Summer Reading Guidelines
Reading is an integral part of cultivating a love of learning
At Agathos, students read widely during the school year, and our vision is for students to develop lifelong reading habits. With that in mind, we expect students to invest time during the summer reading good books. We call this reading initiative AESTAS LIBRI, which is Latin for the phrase “summer books”.
In order to prepare for the upcoming school year, each Agathos student should complete the reading requirements for their upcoming grade. Since summer reading expectations vary by grade, please encourage your student to pay careful attention to the instructions for his or her grade level. Aestas Libri lists have been carefully curated to be grade specific providing bridges between grade levels.
Grammar & Logic Students
“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”
– JACQUELINE KENNEDY
Incoming k – 2nd graders
Our incoming K – 2nd graders are expected to READ DAILY from a suggested reading list, but no formal report is required. We encourage you to look for and read quality literature with and to your child at least 15 minutes each day throughout the summer. Review your child’s specific grade for book and author selections that build on reading skills and vocabulary development.
Incoming 3rd – 8th Graders
Our incoming 3rd through 8th graders are expected to read TWO books from their respective grade level list, and complete one book report form for each book. Each of these grades have a required book selection and the second book is of their choosing from the curated reading list. Aestas Libri Report forms are specific to each grade level. These templated forms provide appropriate structure for each grade level which means they are not interchangeable.
We expect all 3rd through 8th grade returning students to arrive the first day of school with their summer reading completed. Submission of the book reports on the first day of school will result in a literature completion grade. Students who do not submit Aestas Libri on the first day of school will receive one additional day without penalty to submit the appropriate book report forms. After the second day, the report grade will be deducted by 10% per each day the work is late. After three additional days, a zero will be given.
Rhetoric Students
“But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.“
C.S. LEWIS
Incoming 9th – 12th Graders
Agathos incoming 9th through 12th graders are expected to complete their required reading prior to the first day of school. All Rhetoric students will be reading a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorn, entitled “The Birthmark“. Mr. Kelley will be providing more information in the upcoming weeks to families of rhetoric students. It can be purchased as part of a printed anthology (Young Goodman Brown and Other Tales) or read The Birthmark for FREE in a downloable PDF version.
