@skyblueteapot: Your books look pretty creepy 
It gets cheerier 
Creepy and violent books are exactly what an 11-year-old needs!
At that age I was cutting my teeth on tales of Biggles engaged in mortal combat with âthe hunâ in the skies over France in 1917.
Never did me any harm. (Did it� :-0)
Readers should choose their own books. Young readers will in any case. Not up to teachers or others to tell them what to read or not to read, although they can suggest.
I am all for letting children choose what to read and what not to read; the only problem is that most children would then choose to read nothing.
That has not been my experience Colin
Steve said:
ââŚReaders should choose their own books. Young readers will in any case. Not up to teachers or others to tell them what to read or not to read, although they can suggestâŚâ
My instinct is to agree wholeheartedly. I think many kids (perhaps even most kids?) would instinctively veer away from reading matter suggested to them by teachers - and in a UK-state-school context thatâs actually good, because otherwise they would already be brainwashed by Socialist dogma at age 14.
And yet⌠Is it actually possible to design a school curriculum where each pupil has a completely free hand to select his or her reading matter? How would that actually function? What if some kids went for classics and others for Mills&Boon? What kind of benchmark would there be to examine a class and keep track of progress, etc?
In my school days there were set texts which we had to read - like 'em or not. But those of us who actually LIKED reading spent our free time reading all the trashy things we wanted to read (which was in my case anything from W.E.Johns to Conan Doyle.)
I think CPJ also has a good point: there are some kids who - given the chance - would choose to read nothing at all. Surely teachers canât just shrug and consign them to the educational trash-canâŚ?
Children here are a pile of books or a list. You are required to read five or ten of these or others of your choice. You are reqired to write a short review of your reading every month.
yeah but, according to your mother, all you wanted to do was play hockey, unlike so-and-soâs sonsâŚ
@ Steve: We must have different experiences.
I was in the school system in south London until 2004. Most of the people I went to school with would never read books if they were not forced to. For example, I remember when the first of the Lord of the Rings films came out back in 2001. I was 15 at that time and, like most of the kids in my school, I had not previously heard of the Lord of the Rings. I decided to read the books before seeing the films and promptly did so. For this, I was given the nickname âFrodo Bagginsâ by my friends, the reason being that it was so strange for somebody to actually read the books. Most people couldnât believe that I might want to do this.
âChildren should choose their own booksâ.
I have absolutely no idea where Whoaholic got hold of âItâ, and it is not a book I would have chosen for him to read since it gave me nightmares. Still, he has devoured it, analysed the plot structure, mused over the characters and their interrelationships, learned some new words, got hold of the film version (thank you, YouTube), studied it, and even learned to play the score. Maybe itâs scarred him for life, but itâs certainly been educational.
Maybe âread what your mother wouldnât want you to readâ is a pretty good rule of thumb for a 15 year old boy.
Colin, my grandchildren like to read, but I am sure many kids donât. Yes reading needs to be assigned, it is just the choice of what to read that should allow some freedom.
Itâs one thing if a teacher hands out a certain book to each student as a reading assignment (followed by some kind of discussion on various topics in the book). I remember that we read Animal farm, Of mice and men, Lord of the flies⌠To kill a mockingbird, probably more. Nothing wrong with that.
Usually kids are encouraged to read something else as well and then they write a short summary. Itâs not important whether itâs Harry Potter, Adrian Mole, Anne of Green Gables, Tom Sawyer, Little house on the prairie, Gulliverâs Travels etc. as long as they can write (or talk) about it.
Jeff Lindqvist said: ââŚI remember that we read Animal farm, Of mice and men, Lord of the flies⌠To kill a mockingbird, probably moreâŚâ
If Swedish pupils have to read titles such as these in the original English, then you guys almost certainly have a better knowledge of English modern classics than very many British kids coming out of state schools today. That is the stark reality of the situation.
Of course, this just goes to show how excellent the educational system in Sweden is.
On the othe hand, however, it does also show how dreadfully poor the British state system has become over the last two or three decades - if some people for whom English is a foreign language now have a better command of English literature than many native speaking pupils here in the UKâŚ
I almost wonder whether our state educational system can be saved at all? There have been so many attempted reforms (by both New-Labour and the Conservatives) which have been bitterly resisted by the teaching unions.
