Posts by Susan James

Larry Walker24 said:So, did you guys have your weddings in a church?

Honestly, does it even matter where they got married when it's obvious they're splitting up anyway?😕

urbantinker8 said:

Kate Cox2 I suppose I should probably start by saying that...
I don't know, I guess he’s just really sweet, in his own way.😛 I mean, I guess his version of a reform would probably be ten times more effective than this current mess we’re dealing with, while we all just sit around passing the time and collecting little trinkets. 🙄

I have this nagging feeling that if things were different, we’d just be looking at the exact same mess, only it would probably go by a different name.
I guess I’m just not really into collecting things anymore. Maybe it's just a phase, or maybe I've finally reached that point where I realized how much clutter actually accumulates over time, but yeah, I think I'm done with it.🎉

It’s got the same name, sure, but honestly? It’s a completely different level of garbage when you actually get into the details. 😬
If I remember correctly, they used to get criticized for including way too many modern authors, so now they've gone ahead and stripped all of them out. 🤣

Honestly, even with the new curriculum and all this massive overhaul, things are probably going to stay exactly the same. It really just comes down to whoever you happen to get assigned to. If you land in a classroom with an enthusiastic teacher, you’ll actually end up reading a ton. But if you end up with a bureaucrat who’s just checking boxes? They’ll probably just follow the "copy and paste from the internet" method and call it a day. At the end of the day, it's on the students too—those who make an effort to read at home will learn, while those who don't will just stay uneducated.

If parents don't step up and actually encourage their kids to pick up a book, there’s really no chance they'll become lifelong readers. Honestly, you just can't rely on the American school system to handle that part anymore. I remember when I was growing up, my dad used to leave books scattered all over the living room coffee table, and it just naturally made me want to dive in. Nowadays, it feels like if it doesn't start at home, it's not going to happen.
I’m a little worried that this might be a step toward parents demanding homeschooling more frequently. On the other hand, maybe this shift will actually push private schools to step up their game and provide better quality education. It's an interesting crossroads to be at.

Maria Gray3 said:I don't really get why you wouldn't ask a six-year-old if they want to attend religious classes. It’s like asking if they want to do ballet or learn Italian; you're probably going to push them into it or tell them no regardless. My own parents—mom was religious, dad was an atheist—asked me about twenty years ago, so it seems strange to me that people today would rather fight it out through the Coast Guard than just see what the kid actually thinks or feels about it.

Please, go back and reread what I wrote.
The child needs to learn something regarding religious education. So, they either attend church regularly with their mother (while the father is clearly very much against it, from what I can tell) or they hear all about it from a friend at school who does attend.
Someone who is strictly against it might have already told the child, or if they haven't, they will eventually explain that it isn't a good environment.

During their divorce, they should have established a formal joint custody plan (or whatever mediation process they used depending on which branch of the Democratic Party they were following), and religion likely would have been part of that discussion, especially since the father is explicitly opposed (unless the caseworker missed it during the initial talks).
It’s much better for them to find a neutral party to help them reach an agreement now, rather than having a bitter argument right when they're dropping the child off for the weekend.
Even if the school only requires consent from one parent (which I'm pretty sure is the case), in this specific situation, regardless of how the child feels, you have one parent who is fundamentally against it. If the child is enrolled against his wishes, it could cause real issues for the kid down the road, no matter how much they might personally want to go.

From the school's perspective, it would be much easier if they required consent from both parents to avoid these headaches, instead of leaving it up to the parents to fight it out at home or at the center before the child hands in their permission slip.

Maria Gray3 said:Before you two keep arguing over what should happen with religious ed, did either of you even bother asking the kid what they actually want? 🤔

How do you even bring up the topic of religious education with a preschooler? I was thinking about asking my little one if they’d want to take those classes once they start elementary school, but I'm honestly not sure how to frame it. It feels like such a big question for someone who is still busy mastering finger painting! Any advice on how to approach this gently?
What else is he supposed to know? Unless, of course, one of his best friends is heading that way too.
If a parent—say, a mom—isn't able to make it to church every single Sunday with their child, I think it’s really important for her to sit down with the dad and explain that she’s still actively raising the little one with those core values in mind. It might help to frame religious education classes as a great way to supplement what they're learning at home, rather than just another chore. It’s all about keeping that spiritual foundation strong together.

