Morning time is a bit of a buzz word in the homeschool blogging world right now. I think the latest influence I have seen as instrumental in promoting this wonderful idea would be Sarah Makenzie's book Teaching from Rest. I have not read the book myself, but I have read Sarah's blog, and I found that she does something simple I have done for years and takes it a bit further.
In our home, morning time started out as morning devotions. The boys and I would sit down and work on our catechism question for the week and then we'd read from Teaching Hearts Training Minds and pray. After going through THTM twice, which amounts to nearly four years, we decided to change things up and read from the Children's Story Bible by Catherine Vos.
I found the idea of using this time for more than devotion and adding memory work for various subjects to be such an eye opener. I can use this time to get as much or as little as I want done with the boys and then let them break up and do their own independent work. I added history or literature to the mix rather than trying to read aloud to younger kids at a later time. I read a chapter or selection each day after devotion. It is so much easier to do this while everyone is already together. We also use this time to sing a hymn, practice memory work, and do our grammar sentences. I am thinking about adding in geography and some fine arts on a rotating basis in the future. For now, a song, bible, history/literature, grammar sentences, and memory work is more than enough for me.
The boys love this time. Before we started reading our history book this year, we read Heidi. They LOVED it, and so did I. I had not read Heidi before this and it is such a wonderful story with many life lessons. When I would be tempted to skip Morning Time, they would ask for it. They wanted to know what was going to happen next. Sometimes they would ask me to read again in the evening.
I think they love it because we are focusing on the truly important things that are so easy to skip and gloss over, like learning hymns, poetry and hearing mom read aloud. They are learning the bible at home rather then getting snippets of truth only on Sunday mornings. These are the parts of education that make it beautiful and attractive.
Don't think for a minute that little ones can't do this. My 5 year old takes part and loves it. He was very proud of himself when he finished learning Psalm 121. It was so fun to listen to him recite it all by himself. He also loves hearing our story. I think the biggest stumbling block to getting Morning Time done is ME. There are days we get up later than we should and I am tempted to nix it in an effort to avoid falling behind in our core work.
So how about you? Are you doing Morning Time with your crew? What are some things you do that your family loves?
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Friday, September 9, 2016
Free Download -- Rod and Staff English 4 Quizzes
Today's freebie is for Rod and Staff English 4 users. I have typed up the oral quizzes and written practice exercises in the teacher's manual. These are intended for the teacher to give orally by writing them on a dry erase or chalk board. I find this tedious. If I relied on giving my kids their quizzes this way, it would likely never happen. So, I typed these up last summer so I could print them for my boys and reprint in the future when the other children are in R&S English 4.
These quizzes should not be printed on both sides of the paper. They are designed to be cut in between each quiz. (There are usually two to a page.) If you print both sides and then cut, the quizzes on one side will be cut in two.
I hope you find these to be helpful in teaching your children English this year. Happy teaching.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A6Dmn7UHuzl8fjw9Qlmjkw_9-6Dp8zor51FtFSZAcTU
These quizzes should not be printed on both sides of the paper. They are designed to be cut in between each quiz. (There are usually two to a page.) If you print both sides and then cut, the quizzes on one side will be cut in two.
I hope you find these to be helpful in teaching your children English this year. Happy teaching.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A6Dmn7UHuzl8fjw9Qlmjkw_9-6Dp8zor51FtFSZAcTU
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Objections to the Use of Textbooks in the Homeschool Answered Part 2
This is the second part of my previous post answering objections to the use of textbooks as a central curriculum choice in the homeschool. Now I will cover objections four through seven. If you have not read Part 1 of this series you can find it here.
4. If you are going to use textbooks as your primary curriculum source, you might as well put your kids in school.
In other words, there is no point to homeschooling if you choose curriculum that teaches in a similar format to the school environment. This is a straw man argument and is rather silly. I will address it anyway as I read a comment on The Bates Family blog that stated this as a question. You can read that comment here. The idea that a family using Abeka DVD may as well just enroll their children in school suggests that they only reason to homeschool is to "do school" in a format that is radically different from the format used in a public or private school. While some families may homeschool because they prefer their children to be educated in a format which is radically different from the schoolish format which presupposes the use of textbooks, this is not the only reason to homeschool. People choose to homeschool their children for many reasons. The use of textbooks, with or without DVD's, does not invalidate their reasons for doing so nor does it compromise the quality of education in their homeschool. In many cases it actually drastically improves the quality of education in the homeschool as stated my Mrs. Bates in the article referenced above and Mrs. Maxwell in her post about her switch from unit study style homeschooling to textbook style schooling here.
5. Textbooks do not integrate learning between the subjects.
This is generally true of most textbooks, but there are some exceptions. Something I do in our homeschool to try and mitigate this is to have a child study American Literature in the same year they study American History. If we were going to include some form of Art appreciation I would have the child use the portion of the book that applies to American artists. I do likewise with World History and Literature. A child studying the history of the Romans can be assigned to concurrently work on a bible curriculum that focused on the gospels and Acts, etc.
I will say that curriculums that do integrate the subjects generally rely on lots of teacher involvement and advanced planning on the part of the parent. Such programs will not be effectively taught without mom always being there to do lots of work to pull it off. They also tend to be very pricey. If you have the time and fortitude to pull all of this off as well as the resources, then by all means do so. Such programs I have found (at least in our experience) seem to be most effectively taught by an outside source like an online course or co-op like Classical Conversations or Veritas schools. This is true for me due to time restraints with 6 children.
6. Textbooks alienate the student leaving them to work alone.
I was reading a discussion thread on a forum several months back about Rod and Staff textbooks I was interested in purchasing. The reviews and opinions were mixed which is to be expected. One comment in particular was quite disparaging not only of Rod and Staff but also the traditional textbook/workbook instructional method. The reviewer talked about how she used this curriculum with her child and felt like it was geared in an alienating manner. She said that you explain the lesson to "Orkie" and then send "Orkie" to the table to do his work. The tone of her review showed a disdain for sending children to work independently on a lesson in a book at the table once they understand the concept taught in the lesson.
"Orkie." Really? "Orkie" is going to sit at the table and complete his work on his own and this is viewed as bad? I think a child working on his coursework diligently and independently is a wonderful thing. Why would anyone condescendingly refer to a child who works on this program as "Orkie?" Why not Johnny, Jimmy or Sally?
What do we as homeschooling moms think we are withholding from our children by teaching them to learn to work as independently and diligently as they are able without interference from us? Yes, I am calling it interference. When a child does not understand something and comes to you with questions, this is help. When he understands perfectly fine, yet you think you need to be involved every step of the way lest he be lonely, this is interference. You see, now Johnny is distracted and he may begin to think he should never have to work alone. Mom should keep him company and entertain him during his school hours.
I really wonder why independent seatwork is viewed so poorly throughout the cyber homeschooling community. How well can a child function as an adult if they always rely on mom's involvement in order to get things done--in order to learn? Many children have gone on to succeed in life without feeling scarred or neglected during their school years by the lonely experience of completing workbooks independently.
