hiddendriver34 said:No, I’m talking about high school. I haven't really looked at what the elementary kids are reading, but from what I see my own kids picking up, it seems like a solid mix of the classic American canon and newer stuff.👍
That's why I asked about elementary school, but this looks a lot better than it used to. Middle school seems pretty much the same.😁
Yeah, I think someone once asked me what kind of stick was used to beat a donkey in some old story from middle school, if I remember correctly or something like that 😁 If I said it wasn't wooden, that wasn't quite the right answer, so I ended up with a C 😳 Basically, my teacher knew exactly which books I hadn't read and would just mess with me occasionally. Otherwise, he’d give me credit for the readings I actually finished because he was just happy that at least one student in class was actually digging into the literature 😂
Back when I was in high school about 25 years ago—it feels like a lifetime, really—our literature tests were actually quite specific... we’d get questions like: - what color was the sky in this particular scene? - what exactly were the characters eating for lunch during that part of the story?
You could rewrite the whole book if you wanted to, but if you hadn't actually sat down and read it... well, you just wouldn't have known the answers to those little details...
Honestly, I'm not even sure I would have known the answers myself unless they were important, and if they were, I probably could've just looked them up online.😂
hiddendriver34 said:rowdypanther12, the list hasn't actually changed in 150 years; it just gets updated periodically. 😂
Do you think the elementary school list is the same? 🤔 I know I found them terrible back then, but they don't seem that bad now. To be fair, my mom read the entire Kusaan series to me before I even started school, so maybe that's why the books felt boring to me later on. 😂
Does anyone know where I might find an old school reading list? It feels like high school hasn't changed all that much, but middle school looks totally different compared to when I was a kid.
I don't doubt it one bit. I actually know plenty of people who didn't really pick up reading until their late teens, mostly because they finally stumbled upon literature that actually grabbed them. It really just comes down to whether you're looking for something to grab your attention or if you're trying to dive deep into specific works.
A true reader isn't going to lose their passion just because of this; most people will simply skip over books they aren't interested in reading anyway. 😂 The real issue lies with everyone else who isn't a dedicated reader. We might be able to draw some of them in by offering better-structured reading lists, but let's be honest—that's a small group. Most people aren't going to read anything beyond storefront signs or clickbait headlines, so we should at least try to have schools mandate high-quality literature. If we can convince even 10% of them, every child matters. 😁
I honestly can't get into them. Our actors feel as fake as those artificial flavorings in cheap ice cream, and don't even get me started on the documentary narrators. I can't imagine anyone reading a book with the same level of quality I've mostly experienced from American audiobooks
Most people don't really write stuff like this, unless they're maybe sending out a prayer for a job—and even then, they usually just have someone else draft it for them if it needs to look professional. 😁
You know, I can't quite agree that it's all down to parenting. My sister and I have the same mother, but she was never interested in reading—not even listening to stories. While my mom used to read me young adult novels before bed because we were such bookworms, she’d just read my sister the same single bedtime story over and over, and that was it. So yeah, I don't think it's solely about how you're raised.
It’s honestly nothing new that kids don't feel like reading. Back when I was in elementary school, we maybe read three or four books total, mostly just if we actually went to the library to check something out. I wouldn't say it's too late to start developing a reading habit during middle school; I know plenty of people who didn't pick up a book until high school or even later. But the reality remains that for most kids and adults, those required school readings end up being the only things they ever actually read in their lives.
It honestly didn't cross my mind; I just assumed these kinds of little mishaps happened everywhere 😂 But regarding the seniors—no, they really seem to think kids are too young to grasp the themes or the characters at that level. Man, I actually listened to them vent. They were going on about how they need more help and that we're asking way too much of them this early on. I just kind of tuned out; I wasn't even sure what to say to that. 😁
urbantinker8 said:it’s probably a good thing if it's only half the parents making a fuss. the group chat is an absolute disaster zone. "where on earth am I supposed to find these random trinkets for a diorama?" is basically the common refrain, right?😂😂
Honestly, it gets worse. 😂 To be fair, getting Skarnicle isn't exactly easy; big thanks to my mom for helping me out there.😂
But what really shocked me were the complaints about these questions. I was actually impressed that people are looking for that kind of depth regarding character changes, yet some older folks are losing it, claiming kids are too young to grasp it. 🤷 The same goes for all those posters and presentations—they say the kids are too small for that, too. They're really underestimating them. It feels like both the schools and the parents are asking far too little of children, rather than too much.
