It did me as well. I got a scholarship from my ACT (which was much higher than my GPA would indicate). That is one of the reasons I am trying to push my girls to read some of those early 20th century pulps - they will expand their vocabulary tremendously. My youngest has agreed to be homeschooled in English and Social Studies next year - boy is she in for a surprise (they only read two “novel” length books in 7th grade for the entire year - it is insane). My daughter read both of them as a 6th grader each in about a night or two.
Since the Social Studies will be Ancient Civilizations (to the collapse of Rome) and Geography, I am setting up a ready plan to support this study. So far on my list:
Ben Hur
Oedipus Rex
Odyssey (she wants to read because of Percy Jackson)
Biographies of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar
Selected passages out of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Hamilton’s Mythology (maybe Bulfinch’s instead)
Shelly’s Ozymandius and other selected relevant poetry
The Bible (in particular the OT related to Israel’s interactiions with the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians)
A description of the final destruction of Jerusalem by Titus
A book on the early Christian church
Something about Constantine