7. Textbooks will cause students to "miss out" on the richness provided in a "living books" or "great books" education.
The assumption behind this objection is that students educated with textbooks will not read "living" books. They will only read textbooks. While this may be true in some homeschools, it is certainly not true in all. It is also not true of all public or private schooled children. While I did not read nearly as many books as I wish I would have in school, I was required to read three Shakespeare plays in their entirety and many novels. The use of textbooks does not prohibit or dissuade one from including a healthy dose of living books into a students curriculum. Some textbook users choose to require summer reading of their homeschooled students. This is a time when many living books may be read for pure enjoyment.
On the other hand, if a mom is so busy that she begins a school year with literature based studies and good intentions yet the intentions never pan out, textbooks would provide a much richer education for her children.
4. If you are going to use textbooks as your primary curriculum source, you might as well put your kids in school.
In other words, there is no point to homeschooling if you choose curriculum that teaches in a similar format to the school environment. This is a straw man argument and is rather silly. I will address it anyway as I read a comment on The Bates Family blog that stated this as a question. You can read that comment here. The idea that a family using Abeka DVD may as well just enroll their children in school suggests that they only reason to homeschool is to "do school" in a format that is radically different from the format used in a public or private school. While some families may homeschool because they prefer their children to be educated in a format which is radically different from the schoolish format which presupposes the use of textbooks, this is not the only reason to homeschool. People choose to homeschool their children for many reasons. The use of textbooks, with or without DVD's, does not invalidate their reasons for doing so nor does it compromise the quality of education in their homeschool. In many cases it actually drastically improves the quality of education in the homeschool as stated my Mrs. Bates in the article referenced above and Mrs. Maxwell in her post about her switch from unit study style homeschooling to textbook style schooling here.
5. Textbooks do not integrate learning between the subjects.
This is generally true of most textbooks, but there are some exceptions. Something I do in our homeschool to try and mitigate this is to have a child study American Literature in the same year they study American History. If we were going to include some form of Art appreciation I would have the child use the portion of the book that applies to American artists. I do likewise with World History and Literature. A child studying the history of the Romans can be assigned to concurrently work on a bible curriculum that focused on the gospels and Acts, etc.
I will say that curriculums that do integrate the subjects generally rely on lots of teacher involvement and advanced planning on the part of the parent. Such programs will not be effectively taught without mom always being there to do lots of work to pull it off. They also tend to be very pricey. If you have the time and fortitude to pull all of this off as well as the resources, then by all means do so. Such programs I have found (at least in our experience) seem to be most effectively taught by an outside source like an online course or co-op like Classical Conversations or Veritas schools. This is true for me due to time restraints with 6 children.
6. Textbooks alienate the student leaving them to work alone.
I was reading a discussion thread on a forum several months back about Rod and Staff textbooks I was interested in purchasing. The reviews and opinions were mixed which is to be expected. One comment in particular was quite disparaging not only of Rod and Staff but also the traditional textbook/workbook instructional method. The reviewer talked about how she used this curriculum with her child and felt like it was geared in an alienating manner. She said that you explain the lesson to "Orkie" and then send "Orkie" to the table to do his work. The tone of her review showed a disdain for sending children to work independently on a lesson in a book at the table once they understand the concept taught in the lesson.
"Orkie." Really? "Orkie" is going to sit at the table and complete his work on his own and this is viewed as bad? I think a child working on his coursework diligently and independently is a wonderful thing. Why would anyone condescendingly refer to a child who works on this program as "Orkie?" Why not Johnny, Jimmy or Sally?
What do we as homeschooling moms think we are withholding from our children by teaching them to learn to work as independently and diligently as they are able without interference from us? Yes, I am calling it interference. When a child does not understand something and comes to you with questions, this is help. When he understands perfectly fine, yet you think you need to be involved every step of the way lest he be lonely, this is interference. You see, now Johnny is distracted and he may begin to think he should never have to work alone. Mom should keep him company and entertain him during his school hours.
I really wonder why independent seatwork is viewed so poorly throughout the cyber homeschooling community. How well can a child function as an adult if they always rely on mom's involvement in order to get things done--in order to learn? Many children have gone on to succeed in life without feeling scarred or neglected during their school years by the lonely experience of completing workbooks independently.
7. Textbooks will cause students to "miss out" on the richness provided in a "living books" or "great books" education.
The assumption behind this objection is that students educated with textbooks will not read "living" books. They will only read textbooks. While this may be true in some homeschools, it is certainly not true in all. It is also not true of all public or private schooled children. While I did not read nearly as many books as I wish I would have in school, I was required to read three Shakespeare plays in their entirety and many novels. The use of textbooks does not prohibit or dissuade one from including a healthy dose of living books into a students curriculum. Some textbook users choose to require summer reading of their homeschooled students. This is a time when many living books may be read for pure enjoyment.
On the other hand, if a mom is so busy that she begins a school year with literature based studies and good intentions yet the intentions never pan out, textbooks would provide a much richer education for her children.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Objections to the Use of Textbooks in the Homeschool Answered Part 1
In this post I will follow up the discussion I started in my previous post Are Textbooks in the Homeschool Really THAT bad? If you have not read that post, you can find it here. I will now address three of the seven commonly heard objections to the use of the traditional textbook as a central curriculum choice in the homeschool. Objections four through seven will be in my next post which is part two of this series.
1. Textbooks are boring.
Well, that depends on many factors and there are some textbooks that are in fact very boring. I have a two part response to this objection. First of all, not every textbook is boring. If you have a textbook that is truly terrible, you can very confidently choose not to use it and keep looking for another. There are plenty of very interesting textbooks available for homeschoolers to use. Apologia Science is my absolute favorite. These textbooks are interesting, fun, education and did I say interesting and fun? Yes, I did and so do my children. My kids LOVE their science books. We also have two Bob Jones science books that a friend gave me. My children love them too. The one thing that really draws my kids to the Bob Jones books is that Apologia science books were all we had before getting these. The Bob Jones books are different and they have chapters about information not covered in Apologia like weather and rocks. My kids like both and use both with great enthusiasm. Shhhh...don't tell them textbooks are boring. They don't know.
My next response to this objection is simple. Just because a child finds something boring doesn't mean they don't need it or that it is a poor curriculum choice. I did not enjoy math growing up. The math book was boring (according to me). Should my teachers have looked for a new book because I found the ones I was given to be boring? Should I have been given an easier math curriculum so I could enjoy it more? Of course not. I think that as homeschooling parents, we often need to allow our children to "suffer" a little boredom every once in a while. Education is a process that should be enjoyable over all, but it is done with a purpose. The purpose is to give a child what they need to be prepared for life. However you want to tweak the purpose, this is the core of why education is so important. If you can't do your math facts, you can't do Algebra. If you can't do Algebra, you can't graduate high school and get into college. I "suffered" through my boring math books during my school years, and I learned a lot in the process.
