Ever since my sophomore year of high school, I have received if not one, but many summer reading assignments. Sometimes I read actually literary novels like, The Great Gatsby, Huck Finn, The Glass Castle, and others. But, other times, I was told to read a biology textbook, a US history book, or even a world history textbook. I have always despised these summer reading assignments, as I am sure everyone else in my classes have as well. I mean seriously, who actually spreads out the reading so that they are not cramming on the last few nights of summer. Also, I know many people that don’t even read, they copy from others or skim through Sparknotes the night before. My question has always been, “Is summer reading even necessary?”
Now that I have graduated from high school, I do see the point of summer reading and summer assignments. Although I disliked the assignments every second I spent doing them, I can see the necessity of them. It is not up to the teacher, but up to the student to learn. A teacher can only do so much to teach a class. In the end, it is up to the student to take control and learn the material. Sure, any student could get by not doing summer assignments, but they were assigned for the sole beneficiary of the student. Trust me, teachers do not really crave all that extra grading.
For myself, I discovered that if I did not do the summer assignments for my classes, I would not have gotten Advanced Placement credit for college. So basically, summer reading is good so that students can learn more and do well. Good luck to everyone with summer assignments. May the forced be with you.
I do agree with you that summer reading is important. It improoves comprehension and writing skills. In fact, without it, most students would have to relearn such skills!
I do wish that my school assigned more summer reading. Sadly, we weren't that lucky. Oh well. I'm one of the weird ones. I read for FUN.