Yeah, honestly, that’s just how it goes. You’re going to find great ones, mediocre ones, and some that are just terrible. 😁 From what I can see through my own limited experience dealing with one teacher, the American school system feels lightyears ahead of where I was, though it seems like some people are still being taught using the same outdated methods they used when I was in school over 30 years ago.
Michelle Nelson4 said:I honestly don't get why people claim elementary schoolers shouldn't be doing book reports in a standardized format. My daughter has been doing them since the second half of first grade: author, title, character analysis... plus a drawing. Over the break, she actually tackled a fourth-grade level report—it was 11 pages long, though about 9 of those were just notes. Personally, I feel like it’s all a bit pointless; she’s learned how to churn out 200 bullet points, yet they've never actually had to write a cohesive essay on a specific topic. It would be a hundred times more useful if she had to write one page on a concrete subject using an introduction, thesis, argumentation, and a conclusion. But of course, that's not how it works. I know she'll still get an A because she turned in 11 pages and hit all the required checkboxes (title, bio, etc.). I suppose our academics know exactly what they're doing; after all, they are products of this same school system, and they are *so* incredibly expert at producing yet another generation that thinks exactly like they do.
Naturally, the kid doesn't question the logic of it all anymore—she just rolls with it. She wrote it exactly as instructed. My daughter is truly an epic success story of the American education system and its approach to reading assignments. 👏
On the other hand, with their science experiments, they did exactly what Amazon requires for homework: they had to solve every problem by describing the experiments and drawing their own conclusions. 🙂
That's because, thank God, there are some teachers out there who have changed their approach. It's just like how your little one does things—exactly how I used to do it in school 30 years ago. Just endless, boring busywork. Our kids get reading assignments where, for example, with *Charlotte's Web*, they just had to answer questions. Sure, they have to include the title and the author, but that's it; the rest is just answering stuff like "why was the character mean?" 😁 Now they've been told to draw these little dioramas with scenes from the book, putting items inside that remind them of certain chapters—they can even just draw something if they don't have the actual objects. And you know what? Half the parents are complaining about how stupid these assignments are. 😁
It’s not really about the facts you can just Google; it’s about exposing kids to as many different experiences and perspectives as possible. Why? Because they need that breadth to actually understand how the world works—cause and effect—so they aren't just reading headlines and honestly, our school system isn't hitting the mark, but not because it asks too much. It's because it doesn't ask nearly enough. Students end up being way too passive, just coasting through by memorizing things for a test and then forgetting them three days later. The system basically lets them get away with it. I see a massive difference between my own time in school and now. A lot of things have improved; for instance, the required reading in middle school feels much more age-appropriate and is taught in a way that actually holds your interest. There’s a lot more presentations, posters, reports, and actual student participation to help soak up knowledge. Some things have gone downhill, though. The textbooks are a disaster. They tried so hard to avoid being dry that they stripped out all the clear, essential info. Everything looks colorful and pretty, but the actual substance is either buried or missing entirely. 😁 So, yeah, I think the system needs to change. But we shouldn't be cutting material or making things easier—it should be the opposite. We need to start demanding more from them.
It honestly makes my skin crawl when I hear people talking about cutting down curriculum or oversimplifying the education system. The logical extreme would be picking a career path at birth and drilling kids from day one just to turn them into little productivity machines. Look, school isn't just vocational training. If you only want to learn a specific trade, go take a technical course. Education should mean something much broader than just being good at a job. And yeah, that’s exactly why we assign literature and reading. Of course, there’s room to improve how things work, but it shouldn't be by stripping away knowledge—it should be about modernizing the system to fit the times we live in.
Richard Perez3 said:Seriously, what the hell is there even supposed to be "attracting"?
Let them "bond" over Playboy in their spare time. Whatever.
What do you even need to "pull" to get this year's revenue into an Excel sheet just to run a P&L?
Look, it’s pretty simple. It’s your job, period. If you don't get the work done, you don't get paid. Honestly, I think that alone is more than enough motivation for anyone to actually show up and do what they're supposed to do. No extra nonsense needed.
Well, that’s actually the whole point of my post.😂 People constantly fight over whether a reading list is good or not, but we really should just be asking what the actual goal of the curriculum is.😁
Personally, I don't think it matters much. For most people, whatever they read in elementary or high school will be the only thing they ever read in their lives, so they might as well read some important works. I suspect the percentage of people who would actually start reading more if the list were different is pretty negligible, unfortunately.