Education can be rewarding and fun, but fun is not the factor on which I base my curriculum choices. Well, if we are talking about art curriculum, fun is a big factor. Art is supposed to be fun. But if we are talking about math or grammar, fun is not the driving force which determines my curriculum choices. Fun is a nice and a welcome bonus, but fun alone is not a deal breaker in our homeschool.
Think about it this way. Do you let your children eat chips and candy and McDonalds chicken nuggets for every meal because this is fun and it is what they like? I sure hope not. This would be very bad for your child and cause some pretty serious health complications later in life. Your children would end up with serious nutritional deficiencies. They may be having the time of their life now, but they will not thank you for this when they are grown! School can be thought of similarly. We want our children to enjoy their education, but there are times when our kids have to learn to "eat their vegetables" so to speak and continue working through a good textbook providing a solid foundation in its subject area even when they find it boring. If a delight directed school philosophy causes mom to choose an easier or more exciting curriculum that is not as academically sound as the current curriculum, your student may end up having fun now, but they probably won't thank you for it when they are grown. They will likely find deficiencies in certain subject areas and struggle unnecessarily in college.
2. Textbooks only have short selections of books in them, which deprives a student of reading books in their entirety.
In our homeschool we use Abeka readers for fourth and fifth grades. My son's fourth grade reader titled Salute to Courage contains a selection from Heidi. Last week my son decided to read his reader selection for the day aloud to his youngest brother. The little guy came to me excited and told me how the Heidi story is in big brother's reader. We were in the process of reading Heidi aloud with only two chapters left in the book. The boys love Heidi. They were so excited to see part of a book they have enjoyed so much in this reader. No one felt cheated because only a portion of the book is present. My boys were excited that the day's selection was something they were familiar with. My fourth grader noticed differences between the Abeka selection and the original. Now he is excited to keep reading his reader to see if there are other selections with which he is familiar.
This same fourth grader had another selection to read which came from Alice in Wonderland. I encouraged him to start reading the whole book after he reads the reader's selection if he finds it interesting. We already have the book. I am hoped this portion of Alice in Wonderland would spur the interest in my son to read the whole book! If not, at least he got some exposure to the story. It did it's job. He is in process of reading the whole book on his own after school hours. He is reading for fun in his free time!
On another note, "Of making many books there is no end, and much study is weariness to the flesh." Ecclesiastes 12:12. While the choice to use textbooks in the homeschool most certainly does not mean that students in such schools can not or will not be well read, one must also acknowledge that even the most avidly literature based homeschool program will leave much reading undone. My job as a homeschool parent is not to make my children read all of the classics before they graduate and leave home. No, my job is to instill in them a love for reading and to give them the tools to continue learning once they are graduated.
Finally, a reader or textbook which offers selections of well known literature can expose a student to a larger variety of literature and genres of writing than he might be exposed to if he never uses a textbook. If I let my children choose all of their reading based on their interest, my oldest son would skip poetry altogether. He is a math and science oriented guy. A textbook will not allow this.
3. Textbooks don't teach children of different learning styles.
This objection is not necessarily always true though sometimes it is the case. For example, our 2nd grade English book by Rod and Staff publishers has extra activities at the end of each unit that allow for some hands on learning that applies to the part of speech covered in the unit. My boys have enjoyed these activities and find them to be a nice break from the regular lesson's format. If there is time for us to do such an activity we definitely try to make it happen. If life is nuts and we can't, we just move on. The activity is optional.
I will say that there are many children who have a hard time just reading a book and working from it without some verbal teaching. Chalk board lessons often help these children connect what they are reading and improve their performance in their school work. A parent can give such lessons to the student from the textbook (especially if the text has a good teacher's manual to accompany it), or DVD's can offer such instruction. We use Art Reed DVD's with our Saxon math books to teach upper level math to my boys. Our DVD's have a real person that can be seen explaining the concepts in each lesson and demonstrating them on a dry erase board. Mr. Reed has been a wonderful blessing in our homeschool. Upper level math is not my cup of tea. Some of my kids use the DVD's while others get it well enough by reading the book on their own that they don't bother. It takes longer to watch the DVD. We still use our trusty textbooks, while Mr. Reed gives the extra help needed for students needing a lecture.
1. Textbooks are boring.
Well, that depends on many factors and there are some textbooks that are in fact very boring. I have a two part response to this objection. First of all, not every textbook is boring. If you have a textbook that is truly terrible, you can very confidently choose not to use it and keep looking for another. There are plenty of very interesting textbooks available for homeschoolers to use. Apologia Science is my absolute favorite. These textbooks are interesting, fun, education and did I say interesting and fun? Yes, I did and so do my children. My kids LOVE their science books. We also have two Bob Jones science books that a friend gave me. My children love them too. The one thing that really draws my kids to the Bob Jones books is that Apologia science books were all we had before getting these. The Bob Jones books are different and they have chapters about information not covered in Apologia like weather and rocks. My kids like both and use both with great enthusiasm. Shhhh...don't tell them textbooks are boring. They don't know.
My next response to this objection is simple. Just because a child finds something boring doesn't mean they don't need it or that it is a poor curriculum choice. I did not enjoy math growing up. The math book was boring (according to me). Should my teachers have looked for a new book because I found the ones I was given to be boring? Should I have been given an easier math curriculum so I could enjoy it more? Of course not. I think that as homeschooling parents, we often need to allow our children to "suffer" a little boredom every once in a while. Education is a process that should be enjoyable over all, but it is done with a purpose. The purpose is to give a child what they need to be prepared for life. However you want to tweak the purpose, this is the core of why education is so important. If you can't do your math facts, you can't do Algebra. If you can't do Algebra, you can't graduate high school and get into college. I "suffered" through my boring math books during my school years, and I learned a lot in the process.
Education can be rewarding and fun, but fun is not the factor on which I base my curriculum choices. Well, if we are talking about art curriculum, fun is a big factor. Art is supposed to be fun. But if we are talking about math or grammar, fun is not the driving force which determines my curriculum choices. Fun is a nice and a welcome bonus, but fun alone is not a deal breaker in our homeschool.
Think about it this way. Do you let your children eat chips and candy and McDonalds chicken nuggets for every meal because this is fun and it is what they like? I sure hope not. This would be very bad for your child and cause some pretty serious health complications later in life. Your children would end up with serious nutritional deficiencies. They may be having the time of their life now, but they will not thank you for this when they are grown! School can be thought of similarly. We want our children to enjoy their education, but there are times when our kids have to learn to "eat their vegetables" so to speak and continue working through a good textbook providing a solid foundation in its subject area even when they find it boring. If a delight directed school philosophy causes mom to choose an easier or more exciting curriculum that is not as academically sound as the current curriculum, your student may end up having fun now, but they probably won't thank you for it when they are grown. They will likely find deficiencies in certain subject areas and struggle unnecessarily in college.
