Last Updated on November 19, 2024
I am periodically asked what is Antolin, as people have heard that it’s a good thing or that it’s recommended to use it at school. Most of my children’s teachers, however, are not enthusiastic about Antolin, and I will briefly explain why below.
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In short:
- Antolin is a website that encourages reading through competition among children and teacher rewards.
- It’s only accessible through schools and is mainly relevant for primary school.
- It motivates some competitive kids to read more
- but it has little to no effect — or even a negative impact — on others.
Antolin is undeniably useful for everyone due to its age-based classification. Libraries often use Antolin’s system, marking book spines accordingly, which greatly simplifies navigation.
For example, if a book is labeled “Antolin Grade 1,” it will have fewer words, larger font, and simpler vocabulary. As children progress, their reading levels can vary significantly, but the classification still helps gauge content complexity. For third and fourth graders, books labeled up to “Antolin 12 years” are usually a good fit, while fifth graders might handle “up to 13 years” at most. The “13 years” label already indicates a notable jump in difficulty, which you’ll immediately notice from the books.
At the same time, the classification on the Antolin’s website is poorly designed. It’s impossible to select a book by age and topic.
Where to find – https://antolin.westermann.de/ However, you can only get an account through a school or library – this is how the publishing house makes money.
Some (mostly young) teachers consider this program mandatory, others consider it pointless. I would say that if we consider it as a control over reading from the teacher’s side – it is suitable, in terms of children’s development – rather not.
The idea of Antolin is that the child reads a book and then answers questions about it. They can also write a verbal review if they wish. Points are earned for completing the quizzes, and based on these points, the teacher can give awards.
The tests vary greatly. The colored caps are supposed to indicate the level, but it’s hard to notice a real difference between them. It seems that each author assesses the level of their test independently.
Some tests are well-designed, focusing on essential information from the text. Others, however, nitpick minor details, and some are outright nonsensical. For example, after reading a book about moon landings, you might be asked to choose between Apollo 12, Apollo 13, or Apollo 15. Questions like these are pointless, as such specific information matters only to specialists. For everyone else, the events themselves are what’s important, not the mission number.
I must say, however, that this is a typical problem of German education (at least in a gymnasium) — a tendency to try to replace Google. Children end up memorizing a lot of completely unnecessary details, like the name of a mole’s claw. So, this approach in the tests is hardly surprising.
There are also questions that require analyzing the text rather than recalling facts. In such cases, is it even fair to label an answer as right or wrong? These types of questions are subjective and may not suit a rigid correct / incorrect framework.
After several such tests with dubious results, although the books are carefully read – and the children very quickly lose their initial enthusiasm.
The takeaway is this: if you’re required to use it by the teacher, you’ll have to. But there’s no need to bother with it on your own. Use the Antolin classification in the library and library lists based on this system — they’re genuinely helpful – and forget about tests.
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