To let dd15 simply read all summer

I was like your daughter, I remember my stepdad going to work and I was reading on the sofa. He came back at the end of the day and I was still reading on the sofa lol. He was aghast haha, of course I'd got up to make food, use the loo, read on my bed while but sometimes I'd just get so into the book I'd spend the day in a fantasy world.

Its the only time in life that you can do that, during school holidays as a teen with autonomy, we are so long in the world of work then maximising that glorious free time guilt free should be celebrated. Of course participating in family life and a smattering of outdoor pursuits is healthy too. My mum used to worry I had no friends to hang out with and I did, I just didn't necessarily want to hang out all the time and really valued peace and quiet to read, draw and day dream.

yep that’s my idea summer!

All those people saying it sounds like a fab summer, ‘my dream’… mumsnet is full of people who hate going out, who just want to curl up on sofa in their pyjamas etc. so I would take it with a pinch of salt, OP. Plenty of reading if that what she wants but also she needs social activity and exercise too …. Unhealthy without.

One of the reasons it would not be OK to read is the types of books she might choose. From personal experience, I was 8 when I inadvertently stumbled upon a set of The Complete Works of Maupassant, with amazing illustrations of beautiful ladies and men, countryside, lights of Paris, etc. etc. Some things I did not understand and naturally started asking my parents questions like 'what does it mean - the Abbot and Annette put their sabots/clogs together?' etc. etc. Dad started screaming at mum, saying 'this is what unsupervised reading does' and they rearranged the shelves, so I could not reach certain authors.

For a teenager some books might be depressing, yet enticing, if you do go deep, you identify yourself with the protagonists, basically, too much dark shit in really excellent classical books.

Agree re books being ‘worthy’ reading is dropping in this country. Any book read is a good book for someone.
As long as for kids it’s age appropriate.

Sounds idyllic. Good for her - reading is such a fabulous thing to get into at a young age. I'd be more than happy!

Bliss! I would love this!

Does she have anyone she can talk to about what she's read? So she's thinking about it rather than just blissfully skim reading?

She could maybe add in a physical challenge too - run or swim or walk each day.

And don’t make her get a job if she is generally someone with a good work ethic and common sense (hard to tell in a teenager!) and not entitled or getting into trouble. There are decades of work ahead of her.

She's only 15!

What a wonderful plan! She may not have such an opportunity ever again - with being busy at school, university, adult life. I still remember a summer like that at my grandparents'. Obviously, it was interspersed with walks, swimming and helping gran to clean the house and cook. Never again was I able to have luxury like that - life interfered all the time.

Came here to say exactly this about the worthiness or otherwise of books. I’m an English teacher and a huge book-lover and, don’t get me wrong, I love literature. But reading is a very private experience and what’s worthy for you isn’t necessarily for me and vice-versa. I don’t like the idea of you looking at your daughter’s list of TBR and giving her permission to read them because they’re not “junky”. Nobody should be having their reading choices policed after the age of about ten, in my opinion. In my local authority library growing up you got given your adult library card aged eight and after that the world was your oyster (six books at a time, going up to ten once you were 12). That feels about right to me. Leave your daughter alone to read what she likes and don’t be the book police.

is this a stealth boast?

i mean - there are probably thousands of 15 year olds who will not do much other than scroll their phones or game on the playstation all summer

Why would it not be okay to read?!

I adored reading all summer, what bliss.
Does she have friends op? I did see my friends most days around reading.

This. At 15 she's old enough to make her own decisions about how much exercise or socialising she needs.
The last few weeks of Yr 10 are gruelling with mocks and the pressure will be on when they go back in September for more mocks, college applications etc.

Let her enjoy her downtime and go back well rested if that what she feels is right for her.

That was (and is) me - but replace cello with knitting, sewing, attempting to paint furniture…bliss. Unsurprisingly, the majority of my friend were (and are) similarly inclined - sometimes we’d go off to a museum for the day and potter about in a state of nerdy joy.

me too

Of course it's fine! That's all I did each and every summer in my teens, and I'd say it has served me well for the subsequent 40+ years..... she's a lucky girl!

I used to do this, I'd read, draw, paint, play my cello, listen to music, watch movies and occasionally try to cook or bake. It was great. I did have a some friends I'd go camping with or see a few times but I was pretty much quite happy to chill on my own. Same as now actually.

I won’t even tell you what I was up to at 15!

It's perfectly legal.
Just not many employers take on 15 year olds these days.

Yep that was me age 15! If she’s happy, leave her be!

If she’d like to meet more bookish people, is she active in the online reading community - goodreads, booktok etc? Would she be interested in joining a reading group or volunteering at the library? Are there any good independent bookshops she can hang out at? If you’re in the southwest I can recommend some great, social, introvert-friendly ones.

This

At 15? Not legal

I would say that you have to insist that she still does her household chores in a timely manner (she does have regular responsibility for some chores, right?)

I would leave it up to her whether she priorities reading over socialising or exercising - that is her choice.