2. Textbooks only have short selections of books in them, which deprives a student of reading books in their entirety.
In our homeschool we use Abeka readers for fourth and fifth grades. My son's fourth grade reader titled Salute to Courage contains a selection from Heidi. Last week my son decided to read his reader selection for the day aloud to his youngest brother. The little guy came to me excited and told me how the Heidi story is in big brother's reader. We were in the process of reading Heidi aloud with only two chapters left in the book. The boys love Heidi. They were so excited to see part of a book they have enjoyed so much in this reader. No one felt cheated because only a portion of the book is present. My boys were excited that the day's selection was something they were familiar with. My fourth grader noticed differences between the Abeka selection and the original. Now he is excited to keep reading his reader to see if there are other selections with which he is familiar.
This same fourth grader had another selection to read which came from Alice in Wonderland. I encouraged him to start reading the whole book after he reads the reader's selection if he finds it interesting. We already have the book. I am hoped this portion of Alice in Wonderland would spur the interest in my son to read the whole book! If not, at least he got some exposure to the story. It did it's job. He is in process of reading the whole book on his own after school hours. He is reading for fun in his free time!
On another note, "Of making many books there is no end, and much study is weariness to the flesh." Ecclesiastes 12:12. While the choice to use textbooks in the homeschool most certainly does not mean that students in such schools can not or will not be well read, one must also acknowledge that even the most avidly literature based homeschool program will leave much reading undone. My job as a homeschool parent is not to make my children read all of the classics before they graduate and leave home. No, my job is to instill in them a love for reading and to give them the tools to continue learning once they are graduated.
Finally, a reader or textbook which offers selections of well known literature can expose a student to a larger variety of literature and genres of writing than he might be exposed to if he never uses a textbook. If I let my children choose all of their reading based on their interest, my oldest son would skip poetry altogether. He is a math and science oriented guy. A textbook will not allow this.
3. Textbooks don't teach children of different learning styles.
This objection is not necessarily always true though sometimes it is the case. For example, our 2nd grade English book by Rod and Staff publishers has extra activities at the end of each unit that allow for some hands on learning that applies to the part of speech covered in the unit. My boys have enjoyed these activities and find them to be a nice break from the regular lesson's format. If there is time for us to do such an activity we definitely try to make it happen. If life is nuts and we can't, we just move on. The activity is optional.
I will say that there are many children who have a hard time just reading a book and working from it without some verbal teaching. Chalk board lessons often help these children connect what they are reading and improve their performance in their school work. A parent can give such lessons to the student from the textbook (especially if the text has a good teacher's manual to accompany it), or DVD's can offer such instruction. We use Art Reed DVD's with our Saxon math books to teach upper level math to my boys. Our DVD's have a real person that can be seen explaining the concepts in each lesson and demonstrating them on a dry erase board. Mr. Reed has been a wonderful blessing in our homeschool. Upper level math is not my cup of tea. Some of my kids use the DVD's while others get it well enough by reading the book on their own that they don't bother. It takes longer to watch the DVD. We still use our trusty textbooks, while Mr. Reed gives the extra help needed for students needing a lecture.
Are Textbooks in the Homeschool Really THAT Bad?
I will begin by stating that I love living books. I love reading aloud to my children and I love to be involved as a teacher in my homeschool. That said, I have read numerous articles, catalogs and blogs disparaging the use of textbooks in the homeschool. Such articles insinuate, and sometimes overtly state, that the use of textbooks will leave homeschooled children wanting educationally. Their education will lack life and interest and be just as dull and boring and lacking as it would be if the child were put in public school. Homeschooled kids are supposed to have it better. If you read the average homeschooling blog or article you might begin to believe that textbooks just can't or won't deliver any better an education than the public school system has to offer. I am here to say that this is simply not true!
While I do not use a traditional textbook for every subject and every child in my homeschool, I certainly use textbooks and with great benefit. My children are not hindered by my use of textbooks. Their education is not lifeless and stilted as a result. I have some voracious readers on my hands as well as one who reads only when it is required. Using textbooks in my homeschool has not kept my children from reading "living books".
So, in this post I will outline what I believe to be the benefits of using textbooks. I will address the usual objections I have heard against them in my next post.
What benefits are there for those of us who employ the use of Textbooks in the homeschool?
1. Textbooks are easy to use.
With a textbook curriculum, I can quickly and easily plan what each child will do. Each of my children know exactly what is expected of them. This makes things run smoothly, especially as children become old enough to do the bulk of their work independently. This is a big deal when there are several children in the home. Once you hit four, you qualify as having several, in my opinion. The ease of planning with a high quality teacher's manual is wonderful. Mom doesn't have to run to the library every week or pay library fines because she didn't make it back in time. Tons of lesson planning and project planning can be avoided and children still get quality teaching from their books. This has become a huge deal in our homeschool as we now have 6 children of school age in our home. I have the time to do what I need to because I can let the books work for me and help my children when they need it.
2. Textbooks provide continuity.
My kids have been my guinea pigs in regards to curriculum choices and teaching methods, the oldest more so than the others as we have tread the waters of homeschooling these past 8 years. My eldest son has expressed preference for his textbooks over the mom directed "living book" curriculums. The main reason for this is that the textbooks provide incremental consistency and they allow him to move at his own pace without having to wait on me. He also has noticed that when we did "our own thing" and then went to a textbook in a certain subject that he had some holes in his learning that he had to close up, which he found "annoying". Sticking with a particular textbook for a particular subject over the years helps to avoid the issue of "holes" in learning.
3. Textbooks don't have to be "traditional" to be textbooks.
This may sound like an odd benefit to using textbooks in the homeschool. The wording is weird, but I think you will understand what I mean. We love and use Apologia Science in our homeschool. This is a science curriculum that teaches in a Charlotte Mason style in the elementary school years. Although it is meant to be used as a read aloud (which we have done), it doesn't have to be. This year, two of my boys are doing two different Apologia books with their Notebooking Journals independently. I help them with experiments when they come up, but the books are laid out in a way (with the schedule in the student journal) that a child able to read the books alone can do so. This allows them to pursue learning according to their own interests (one studies animals and the other botany). If we did science in a read aloud fashion this year, we would only do one book and one or both boys would be disappointed they didn't get to study the book they preferred. So, this textbook user can still take time for nature walks with her boys and make room for some fun Charlotte Mason style science by using this wonderful textbook curriculum (when time allows).
4. Textbooks provide a painless and honest way to keep records and make the high school transcript.
When my oldest was coming up on his first year of high school, I scoured the internet for information about high school record keeping and making a transcript. At the same time I was shopping around for curriculum for different subjects, namely history. I love using a narrative history book as a read aloud with my younger children and adding history based literature to that spine for the boys to read independently as a supplement to our read aloud. I do so love this. But with high school I was completely stressing out. I drooled over Veritas Press' Omnibus curriculum, but I knew that I didn't have the time to teach that to my son, nor did we have the funds to do the self paced course online. I had five younger children, four of which were school age at the time. My number one stressor was that I wanted to choose well so that I could reuse whatever I bought for the oldest with the youngers and not hop around. I looked around and found that different curriculum options that are living books or great books oriented are hard to know how to give an objective, fair grade to put on a transcript. Moreover said curriculums were through the roof in regards to price.
