Larry Walker24 said:Yeah, right. Because a 15-year-old is totally dying to read Judith and fishing stories filled with nothing but complaints—not to mention there's even a recipe tucked in there somewhere, though nobody ever mentions that during class.
What color was the ring?
What color were the curtains?
WTF?!
Why do you think they ask stuff like that, though? Like, what color was the ring?
Questions like that always catch me off guard because I didn't actually read the book; I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew everything about the plot and the characters, but if I had actually sat down and read it, I probably could have answered such a silly question.
Honestly, instead of just writing about an author in a reading journal—focusing on plot, characterization, themes, and messages—students should be making pizza. Seriously, literature assignments have come such a long way since I was in school; the variety and how they're presented is actually pretty interesting now. I don't get why it’s such a struggle to just whip up a pizza or grab a bag of chips or something else... It’s not dry or boring. If someone struggles with drawing, they can just deal with it, much like those who struggle with math.
Of course a kid would rather head over to Teddy's than sit down with a book. 😂 Required reading usually takes about a month per book. Most kids I know—including my own—try to map out a daily page count so they can pace themselves. If they rush through it all at once, they forget the details; if they procrastinate, they end up scrambling at the last minute. That’s why they never seem to have any downtime left for reading anything else. In our local school district, students only get one elective book choice per year. Personally, I think it would be much better if we had one per semester. 🙏
hiddendriver34 said:It just hit me that my students also have to put together a book report poster once a year. 😁 They actually get graded on them, which counts toward their final mark. But honestly? I’m not grading them on how much artistic talent they have; I’m looking at the concept behind the work. You would be genuinely shocked by the kind of wild, out-of-the-box ideas these kids come up with. My class loves to go all out with acting, too. One time, I even managed to trick the school administration into ordering a massive pile of props, wigs, and costumes for us.
🙏 One of her favorite books was when they used to hold those mock "trials" for the main villain. The kids had to step into the villain's shoes to explain their actions, while someone else acted as the defense attorney or the judge...
But honestly, that just sounds boring! What if they don't even enjoy cutting or drawing? It doesn't feel right; everyone should be given a task they actually find engaging. If someone truly isn't interested in anything, then they shouldn't be forced to do anything at all. 👍
Back when things were expected to be delivered overnight—which, thankfully, I think only happened once during my time at school—I just wrote in the newsletter that we couldn't possibly source everything on such short notice and offered xy as an alternative. We had those kinds of sudden requests more often back in preschool, but I handled those in person. My favorite was when a teacher greeted me with a message saying I needed to bring in a few carrots or apples by tomorrow morning 😂 and then casually suggested I just hit up a local grocery store if I didn't have any at home 😂 Sorry girl, but I have way better things to do than rush to Target at 6 PM. Next time, just give me some lead time and we'll make sure to bring whatever is needed. But yeah, where I grew up, those situations were definitely the exception rather than the rule.
I always knew which kids in my little one's class had parents doing all their posters and assignments for them. It was honestly pretty funny to me because those kids would end up getting the exact same grades as my kid, who actually did the work themselves. I mean, what's even the point? Another thing is helping a child when they're stuck, but what you mentioned about the pizza being cut into equal slices... why on earth does it have to be equal slices?! Did they teach that in math class? If they didn't, then for heaven's sake, the slices don't need to be equal.
Just relax. You're basically punishing the kid for the whole learning process and just trying to get through homework. What's going to happen in middle school if you're stressing out over this now, especially since these grades don't really matter in the long run?
mellowskipper said:Believe me, the reading assignments they give us aren't even a challenge—those two times a year when we have to prep for a test are honestly the easiest part. Everything else feels like you're trying to earn a PhD in American Literature rather than just finishing middle school requirements. Back when I was in junior high, my reading list wasn't nearly this demanding. Honestly, I think they’ll actually find their footing once they hit High School. They'll probably breeze through the literature there...
My reading list was pretty decent. Sometimes we had group projects, but mostly we just took notes, looked up unfamiliar words, and took a test. We used to do those creative stuff like drawing or making crafts until about 5th grade.
I’ve never actually helped my kids make those book report projects; I usually just pick up the supplies. Honestly, those assignments seem so simple and almost fun compared to the dry, endless reading lists we had to slog through back in school—pages and pages of 🤮. I don't really get how you manage all that cutting and gluing. Does it actually help them get a better grade than a kid who just did the craftwork themselves? 😂 If I were the teacher, though, I wouldn't bother with any of that. I’d just give them a test. There's no way to fake your way through that.
Someone was making a fuss over my little girl's account, so it ended up getting removed. I didn't read the whole thing, but I've read enough about the book to know it's great. I'm glad I got it out of there before things escalated further.
Jesse Cook4 said:And why on earth should the government care that the church thinks the state needs to step up and handle its business?
Church problems belong to the church. They created this mess themselves; they can fix it themselves.
What if the government passed a law saying the church had to organize all the driving lessons for getting a driver's license?
Because any unnecessary activity is just a waste of time. Besides, kids managed to hit those milestones perfectly fine long before religious education was baked into the public school system, so...
But honestly, why would I even want my child to take communion? I have no interest in the rituals of a religion I don't follow. If I actually belonged to that faith, of course I'd want my child to learn about it.🤷
Richard Morris43 said:The whole mess boils down to this: if a kid isn't enrolled in those religious studies classes at school, they can't take communion, and eventually, they can't even graduate or move up the social ladder within the community. So, effectively, the church uses these milestones to hold people's hands, right? Because let's face it, most families still give a damn about their kids hitting those traditional milestones and sacraments.
If you want a real fix, you have to get religious instruction out of the public school system entirely—that's the only way, but let's be real, that’s never going to happen in this country.
My kid started first grade this year, and right when I was filling out the enrollment paperwork, I checked the box for religious education. Why? Honestly, because I didn't want him just wandering the hallways or stuck in some empty classroom while everyone else was busy. Everything seemed fine until that first class actually happened. After he got home, he absolutely lost it, telling me he couldn't sit through that stuff and that we couldn't possibly wait until the end of the school year to pull him out. He was genuinely distraught. And look, it wasn't even the teacher's fault; it was the actual material being taught that just clashed so hard with how his little mind was starting to work. To be totally honest, I had no clue it would hit him that hard.
I took him straight to the office to unenroll him immediately, even though it was the very beginning of the term. They told me normally you have to wait until the end of the year, but they made an exception for us.
In the end, it worked out fine; there are plenty of other kids who don't attend those classes, so the school has ways to keep them occupied during that period anyway.
This keeps coming up, along with the follow-up question: why on earth would anyone want their child to participate in the graduation or communion if they aren't willing to attend the religious classes? 😁
In theory, separating the kids sounds bad, but from what I've seen with my own daughter and most people I know, it actually works out fine for the kids who skip those classes.
Larry Walker24 said:A student isn't allowed to leave campus, so don't mess around.
If something happens to the kid, who's to blame? The school? You?
It’s not impossible. If they have an elective right before class starts, they can just head out and come back later. Everything is doable if you just work out the details.
It’s highly unlikely he’d be stationed at St. Peter's; I can guarantee my kid wasn't sitting on a toilet seat. 🤷 That isn't even a possibility in any scenario I can imagine. A principal could certainly use the restroom and leave their office to the kids, but that's really the only way it works. One time, they actually had the bright idea to put them in the classroom during religious studies. They haven't tried that again, and they won't—I didn't go out of my way to be a "Karen" about it. 😂
Just say you're doing it at your own risk. Honestly, who cares where the kids end up? As long as you don't sue them because your kid broke a leg climbing a tree in front of the school during class time 😁