I’m a graduating senior and my college prep school has required reading for every English class with a paper due every 3 weeks. For math, we had to take an ALEKS assessment at the beginning of the summer and individual % increases based on your performance were assigned for the summer. All of the work was graded as part of the first marking period’s grades. This is the first summer that I will have no summer work in 7 years. :))
My kids high school has requires a summer English reading/writing project for all Honors classes, and a Math packet for Honors math classes. Non-honors have no assignments. The assignments count for the first grade in the class upon return after summer break.
“My daughter has a reading list for AP world history that most they are supposed to start in summer but I think a procrastinator could put it off. Four books”. Wow. My daughter has to read part of a book. I doubt they read more than 4 books all year long in WHAP. English, one book I’ve not heard of. Math, a worksheet I think she already finished when she got home from school the other day. That’s it.
My school has required summer reading for everyone, from grades 6-12 They can choose 2 or 3 from a list of 5 or 6. They’re tested on it during the 2nd week of school in the fall.
My kids’ school does not.
Wow…my school isn’t too intense. Here’s all summer assignments:
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY Summer Assignment:
- You need to check out the Ap European History Textbook from the school library. After Finals week the library will be open on Thursdays only from: 8am-12pm. You will need to read, outline* Chapters 10-12 and answer the review questions at the end of each chapter. Outlines and review questions will be due the first week of school and you will need to be prepared to take a test on the material read.
- Learn a Map of Europe: Students will be expected to be familiar with a basic map of Europe and take a map quiz on the first day of class.
AP US HISTORY
Students enrolled in A.P. U.S. History are strongly encouraged to read the first 6 chapters in the textbook The American Pageant by Thomas A. Bailey. The library will check out the textbook to A.P. U.S. History students for the summer. Students may also purchase the textbook on-line or sometimes the Chaffey Community College bookstore has used available copies. Any edition of the textbook is acceptable; there is very little change in the various editions. The advantage of purchasing a textbook is that students can highlight and take notes in their text.
SUMMER READING LIST FOR ADVANCED PLACEMENT AND HONORS/GATE
Teachers in the Honors/AP program advocate year-round reading both for pleasure and for improvement of vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Voracious readers become top scholars. To this end, we urge students to read widely, both fiction and non-fiction. Many students choose to read all the selections on their Summer Reading lists.
Summer Before Grade Nine (freshman year), Students are to read:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (required) and read at least one of the following:
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
The Chosen - Chaim Potok
Bless Me Ultima - Rudolpho Anaya
Rain of Gold - Victor Villaseñor
China Boyb - Gus Lee
Nectar in a Sieve - Kamala Markandaya
Summer Before Grade Ten Students are to read:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and at least one of the following:
A Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Snow - Orhan Pamuk
The Firebrand - Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Once and Future King - T.H. White
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
Summer Before Grade Eleven (AP English III) Students are to read:
Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin or Walden – Henry David Thoreau and read and at least one of the following works:
House Made of Dawn - N. Scott Momaday
No No Boy - John Okada
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father - Richard Rodriguez
Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
Summer Before Grade Twelve (AP English IV) Students are to read:
Hamlet by William Shakespeare and watch the film version (starring Mel Gibson) and read at least one of the following works:
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Tess of the D’Urbervillesn- Thomas Hardy
Wow Eagle. that is a lot. But I am guessing the reading lists are suggestions, not requirements? Our district does have suggested reading lists.
That’s a lot if it’s required! Wow.
My kids had one required book to read for English, same book for each grade level regardless of honors or AP, nine through twelve. The were given some guided questions and things to think about for the reading, but no formal assignment. They were encouraged to read widely on their own of course.
S19 has to read Fahrenheit 451, Of Mice and Men and one from a list (he’s reading Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn is require in 10th), D16 is reading The Invisible Man, A Farewell to Arms and A Dolls House. They are both in Honors. There are guided assigments. There was some homework over the last two summers in Honors Chem and Honors O Chem for the older one, as well as Honors precalc, but just the English this summer.
Yes in middle school too. We don’t know yet, classes don’t know until the 12th then there are exams.
My kids had suggested book lists for every grade level for summer reading which started the summer before middle school. They were supposed to read a book a week and write a short summary. They had to turn thatbin to their English teacher the first week of school.
For AP courses there were certain books to read and papers or quizzes to do for those before classes started.
Of course. It seems like it’s par for the course these days. Both my Ds had summer reading for AP English (both Language and Lit) and APUSH.
Also, for college, they both had summer reading assignments prior to attending.
That’s new to me. How did that work when the students don’t have their classes yet?
My D also had to read a book before starting college (all of the incoming freshmen had to read the same book) and I think they discussed it in groups during orientation.
They got reading assignments over the summer, and discussed the books during orientation as @happymom1 describes. Many colleges nowadays assign this type of reading to incoming freshmen.
My D also had a summer reading assignment for Honors College the summer before freshman year. She had just read it for a high school assignment so that worked out well!
My children’s college has a summer reading assignment required of all new students. The book is discussed in class and the author comes in the Fall to speak with the students.
Yes it was a struggle for four years. Five books depending on the classes for the new year.
Going into college, Our Declaration by Danielle Allen was assigned as she is the keynote speaker during orientation.
My high school had summer reading lists.
Giving a virtual bird to whoever thought it was a good idea to assign the 800 page tome The Brothers Karamazov for senior English!
My kids had summer reading in high school but did not in college. Both went to large state universities.
I’m another one whose kid received a summer reading assignment during orientation. In fact, the whole school is suppose to read the book , but the book will be used in Composition classes for incoming freshmen. The kids even have to complete a study guide. The reason, school says, is this: brains that take the summer off take six weeks to get back up to speed.