Honestly, I think it would be a really smart move if they handled this through the Coast Guard by using a mediation process instead.

I’m guessing the school is asking for dual parental consent because they got burned before. It sounds like they probably dealt with a situation where only one parent gave permission without looping the other one in, and then that parent ended up being used as leverage in a courtroom battle against the other. Typical legal headache!
That can be a really tricky area to navigate. When things get split up like that, communication tends to go all over the place, which makes everything much more complicated. Honestly, I can see why a school would want to steer clear of that mess; they usually try to play it safe by requiring double consent just to cover all their bases.

We both signed off on the photography release back when all those new CCPA regulations first kicked in.

Sam Kim12 said:I couldn't agree with you more—I operate the exact same way. The assignment was given to the child; therefore, it is the child's job and obligation. I'll step in if they hit a wall, but the idea of me personally reading the entire book to my son or daughter and then answering the questions for them (writing out quotes or whatever else is required) never even crosses my mind.

BUT—the majority of today's "modern" parents (and I hate that term, even though they use it themselves to sound enlightened) seem to think assigned reading is just a tedious chore for kids that isn't strictly necessary. So, they end up reading it themselves or writing the reports just to take the load off their children 🙂 or they just print out some condensed version from the internet and stick to watching movies or cartoons if a film adaptation exists.

What really grates on my nerves, though, is seeing people write their book reports the very night before they're due to be discussed or reviewed in class. I've noticed other parents look at me like I'm some kind of idiot when I mention that my child finished their reading and wrote their report over the weekend—well before the deadline or the classroom discussion.

I get those judgmental looks from other parents whenever I don't know exactly when an assignment is due.
I'm sure some of them think I'm just being lazy, but honestly, the specific deadline doesn't matter much to me.
Personally, I think teachers should just create Facebook events for all the reading assignments so everyone stays on the same page.🧐

Richard Perez3 said:

I'm just sitting here staring at my screen, honestly. I can't believe some people actually think they have a say in how things work around here. It’s like, hello? Do you even listen to what’s being said? I was grabbing a coffee down at Starbucks this morning—just trying to have a quiet moment, you know?—and I overheard this guy complaining about the exact same nonsense that's been blowing up on these boards all week. People just love to hear themselves talk. They think their little opinions carry weight, but it's all just noise. It’s exhausting, really. Just total noise. kaže:
Who even are "we"?

I could’ve done it, for sure. I remember back in my class, there were kids who were absolutely crushing those speed-reading tests—hitting like 23 words per minute. No joke.

Honestly, who cares if kids aren't geniuses right out of the gate? Maybe they just take a little longer to mature. I know this person who had a kid basically raised by books—just surrounded by adults constantly reading together. That kid didn't even pick up reading on their own until fourth grade (though they were listening to stories way before preschool). Luckily, the mom is actually chill about this stuff. She wasn't some helicopter parent obsessing over test scores or making the kid cry over required reading; she just sat there and read everything out loud to them. Look, time flies. That kid isn't a little kid anymore, and honestly? They aren't slow or dim-witted at all. Not even close. 😁

Kids are actual human beings, you know? They're complex, living organisms. They don't always grow up exactly the way the Department of Culture thinks they should.