It is already the case that most British parents pay for private education if they can afford to do so. Maybe a cut of taxes should be handed back to ALL parents in the form of âeducation vouchersâ, allowing them to choose freely which school (state or private) to send their kids to? This would allow good schools (mostly private) to flourish, and it would allow bad schools (mostly state) to rot and die.
Why should busted and failing schools run by leftist nutters be kept alive by taxes? I say: let the market sort out this problem!
I agree that the education system in the UK is very poor.
I consider myself to be quite âleftistâ on some issues, but âfar rightâ on others.
I think regarding things as a line, with âLeftâ at one end and âRightâ at the other is too simplistic.
The big issue is⌠University degrees are now so easy to pass, that they canât be regarded as any sort of standard.
When I was at Yooni, I knew loads of people who werenât too brainy, who didnât study hard, who didnât care⌠but they all passed.
Itâs like Tom Lehrer said about the US army âit has taken the ideas of tolerance through to their natural conclusion, they do not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, creed or colour, nor do they disriminate on grounds of abilityâ.
Hopefully people can just recognise that the education system is poor, then make their own arrangements to develop the intellect and talents of themselves or their kids.
@J for Jones: "It is already the case that most British parents pay for private education if they can afford to do so. "
Most British parents canât.
The situation varies from region to region. Our one local private school charges ÂŁ10 000 a year per child. I have only ever met a few parents in my area who can afford to make that kind of financial choice. Most send their kids to the local comprehensive (the only choice, unless you can demonstrate a strong religious belief) and struggle to find the money for additional football club or guitar lessons.
Homeschooling is also not a âfreeâ option. You have to pay for books and educational trips, and of course lose one parentâs salary. You canât leave the kids at home unsupervised you know.
SBTâpot said: ââŚI have only ever met a few parents in my area who can afford to make that kind of financial choiceâŚâ
I guess youâre right - thatâs why I wonder whether the old idea of giving parents educational vouchers shouldnât be reconsidered? (This was floated as an idea back in the late 80s, but was considered too radical at the time. Since then things have gotten far worse, IMO.)
SBTâpot said: ââŚHomeschooling is also not a âfreeâ option ⌠You canât leave the kids at home unsupervised you knowâŚâ
Well, yes. But who said anything about âhomeschoolingââŚ? (I certainly didnâtâŚ)
My kids have a homeschooled cousin. Itâs fine in principle, but I would never have the patience to do it myself. All I can do is to teach my kids how to teach themselves, and it works only when they have a real desire to learn something. For example, Whoaholic plays the piano like a demon (he learned the basics from YouTube), but I canât persuade him to teach himself French.
J for Jones:
"If Swedish pupils have to read titles such as these in the original English, then you guys almost certainly have a better knowledge of English modern classics than very many British kids coming out of state schools today. That is the stark reality of the situation.
Of course, this just goes to show how excellent the educational system in Sweden is."
Sweden canât be the only country where students are encouraged to read.
Surely there must be Anglophone schools where the students are supposed to read titles like those I mentioned, maybe not in a foreign language (although we did read all in English, except Lord of the flies; and the titles further down are available in Swedish, in just about EVERY decent library). After somebody finishes grammar school/high school, are there classics that the student should have read (in her/his native language, of course)? If so, which ones?
Jeff said: ââŚSurely there must be Anglophone schools where the students are supposed to read titles like those I mentionedâŚâ
In most private schools it is certain that you would read a good selection of titles such as the ones you mentioned.
British state schools = mostly bad
British private schools = good or excellent
Iâm not kidding by the way! I know that in mainland Europe the concept of private fee-paying schools seems pretty strange - even for many people who are quite rich. But here in the UK private education is absolutely the norm for the majority of those parents who are able to afford it.
If you are fortunate enough to be able to educate your kids privately, you donât send them to the local state school. At least, you donât do so unless you live near to one of the few remaining Grammars (academically selective state-schools), or near to a good faith school (a state-funded school run by the church.)