I went to a local bookstore similar to Half Price Books. I found used Abeka history books for $6.00 and the quiz and test booklets and their corresponding answer keys were $1.97 each! I flipped through the books and grabbed them. For $14.00 + tax, I had a complete World History curriculum for my son and it counted as a full high school credit! No more stress over what we will do for high school history. The tests and quizzes provided me a very easy way to record grades and give an honest and accurate grade on my son's high school transcript. We have happily used Abeka's Economics book and we have their American History and World Geography as well. My son's records are easy to keep. His grades are an honest reflection of his work and study habits.
5. Textbook learning prepares students for learning in a college setting.
We can have all kinds of philosophical discussions about the purposes and goals of education and this kind of discussion certainly has its place. However, one of the many things a homeschool education should do is prepare a child to do well in college. College classrooms across the country use textbooks without shame. If textbooks are harmful to children, college professors are apparently completely unaware and need to be informed! I know personally a young man who is incredibly intelligent. He was homeschooled and now has a Master's degree. This young man was not made to take tests growing up. His mom figured that they were a waste of time as she knew that he knew the information. She was right. He did know it. However, time came to take the SAT for college entrance and his did not do so well. What? This guy has the brains to blow the top off of that test! How is this possible? Well, he had never taken a test in his life. He most certainly never took a timed test! There is an art to learning to study for a test and do well on it. This is the main mode of learning and receiving credit for what one has learned in the college setting. I am not addressing whether or not this is the best mode of learning. For better or worse, it is THE mode of learning in college, and our college bound children need to be prepared to succeed in this environment. They need to know what it is to study a chapter or unit review and take an exam over it in a specified time frame. The young man above not only lost out on much desired scholarship money due to his SAT scores, but he also made lower grades in some of his college courses because he didn't always finish his exams by the time class was over. He missed problems due to running out of time. His homeschool never required him to get his work done in a certain time frame. Textbook learning helps prepare students to handle this aspect of the college environment well.
6. Textbooks are a joyful means of learning in our homeschool.
My children have simply not been informed that learning from textbooks would rob them of joy in their learning. They don't all like all of their textbooks as much as others, but this is the result of one subject being preferred over the other rather than a textbook killing their joy of learning any particular subject. My children enjoy lessons in their books when presented in manageable chunks and with adequate instruction to give them what they need to succeed and do well in their lesson. No child wants to do poorly. A good textbook that presents the material well so that my children, with proper effort, are able to succeed is a winner in our home. Every child likes to see an A+ on their paper with an encouraging sticker at the top praising his efforts.
7. Textbooks foster self discipline and independent learning in the homeschooled child.
The final benefit to present to you that textbooks bring into the homeschool is self discipline, which creates an independent learner. I know a family that used Abeka Academy for first through sixth grades. The children were enrolled in Classical Conversations in seventh grade for the Challenge program. These kids have and are still doing wonderfully. Abeka's textbook based elementary program prepared these students to excel in the very popular Classical Conversations program which is considered to be a heavy load by many. What did Abeka give these students to help them do so well? Self discipline that has trained these children to have good study habits and a strong work ethic. These students don't need mom to harp on them in the morning to get started on their school. They pull out their books and get to work. While other students in beginning Challenge programs struggle to get all of their work done, my friend's kiddos are excelling in Classical Conversations' Challenge program. They are getting a lot out of it and they are doing so independently for the most part. This is true of many textbook educated children. This discipline crosses over into other areas of life and grooms a child to be a responsible and hardworking spouse and employee. Let's face it, no one wants a lazy husband, wife or employee. Using textbooks and teaching our children to be as independent as they are able will pay many wonderful dividends as they get older for mom and for them.
In Conclusion, know that many families successfully use textbooks as the primary source of their homeschool curriculum material. I have also found that this method of homeschooling is put down and disparaged in many blog posts and homeschool articles. I am here to say that using textbooks will not harm your children in any way. Your children will benefit greatly from their textbooks when used consistently with proper supervision from their teacher. They will do well in college and in life.
Now it's your turn. What benefits have you reaped in your homeschool through the use of textbooks? Which textbooks have been your favorites and why? Feel free to comment below!
While I do not use a traditional textbook for every subject and every child in my homeschool, I certainly use textbooks and with great benefit. My children are not hindered by my use of textbooks. Their education is not lifeless and stilted as a result. I have some voracious readers on my hands as well as one who reads only when it is required. Using textbooks in my homeschool has not kept my children from reading "living books".
So, in this post I will outline what I believe to be the benefits of using textbooks. I will address the usual objections I have heard against them in my next post.
What benefits are there for those of us who employ the use of Textbooks in the homeschool?
1. Textbooks are easy to use.
With a textbook curriculum, I can quickly and easily plan what each child will do. Each of my children know exactly what is expected of them. This makes things run smoothly, especially as children become old enough to do the bulk of their work independently. This is a big deal when there are several children in the home. Once you hit four, you qualify as having several, in my opinion. The ease of planning with a high quality teacher's manual is wonderful. Mom doesn't have to run to the library every week or pay library fines because she didn't make it back in time. Tons of lesson planning and project planning can be avoided and children still get quality teaching from their books. This has become a huge deal in our homeschool as we now have 6 children of school age in our home. I have the time to do what I need to because I can let the books work for me and help my children when they need it.
2. Textbooks provide continuity.
My kids have been my guinea pigs in regards to curriculum choices and teaching methods, the oldest more so than the others as we have tread the waters of homeschooling these past 8 years. My eldest son has expressed preference for his textbooks over the mom directed "living book" curriculums. The main reason for this is that the textbooks provide incremental consistency and they allow him to move at his own pace without having to wait on me. He also has noticed that when we did "our own thing" and then went to a textbook in a certain subject that he had some holes in his learning that he had to close up, which he found "annoying". Sticking with a particular textbook for a particular subject over the years helps to avoid the issue of "holes" in learning.
3. Textbooks don't have to be "traditional" to be textbooks.
This may sound like an odd benefit to using textbooks in the homeschool. The wording is weird, but I think you will understand what I mean. We love and use Apologia Science in our homeschool. This is a science curriculum that teaches in a Charlotte Mason style in the elementary school years. Although it is meant to be used as a read aloud (which we have done), it doesn't have to be. This year, two of my boys are doing two different Apologia books with their Notebooking Journals independently. I help them with experiments when they come up, but the books are laid out in a way (with the schedule in the student journal) that a child able to read the books alone can do so. This allows them to pursue learning according to their own interests (one studies animals and the other botany). If we did science in a read aloud fashion this year, we would only do one book and one or both boys would be disappointed they didn't get to study the book they preferred. So, this textbook user can still take time for nature walks with her boys and make room for some fun Charlotte Mason style science by using this wonderful textbook curriculum (when time allows).