Look, I could've done it too. Honestly, most people in my grade—actually, pretty much everyone I went to school with, from middle school all the way through high school since I moved around so much—could have pulled it off. It was always like that. Some people... just get it. Or they don't. Honestly, I can't even deal with half of them lately. They just couldn't pull it off. Honestly, that acquaintance you mentioned? She really drives home your point. This kid had two exceptions, and one of them wasn't even forced to deal with the reading list. She wasn't made to read out loud—though, let's be real, I don't know how much you actually know about all the methods she was trying out. You called her an acquaintance, not a friend, so I'm not sure how close you guys actually are. But basically, the mom would read the assignments out loud to her just so the kid could actually process the material.
She wasn't just complaining—not that she ever does, right?—she was actually taking action. But it wasn't like she was blaming the book itself or saying the whole thing should be tossed out because she... First, second, and third grade. She can't even tackle a book on her own. Seriously.

Look, that kid is a total outlier. It’s a freak occurrence, nothing more. Seriously, don't even try to use them as an example—it's just not how things work. 😁
Look, things finally clicked for my kid—well, they aren't a kid anymore, so whatever. The big question is how we actually got there. Was it all those endless therapy sessions and specific exercises? Or would we have hit this milestone way sooner if she hadn't been bogged down by all that stuff? I mean, maybe she wouldn't have struggled so much back in fourth grade if she hadn't dealt with those speech delays that seemed to slow her down compared to everyone else. It’s hard to say. But hey, it happened. It's done.

Look, here’s my two cents: if you’ve got an average kid with zero speech issues, they should—and honestly, they *must*—be able to hold their own by the end of second grade. Period. read.
If they can't pull that off, something's definitely fishy going on behind the scenes.
Then you’ve gotta handle that the right way.
Don't try to run from it and pretend it’s "too advanced" just because kids have been reading this stuff for generations. That’s a cop-out. Look, maybe it *is* too hard for that specific kid at that exact moment—fine. But that should be the exception, not the rule. It shouldn't be the standard.

So, I wanted to jump in here with a quick story regarding that post by Persephone about parents knocking on doors... Also, my multi-quote feature is totally broken right now. Is it just me, or is yours acting up too?

You know that thing where preschool kids go on a field trip to the Smithsonian to see the early human exhibits? It’s usually right around their final year of daycare. It’s been part of the curriculum forever—thousands of kids have done it.
So, four different groups are heading out on a field trip to the museum today. For most of them, it’s a total blast—just having a good time. But there’s this one little kid who is absolutely losing it. She’s freaking out and crying her eyes out because those prehistoric caveman statues gave her the creeps. Poor thing is terrified.
Total freaking chaos.
There’s so much freaking drama going on right now that her parents actually went scorched earth on the preschool director. They’re losing their minds, claiming it’s way too early for kids that age to be exposed to this stuff, questioning where they're even taking these children, and acting like she’s walking around with straight-up trauma now. Apparently, there needs to be some kind of investigation or whatever. Total circus. kick her out because apparently, that’s just way too much for them to handle.

It's for them.

Not for her—she was clearly the exception here. I mean, we've had groups of twenty kids enjoying this for years, along with every generation before them, but now? It's all about them!

All because of one person.

Is that even normal?

I mean, seriously, try making a connection to Pinocchio or anything else that's been part of the curriculum forever, but for this tiny handful of kids, it's just too hard.

I don't know if I'm making sense, my brain is kind of racing right now.

There was actually one such book assigned to my kid's class (I think I know of a few others, but I can't be sure 😬)
I’m completely lost here.
I remember us reading that same book ages ago, back when the world felt simpler, right before we joined the Scouts.

These little ones were reading it at the end of first grade.
During the distribution of report cards, I overheard one mom telling the other parents that her precious little one still hasn't recovered from the book—that they're having nightmares (and she wouldn't let me dig into the rest of those "traumatic" details).
Honestly, I don't even know what there is to recover from. I didn't see anything traumatic about it. In fact, if we're talking about stress, that book is way less intense than learning about crucifixion and all that suffering in religious studies classes two months before the "controversial" reading assignment.
But man, this really stuck with people...
Generations of children have read this book; even the teachers in my kid's preschool used to read it to them...

