Back to School Reading Challenge

When I saw that the wonderful Joy from Joy’s Book Blog was hosting the Back-to-School Reading Challenge, I didn’t hesitate to sign up.

August and September are a favorite time of year for me — back to school season! I love the early apples, store displays of school supplies, and my first sighting of a big yellow school bus. I would love to send each of you a bouquet of sharpened pencils. My reading orientation turns from the purely pleasurable beach book to another kind of pleasure: learning something new. To give myself and others a little structure during this transition, I’m starting the Back to School Reading Challenge and Wednesday Book Club to run during the months of August and September.

No one fails at the Back to School Reading Challenge, so choose a level that works to challenge you but not so much it causes stress. Here are the levels:

Freshman: 1-2 books

Sophomore: 3-4 books

Junior: 5-6 books

Senior: 7-8 books

Read books on one topic or eight different ones or anything in between. Fiction is fine. I’ve learned a lot of history from novels set in other times and a lot about other cultures from novels set in other places. As long as you’re reading the book to learn something new, it counts for the Back to School Reading Challenge.

I love learning and it’s always nice to share what you learn with someone else. I’m signing up for the sophmore level and plan on reading books in two areas: education and social sciences.

My book list:

1. Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto (almost finished)

2. Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined by Scott Barry Kaufman (already started)

3. The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life by Grace Llewellyn OR Guerilla Learning: How To Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver

4. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

5. Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Brief Insight by John Monaghan and Peter Just

6. Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology: essays edited by Gary Ferraro (already started)

There’s also a read-along taking place of Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed. Anyone can participate in the read-along. Plus, it’s a really good book.

Feel free to join us in the read-along or reading challenge. It’s not too late.