4. Textbooks provide a painless and honest way to keep records and make the high school transcript.
When my oldest was coming up on his first year of high school, I scoured the internet for information about high school record keeping and making a transcript. At the same time I was shopping around for curriculum for different subjects, namely history. I love using a narrative history book as a read aloud with my younger children and adding history based literature to that spine for the boys to read independently as a supplement to our read aloud. I do so love this. But with high school I was completely stressing out. I drooled over Veritas Press' Omnibus curriculum, but I knew that I didn't have the time to teach that to my son, nor did we have the funds to do the self paced course online. I had five younger children, four of which were school age at the time. My number one stressor was that I wanted to choose well so that I could reuse whatever I bought for the oldest with the youngers and not hop around. I looked around and found that different curriculum options that are living books or great books oriented are hard to know how to give an objective, fair grade to put on a transcript. Moreover said curriculums were through the roof in regards to price.
I went to a local bookstore similar to Half Price Books. I found used Abeka history books for $6.00 and the quiz and test booklets and their corresponding answer keys were $1.97 each! I flipped through the books and grabbed them. For $14.00 + tax, I had a complete World History curriculum for my son and it counted as a full high school credit! No more stress over what we will do for high school history. The tests and quizzes provided me a very easy way to record grades and give an honest and accurate grade on my son's high school transcript. We have happily used Abeka's Economics book and we have their American History and World Geography as well. My son's records are easy to keep. His grades are an honest reflection of his work and study habits.
5. Textbook learning prepares students for learning in a college setting.
We can have all kinds of philosophical discussions about the purposes and goals of education and this kind of discussion certainly has its place. However, one of the many things a homeschool education should do is prepare a child to do well in college. College classrooms across the country use textbooks without shame. If textbooks are harmful to children, college professors are apparently completely unaware and need to be informed! I know personally a young man who is incredibly intelligent. He was homeschooled and now has a Master's degree. This young man was not made to take tests growing up. His mom figured that they were a waste of time as she knew that he knew the information. She was right. He did know it. However, time came to take the SAT for college entrance and his did not do so well. What? This guy has the brains to blow the top off of that test! How is this possible? Well, he had never taken a test in his life. He most certainly never took a timed test! There is an art to learning to study for a test and do well on it. This is the main mode of learning and receiving credit for what one has learned in the college setting. I am not addressing whether or not this is the best mode of learning. For better or worse, it is THE mode of learning in college, and our college bound children need to be prepared to succeed in this environment. They need to know what it is to study a chapter or unit review and take an exam over it in a specified time frame. The young man above not only lost out on much desired scholarship money due to his SAT scores, but he also made lower grades in some of his college courses because he didn't always finish his exams by the time class was over. He missed problems due to running out of time. His homeschool never required him to get his work done in a certain time frame. Textbook learning helps prepare students to handle this aspect of the college environment well.
6. Textbooks are a joyful means of learning in our homeschool.
My children have simply not been informed that learning from textbooks would rob them of joy in their learning. They don't all like all of their textbooks as much as others, but this is the result of one subject being preferred over the other rather than a textbook killing their joy of learning any particular subject. My children enjoy lessons in their books when presented in manageable chunks and with adequate instruction to give them what they need to succeed and do well in their lesson. No child wants to do poorly. A good textbook that presents the material well so that my children, with proper effort, are able to succeed is a winner in our home. Every child likes to see an A+ on their paper with an encouraging sticker at the top praising his efforts.
7. Textbooks foster self discipline and independent learning in the homeschooled child.
The final benefit to present to you that textbooks bring into the homeschool is self discipline, which creates an independent learner. I know a family that used Abeka Academy for first through sixth grades. The children were enrolled in Classical Conversations in seventh grade for the Challenge program. These kids have and are still doing wonderfully. Abeka's textbook based elementary program prepared these students to excel in the very popular Classical Conversations program which is considered to be a heavy load by many. What did Abeka give these students to help them do so well? Self discipline that has trained these children to have good study habits and a strong work ethic. These students don't need mom to harp on them in the morning to get started on their school. They pull out their books and get to work. While other students in beginning Challenge programs struggle to get all of their work done, my friend's kiddos are excelling in Classical Conversations' Challenge program. They are getting a lot out of it and they are doing so independently for the most part. This is true of many textbook educated children. This discipline crosses over into other areas of life and grooms a child to be a responsible and hardworking spouse and employee. Let's face it, no one wants a lazy husband, wife or employee. Using textbooks and teaching our children to be as independent as they are able will pay many wonderful dividends as they get older for mom and for them.
In Conclusion, know that many families successfully use textbooks as the primary source of their homeschool curriculum material. I have also found that this method of homeschooling is put down and disparaged in many blog posts and homeschool articles. I am here to say that using textbooks will not harm your children in any way. Your children will benefit greatly from their textbooks when used consistently with proper supervision from their teacher. They will do well in college and in life.
Now it's your turn. What benefits have you reaped in your homeschool through the use of textbooks? Which textbooks have been your favorites and why? Feel free to comment below!
Are Textbooks in the Homeschool Really THAT Bad?
I will begin by stating that I love living books. I love reading aloud to my children and I love to be involved as a teacher in my homeschool. That said, I have read numerous articles, catalogs and blogs disparaging the use of textbooks in the homeschool. Such articles insinuate, and sometimes overtly state, that the use of textbooks will leave homeschooled children wanting educationally. Their education will lack life and interest and be just as dull and boring and lacking as it would be if the child were put in public school. Homeschooled kids are supposed to have it better. If you read the average homeschooling blog or article you might begin to believe that textbooks just can't or won't deliver any better an education than the public school system has to offer. I am here to say that this is simply not true!
While I do not use a traditional textbook for every subject and every child in my homeschool, I certainly use textbooks and with great benefit. My children are not hindered by my use of textbooks. Their education is not lifeless and stilted as a result. I have some voracious readers on my hands as well as one who reads only when it is required. Using textbooks in my homeschool has not kept my children from reading "living books".
So, in this post I will outline what I believe to be the benefits of using textbooks. I will address the usual objections I have heard against them in my next post.
What benefits are there for those of us who employ the use of Textbooks in the homeschool?
1. Textbooks are easy to use.
With a textbook curriculum, I can quickly and easily plan what each child will do. Each of my children know exactly what is expected of them. This makes things run smoothly, especially as children become old enough to do the bulk of their work independently. This is a big deal when there are several children in the home. Once you hit four, you qualify as having several, in my opinion. The ease of planning with a high quality teacher's manual is wonderful. Mom doesn't have to run to the library every week or pay library fines because she didn't make it back in time. Tons of lesson planning and project planning can be avoided and children still get quality teaching from their books. This has become a huge deal in our homeschool as we now have 6 children of school age in our home. I have the time to do what I need to because I can let the books work for me and help my children when they need it.