I have no idea if anyone else felt that way, but anyone with common sense can—and should—critique it (in a polite, well-argued way, of course).
It makes no sense to deprive an entire class just because of one student.
That should be the guiding principle for educators.
It shouldn't be an excuse for laziness, where a teacher says, "I don't want to deal with the hassle, so I'll just claim this might be too hard for some parents to handle." I've heard stories of colleagues getting complaints at their door or even being reported over books like this...
So, I'm not really a fan of letting students or parents pick the books themselves. Instead, I think there should be working groups or supervisory committees of teachers who can share their classroom experiences regarding which parts kids struggle with. Based on that, they could select 6 or 7 mandatory works from a wide list, ensuring they have professional support to guide the kids through it.
(That would help those types of parents.)

There are plenty of unfamiliar words in classics like Pinocchio, Charlotte's Web, or The Polar Express. The writing style and sentence structures can feel dated, especially with some of the subpar translations of William that kids tend to breeze through—books that focus more on birthday gifts or counting how many pages someone read (honestly, who cares about page counts when the font is huge and there are only five lines per page?). But that doesn't mean kids shouldn't read them; it actually enriches their vocabulary. Those lighter, "instant" reads can be saved for long car rides, downtime, or religious studies classes instead.

wanderingbadger44 said:People have come knocking at my door, though. It wasn't over anything quite so graphic as dismemberment, but rather because of the suggestive scenes involving Penelope’s sheer clothing in the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and the general lack of modesty in those pages.

Then there's the issue of Huckleberry Finn using profanity and smoking, which apparently makes him an unsuitable hero for a child's curriculum. ☕

It looks like you might have hit send a little too early! I'm here and ready whenever you want to share what's on your mind. Just let me know how I can help! 😕
Let them keep typing. Honestly, human stupidity knows no bounds. It’s almost impossible to even start making a list of everything you have to watch out for just to ensure kids stay safe—not that some parents would ever bother to look. 🤔
Because of people like that, should regular kids really be the ones to miss out on quality education?

wanderingbadger44 said:It feels like everyone is just pretending he’s actually good
Tolkien! 🤦

The truth is, he’s essentially literary junk, which is why you won't find him getting any serious attention in American English departments or literature programs. Honestly, most people wouldn't have even heard his name if it weren't for those massive movie franchises, because his work just doesn't hold much weight on its own.

And even if we set that aside, let's be real: nobody is picking up his books unless they're looking to catch up on the films.

That's just not true.
silentraven6 was actually reading him back in the day, way back in the late 20th century, during elementary school.
And he isn't literary trash; it's the movies that are the problem—they oversimplified the entire plot.

Larry Walker24 said:Don't get mad at me, but I can't even get through "Cricket and Fury."

A Nobel (or an Oscar, for that matter) isn't some gold standard for quality; at least not always. Since I work in STEM, I could probably name ten people right now who deserved a Nobel but never got one.

Not to mention, they don't even give Nobels out for children's books.

If Andrić hadn't won a Nobel, I doubt he'd ever show up on a required reading list.

Actually, that isn't quite right.

Mark Twain was actually nominated multiple times, both for his work with Tom Sawyer and his various short stories.

Peter Doyle2 said:Honestly, you can say whatever you want about parents, but my folks just didn't read to me—and they certainly didn't make a habit of it. I didn't even really discover the local library until I started school; once I did, though, I guess I was checking out new books practically every single week.
My husband's mom has enough books to start her own library, yet she refuses to touch a Kindle, so my husband has basically only read one book in his entire life—*The Bourne Identity*, lol. Then there’s my cousin, who was devouring comic books since he was five and read an insane amount of stuff, which meant he absolutely hated every required reading assignment in high school; meanwhile, his younger brother never cared for reading at all and probably hasn't finished a single assigned book in his life. It's funny how two kids from the same house can turn out so completely different. 🤔 Yeah, I'm sure it's definitely the parents' fault if the kids find the classics boring or way too dense. 🙄

Parents are always to blame, 😬 🧐
whether it's because they try to teach kids to read too early, or they don't teach them at all—especially if they aren't reading aloud or offering picture books from day one. And apparently, it's also their fault if they push extra books beyond the school curriculum; if a kid starts reading sci-fi or fiction on their own and then doesn't have the time or interest for the assigned classics, the parent gets the blame again. 🐔

Reading is vital, though. It builds vocabulary, fuels imagination, and helps maintain focus...
It’s great to offer books to kids or read to them, but that definitely doesn't guarantee they'll become lifelong readers (like Summer mentioned, it can actually backfire sometimes).

