Teen Summer Reading and Project Assignments--Good or Bad?

This year my daughter will be a senior at the high school.  In addition to being required, for her English class, to read two books off a reading list and then write a paper about them before the first day of school, my daughter is taking AP Psychology, which requires a heavy workload over the summer prior to the class beginning, including reading two chapters of her text book, taking notes on them and reading an entirely separate book,taking notes,and doing a project in conjunction with that reading.  In addition, before the end of school she was given a syllabus for the first few weeks of this class in September which promises a test on the very first full day of school.

My younger daughter will be in eighth grade this year. Over the summer, she is required to read a book off of a list and write ten open ended questions.

I'm not opposed to summer reading. As a huge reader myself, I encourage my daughters to read anything and everything they want.  Nothing makes me happier than going to the library -- or the Bookmobile, which is one of my favorite places in the world -- for a few new books every week.  In this day and age, with teenagers often not reading because they are too busy on their computers, texting, and Skyping, I think expecting them to read a book or two over the summer won't kill them. 

I'll be honest when I say that I find the book choices our kids have not to be the most exciting -- I think choosing books that have good social messages as well as being pleasant, somewhat easy reads would be helpful and encouraging, and right now I'm not sure the lists fully accomplish both of these things -- but I AM opposed to paper writing and in the case of my daughter's AP class, the intense work load before she even gets to day 1.

Some people will argue that because it's an AP class, this work load is reasonable.  An AP class, if you don't know, is the opportunity to study at a college level pace while still in high school, culminating in taking an exam in May that, if passed, can count as up to three college credits, allowing the new college student to avoid freshman level classes in those subjects and move into a second year class instead. The good news is that for the parents, this saves money, and for the student, it looks awfully good in the high stakes of college admissions. 

The bad news is that for South Brunswick students, this means a heavy summer work load. My daughter is taking one AP class. She has friends taking two, three, four, five, and even six of these classes. Those kids will spend not only their entire school year locked in their rooms doing hours of homework, but also spend a lot of their summer without taking a true break.

The thing is, actual college classes don't even start before their first day of school.  My daughter will not get a syllabus for her freshman classes next June telling her to work all summer just to begin come September. She probabaly won't have any summer reading or projects to complete, and she won't have to read her text books months in advance just to get to the first day of school.

My guess is that by giving out these intense summer assignments, the high school thinks it can weed out students who won't work extremely hard all year in these classes and ultimately take the exams and pass them. I'm not sure that bogging down sixteen and seventeen year olds with extra summer work is the way to be assured that they will do well. 

Because students in AP classes require approval from their prior teachers in those subjects, teachers who know their work level, ability, and quality, I think the high school already has some idea who will be up to the task. There is also a two to three week drop period where a student can opt out of a higher level class and take the lower level one instead (or vice versa).

While this is a pain for the counselors to deal with, it does give the students a chance to try and make a decision after actually sitting in on the class for a few weeks.  In addition, kids at this age often have summer jobs.  My daughter is working forty hours a week as a camp counselor, yet she must come home many nights and study for an additional one or two hours so she will complete all of this pre-AP reading and writing.

I'm wondering how others feel about this.  Is it appropriate to "begin" classes before the first day of school, even if they are the highest level courses our schools offer? Now that you know my thoughts, I'd love to hear yours.