2. Textbooks provide continuity.
My kids have been my guinea pigs in regards to curriculum choices and teaching methods, the oldest more so than the others as we have tread the waters of homeschooling these past 8 years. My eldest son has expressed preference for his textbooks over the mom directed "living book" curriculums. The main reason for this is that the textbooks provide incremental consistency and they allow him to move at his own pace without having to wait on me. He also has noticed that when we did "our own thing" and then went to a textbook in a certain subject that he had some holes in his learning that he had to close up, which he found "annoying". Sticking with a particular textbook for a particular subject over the years helps to avoid the issue of "holes" in learning.
3. Textbooks don't have to be "traditional" to be textbooks.
This may sound like an odd benefit to using textbooks in the homeschool. The wording is weird, but I think you will understand what I mean. We love and use Apologia Science in our homeschool. This is a science curriculum that teaches in a Charlotte Mason style in the elementary school years. Although it is meant to be used as a read aloud (which we have done), it doesn't have to be. This year, two of my boys are doing two different Apologia books with their Notebooking Journals independently. I help them with experiments when they come up, but the books are laid out in a way (with the schedule in the student journal) that a child able to read the books alone can do so. This allows them to pursue learning according to their own interests (one studies animals and the other botany). If we did science in a read aloud fashion this year, we would only do one book and one or both boys would be disappointed they didn't get to study the book they preferred. So, this textbook user can still take time for nature walks with her boys and make room for some fun Charlotte Mason style science by using this wonderful textbook curriculum (when time allows).
4. Textbooks provide a painless and honest way to keep records and make the high school transcript.
When my oldest was coming up on his first year of high school, I scoured the internet for information about high school record keeping and making a transcript. At the same time I was shopping around for curriculum for different subjects, namely history. I love using a narrative history book as a read aloud with my younger children and adding history based literature to that spine for the boys to read independently as a supplement to our read aloud. I do so love this. But with high school I was completely stressing out. I drooled over Veritas Press' Omnibus curriculum, but I knew that I didn't have the time to teach that to my son, nor did we have the funds to do the self paced course online. I had five younger children, four of which were school age at the time. My number one stressor was that I wanted to choose well so that I could reuse whatever I bought for the oldest with the youngers and not hop around. I looked around and found that different curriculum options that are living books or great books oriented are hard to know how to give an objective, fair grade to put on a transcript. Moreover said curriculums were through the roof in regards to price.
I went to a local bookstore similar to Half Price Books. I found used Abeka history books for $6.00 and the quiz and test booklets and their corresponding answer keys were $1.97 each! I flipped through the books and grabbed them. For $14.00 + tax, I had a complete World History curriculum for my son and it counted as a full high school credit! No more stress over what we will do for high school history. The tests and quizzes provided me a very easy way to record grades and give an honest and accurate grade on my son's high school transcript. We have happily used Abeka's Economics book and we have their American History and World Geography as well. My son's records are easy to keep. His grades are an honest reflection of his work and study habits.
5. Textbook learning prepares students for learning in a college setting.
We can have all kinds of philosophical discussions about the purposes and goals of education and this kind of discussion certainly has its place. However, one of the many things a homeschool education should do is prepare a child to do well in college. College classrooms across the country use textbooks without shame. If textbooks are harmful to children, college professors are apparently completely unaware and need to be informed! I know personally a young man who is incredibly intelligent. He was homeschooled and now has a Master's degree. This young man was not made to take tests growing up. His mom figured that they were a waste of time as she knew that he knew the information. She was right. He did know it. However, time came to take the SAT for college entrance and his did not do so well. What? This guy has the brains to blow the top off of that test! How is this possible? Well, he had never taken a test in his life. He most certainly never took a timed test! There is an art to learning to study for a test and do well on it. This is the main mode of learning and receiving credit for what one has learned in the college setting. I am not addressing whether or not this is the best mode of learning. For better or worse, it is THE mode of learning in college, and our college bound children need to be prepared to succeed in this environment. They need to know what it is to study a chapter or unit review and take an exam over it in a specified time frame. The young man above not only lost out on much desired scholarship money due to his SAT scores, but he also made lower grades in some of his college courses because he didn't always finish his exams by the time class was over. He missed problems due to running out of time. His homeschool never required him to get his work done in a certain time frame. Textbook learning helps prepare students to handle this aspect of the college environment well.
6. Textbooks are a joyful means of learning in our homeschool.
My children have simply not been informed that learning from textbooks would rob them of joy in their learning. They don't all like all of their textbooks as much as others, but this is the result of one subject being preferred over the other rather than a textbook killing their joy of learning any particular subject. My children enjoy lessons in their books when presented in manageable chunks and with adequate instruction to give them what they need to succeed and do well in their lesson. No child wants to do poorly. A good textbook that presents the material well so that my children, with proper effort, are able to succeed is a winner in our home. Every child likes to see an A+ on their paper with an encouraging sticker at the top praising his efforts.
7. Textbooks foster self discipline and independent learning in the homeschooled child.
The final benefit to present to you that textbooks bring into the homeschool is self discipline, which creates an independent learner. I know a family that used Abeka Academy for first through sixth grades. The children were enrolled in Classical Conversations in seventh grade for the Challenge program. These kids have and are still doing wonderfully. Abeka's textbook based elementary program prepared these students to excel in the very popular Classical Conversations program which is considered to be a heavy load by many. What did Abeka give these students to help them do so well? Self discipline that has trained these children to have good study habits and a strong work ethic. These students don't need mom to harp on them in the morning to get started on their school. They pull out their books and get to work. While other students in beginning Challenge programs struggle to get all of their work done, my friend's kiddos are excelling in Classical Conversations' Challenge program. They are getting a lot out of it and they are doing so independently for the most part. This is true of many textbook educated children. This discipline crosses over into other areas of life and grooms a child to be a responsible and hardworking spouse and employee. Let's face it, no one wants a lazy husband, wife or employee. Using textbooks and teaching our children to be as independent as they are able will pay many wonderful dividends as they get older for mom and for them.
In Conclusion, know that many families successfully use textbooks as the primary source of their homeschool curriculum material. I have also found that this method of homeschooling is put down and disparaged in many blog posts and homeschool articles. I am here to say that using textbooks will not harm your children in any way. Your children will benefit greatly from their textbooks when used consistently with proper supervision from their teacher. They will do well in college and in life.
Now it's your turn. What benefits have you reaped in your homeschool through the use of textbooks? Which textbooks have been your favorites and why? Feel free to comment below!
While I do not use a traditional textbook for every subject and every child in my homeschool, I certainly use textbooks and with great benefit. My children are not hindered by my use of textbooks. Their education is not lifeless and stilted as a result. I have some voracious readers on my hands as well as one who reads only when it is required. Using textbooks in my homeschool has not kept my children from reading "living books".
So, in this post I will outline what I believe to be the benefits of using textbooks. I will address the usual objections I have heard against them in my next post.
