I always had Quiet Reading as well as Quiet Music times (where we listened to Four Seasons and such), and I loved them in Elementary. For the education of the whole child, I think these types of 'breaks' from the syllabus are incredibly important, but I've never heard of anyone else whose teachers devoted 4-5 hours of the school week to classical music appreciation. I digress, but I think it falls under the same umbrella - kids getting an education so standardized it becomes boring and squashes the art.

I'm always afraid of coming off pretentious, saying shit like that, but honestly! I know teachers often have their hands tied, trying to prepare their students to pass their courses, so I can see why things like reading a novel aloud together might be become too frivolous. It is a bit sad.