8th, but think I will wait until high school. I read it in middle school and misunderstood a good bit. Then I reread in college for the same reason as above- everyone talked about it and I figured I missed a lot. 9/10 sounds like a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 @Brittany1116 -- I'll throw in the idea of using the Discovering Literature Challenger Level guide to go with it. They don't put out many guides, but their challenger level guides are meaty! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Dd16 is reading it now in 11th grade in her American Lit class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 I think 8th+ is a decent guideline My older kids read it as part of a class during covid, I think they were 8th & 10th and both loved it. My current 7th is a little more immature and I will probably wait until at least 9th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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