That said, schools really should require students to read certain works, get to know them, and discuss them. If we leave everything up to the student's choice (or the parents'), what's the point of sending them to school in the first place?

There really needs to be some way to check reading comprehension.
Whether it's through writing or class discussions...

rowdypanther12 said:It was pretty much the same for me, except I could usually hold my own in a discussion even without reading the book, unless they hit me with those really specific details. That's why I say he mostly left me alone and wouldn't grill me with those kinds of questions, except for the occasional time he decided to mess with me. 😬
He was actually a great guy—really gentle and poetic at heart. Since I absolutely loved Baudelaire and was reading poetry well beyond the required reading list, he’d usually let me off easy. 😍

I clearly had some amazing American literature teachers, because they never picked on us over tiny details; we actually had so many great discussions. During my first two years of high school (with two different teachers), we’d write take-home assignments or answer prompts that followed what hiddendriver34 is describing—not just dryly listing the time, setting, or a plot summary, but writing essay-style reflections through deeper questions. By junior and senior year, we didn't even do that anymore; we just spent our class time having deep debates with our third teacher.
Nobody ever forced us to memorize the color of some curtains or the specific types of walking sticks used. 🙏

I love Baudelaire too 😍, and looking back, I see they’ve actually taken him off the required reading list now 😢
. We definitely had that kind of experience.

hiddendriver34 said:Summer, the census hasn't actually changed its core structure in 150 years; we just keep adding new layers to it. 😂

And as for that whole idea of "copying" book reports from the internet: honestly, that’s ancient history. 😁 You don't really "write" a book report anymore—at least not in a way where you can just scrape some text off a website and call it a day. 😉 I'm talking about high school level stuff here; I wouldn't know how things work down in middle school.

It’s not quite like that, 😕 because
they've swapped out all those old wartime stories for more patriotic classics.
I have a pretty good memory of my own reading lists, though I might nudge my mom to dig through her old notebooks to be sure. 🤔

And regarding how these subjects are actually taught in class, I think Proab hit the nail on the head—it mostly depends on the teacher's vibe. That's what needs to change, not necessarily the actual content itself.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Who actually grows up reading? It’s usually someone whose parents actively steered them toward books. But what about kids who don't have that guidance at home? I can't help but worry about how many children have parents who just don't read, or never bother signing them up for a library card because they simply don't see the value in it. It honestly scares me a little... And then there's the attitude within our American school system, which seems to be more of a "do whatever" approach. It feels like if a student wants to read, they'll find something on their own regardless of those incredibly dry, incomprehensible classics we're forced to assign, but if they don't, as long as they finish the required reading list, the job is considered done. It's all a bit of a mess, really.

The rest is just minor details, depending on whether you happen to catch a teacher on a good day or a bad one...

But teachers do read to kids... most schools have libraries, and classes often go on field trips to the public library, so it isn't entirely on the parents to handle everything

And from what I can gather from this discussion, the main issue with required reading isn't usually the books themselves, but rather how some teachers choose to teach them in class.

Christian Wilson28 said:It’s honestly such a struggle trying to get people here to understand—we’re losing readers for a million different reasons. Mandatory school reading lists just make kids hate books entirely. Sure, we have e-books and some local titles available, but let's be real: the selection is thin and nobody is actually promoting it. You can't even borrow e-books from the public library yet, and if you want audiobooks, you're stuck with old CDs that require a disability certificate just to access them? I don't get it. Is this some copyright nonsense or just pure stupidity? It should be as easy as clicking a button, just like an e-book. Honestly, insisting on physical books in a digital age is a losing battle—and refusing to update those outdated school reading lists? Same thing.

Mind you, okay, they have introduced plenty of new and great resources in elementary schools lately—though unfortunately, they've added some idiocy in there too. But high school? It's pretty much the same mess it was back in my day.

And what exactly would audiobooks make easier? If the content itself is boring, it's going to be boring whether you're reading it or listening to it.😕

Kate Cox2 said:I was looking through the required reading lists recently, and it seems like *Pinocchio* is practically universal. It shows up on everyone's syllabus! I actually suspect it might even be mandatory at this point. While the specific books vary from one school district to another, there seems to be one constant thread: everyone has *Pinocchio* on their list.
Our supervisor only assigned it for the first of the month, so there's plenty of time to get it knocked out over the holiday weekend.

Not everyone has Pinocchio; my daughter didn't have it on her list.
But she did read it, just for fun, since she has that version published by Scholastic at home... I remember reading it to her a long time ago when she was little, and once she learned how, she started reading it all by herself.
I honestly find that story so lovely. It brings back such great memories from my own childhood. I don't really get why people are making such a big deal out of it.

The whole point of reading is to expand your vocabulary, so why would we expect kids to already know everything?

There are so many different versions out there, and honestly, it’s up to the teacher to specify which edition they want. My daughter's teacher used to read Winnie Pooh, but half the class had one translation and the other half had another, so the characters' names were slightly different. After that, the teacher usually just writes down exactly which edition they need to use.😬
I think it was similar with Peter Pan; there are so many different editions. (By the way, I personally found Peter Pan a bit more complex for that age group than Pinocchio, so I didn't see much drama there.🤷)

Larry Walker24 said:Unless you count the TOEFL or some professional certification, I haven't written a real essay in my life.

Even during the SATs, they realized an essay doesn't actually prove if someone can write or not, so they cut back the points assigned to it—that's the news for this year's testing.

What do you mean exactly when you say "essay"? I mean, has anyone actually sat down after graduating high school to write an essay about some classic piece of literature? (Probably not, unless you were busy doing 😬's homework for them!) Or are we talking about writing in a broader sense—things like cover letters, formal appeals, opinion pieces, legal documentation, research papers, abstracts, reviews, blog posts, or media articles? There's such a huge variety of writing involved in different careers and daily life.

rowdypanther12 said: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. 😁

I think parents complain because they feel like they've lost control over the process.
Plus, once the kids finish the reading at home, they have to answer the questions independently during class.
On their own.
In my daughter's class, there's this one girl who almost never shows up on reading days. I swear, she finds a way to "be sick" every single time just so she can do the work at home instead. 🤣

Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier if the teacher didn't grade these projects, but hey, that's life. Then again, I feel like even with "helicopter parents," the real issue is letting a child actually learn how to think for themselves without the pressure of getting an A+.
It's fine while they're doing it at home, as long as it doesn't push the teacher to change their whole teaching style.

Honestly, I’m no expert, but it feels like the reading list for the first year of this three-year program is a bit heavy. For students who are mainly expected to get their hands dirty with practical work, there seem to be quite a few books to get through—especially since they're alternating between a week of classes and a week of on-site training, not to mention having to brush up on everything from middle school.

I was also pretty surprised to see Tyson Foods mentioned on the list 👍

It doesn't seem like much for a prep school curriculum, but why on earth didn't they include George Orwell?

urbantinker8 said:not really.
I mean, they’ll probably just stick to picture books and Miffy in the lower grades.
The absolute peak of reading comprehension for an eighth grader might just be some simple story about a trip to a local farm. 🐔

Picture Perfect is part of the required reading list, 🤣

but I was just commenting on how things stand right now. With Hapic being taught in third grade and Regoc in fourth, the current high schoolers have already covered all that material. If my memory is serving me right, the Hapic movie actually came out right when today's freshmen were in third grade during their vocational training... so at least they got to see the film?
So what are they even doing during that class?

Just reviewing old stuff?