What benefits are there for those of us who employ the use of Textbooks in the homeschool?
1. Textbooks are easy to use.
With a textbook curriculum, I can quickly and easily plan what each child will do. Each of my children know exactly what is expected of them. This makes things run smoothly, especially as children become old enough to do the bulk of their work independently. This is a big deal when there are several children in the home. Once you hit four, you qualify as having several, in my opinion. The ease of planning with a high quality teacher's manual is wonderful. Mom doesn't have to run to the library every week or pay library fines because she didn't make it back in time. Tons of lesson planning and project planning can be avoided and children still get quality teaching from their books. This has become a huge deal in our homeschool as we now have 6 children of school age in our home. I have the time to do what I need to because I can let the books work for me and help my children when they need it.
2. Textbooks provide continuity.
My kids have been my guinea pigs in regards to curriculum choices and teaching methods, the oldest more so than the others as we have tread the waters of homeschooling these past 8 years. My eldest son has expressed preference for his textbooks over the mom directed "living book" curriculums. The main reason for this is that the textbooks provide incremental consistency and they allow him to move at his own pace without having to wait on me. He also has noticed that when we did "our own thing" and then went to a textbook in a certain subject that he had some holes in his learning that he had to close up, which he found "annoying". Sticking with a particular textbook for a particular subject over the years helps to avoid the issue of "holes" in learning.
3. Textbooks don't have to be "traditional" to be textbooks.
This may sound like an odd benefit to using textbooks in the homeschool. The wording is weird, but I think you will understand what I mean. We love and use Apologia Science in our homeschool. This is a science curriculum that teaches in a Charlotte Mason style in the elementary school years. Although it is meant to be used as a read aloud (which we have done), it doesn't have to be. This year, two of my boys are doing two different Apologia books with their Notebooking Journals independently. I help them with experiments when they come up, but the books are laid out in a way (with the schedule in the student journal) that a child able to read the books alone can do so. This allows them to pursue learning according to their own interests (one studies animals and the other botany). If we did science in a read aloud fashion this year, we would only do one book and one or both boys would be disappointed they didn't get to study the book they preferred. So, this textbook user can still take time for nature walks with her boys and make room for some fun Charlotte Mason style science by using this wonderful textbook curriculum (when time allows).
4. Textbooks provide a painless and honest way to keep records and make the high school transcript.
When my oldest was coming up on his first year of high school, I scoured the internet for information about high school record keeping and making a transcript. At the same time I was shopping around for curriculum for different subjects, namely history. I love using a narrative history book as a read aloud with my younger children and adding history based literature to that spine for the boys to read independently as a supplement to our read aloud. I do so love this. But with high school I was completely stressing out. I drooled over Veritas Press' Omnibus curriculum, but I knew that I didn't have the time to teach that to my son, nor did we have the funds to do the self paced course online. I had five younger children, four of which were school age at the time. My number one stressor was that I wanted to choose well so that I could reuse whatever I bought for the oldest with the youngers and not hop around. I looked around and found that different curriculum options that are living books or great books oriented are hard to know how to give an objective, fair grade to put on a transcript. Moreover said curriculums were through the roof in regards to price.
I went to a local bookstore similar to Half Price Books. I found used Abeka history books for $6.00 and the quiz and test booklets and their corresponding answer keys were $1.97 each! I flipped through the books and grabbed them. For $14.00 + tax, I had a complete World History curriculum for my son and it counted as a full high school credit! No more stress over what we will do for high school history. The tests and quizzes provided me a very easy way to record grades and give an honest and accurate grade on my son's high school transcript. We have happily used Abeka's Economics book and we have their American History and World Geography as well. My son's records are easy to keep. His grades are an honest reflection of his work and study habits.
5. Textbook learning prepares students for learning in a college setting.
We can have all kinds of philosophical discussions about the purposes and goals of education and this kind of discussion certainly has its place. However, one of the many things a homeschool education should do is prepare a child to do well in college. College classrooms across the country use textbooks without shame. If textbooks are harmful to children, college professors are apparently completely unaware and need to be informed! I know personally a young man who is incredibly intelligent. He was homeschooled and now has a Master's degree. This young man was not made to take tests growing up. His mom figured that they were a waste of time as she knew that he knew the information. She was right. He did know it. However, time came to take the SAT for college entrance and his did not do so well. What? This guy has the brains to blow the top off of that test! How is this possible? Well, he had never taken a test in his life. He most certainly never took a timed test! There is an art to learning to study for a test and do well on it. This is the main mode of learning and receiving credit for what one has learned in the college setting. I am not addressing whether or not this is the best mode of learning. For better or worse, it is THE mode of learning in college, and our college bound children need to be prepared to succeed in this environment. They need to know what it is to study a chapter or unit review and take an exam over it in a specified time frame. The young man above not only lost out on much desired scholarship money due to his SAT scores, but he also made lower grades in some of his college courses because he didn't always finish his exams by the time class was over. He missed problems due to running out of time. His homeschool never required him to get his work done in a certain time frame. Textbook learning helps prepare students to handle this aspect of the college environment well.
6. Textbooks are a joyful means of learning in our homeschool.
My children have simply not been informed that learning from textbooks would rob them of joy in their learning. They don't all like all of their textbooks as much as others, but this is the result of one subject being preferred over the other rather than a textbook killing their joy of learning any particular subject. My children enjoy lessons in their books when presented in manageable chunks and with adequate instruction to give them what they need to succeed and do well in their lesson. No child wants to do poorly. A good textbook that presents the material well so that my children, with proper effort, are able to succeed is a winner in our home. Every child likes to see an A+ on their paper with an encouraging sticker at the top praising his efforts.
7. Textbooks foster self discipline and independent learning in the homeschooled child.
The final benefit to present to you that textbooks bring into the homeschool is self discipline, which creates an independent learner. I know a family that used Abeka Academy for first through sixth grades. The children were enrolled in Classical Conversations in seventh grade for the Challenge program. These kids have and are still doing wonderfully. Abeka's textbook based elementary program prepared these students to excel in the very popular Classical Conversations program which is considered to be a heavy load by many. What did Abeka give these students to help them do so well? Self discipline that has trained these children to have good study habits and a strong work ethic. These students don't need mom to harp on them in the morning to get started on their school. They pull out their books and get to work. While other students in beginning Challenge programs struggle to get all of their work done, my friend's kiddos are excelling in Classical Conversations' Challenge program. They are getting a lot out of it and they are doing so independently for the most part. This is true of many textbook educated children. This discipline crosses over into other areas of life and grooms a child to be a responsible and hardworking spouse and employee. Let's face it, no one wants a lazy husband, wife or employee. Using textbooks and teaching our children to be as independent as they are able will pay many wonderful dividends as they get older for mom and for them.
In Conclusion, know that many families successfully use textbooks as the primary source of their homeschool curriculum material. I have also found that this method of homeschooling is put down and disparaged in many blog posts and homeschool articles. I am here to say that using textbooks will not harm your children in any way. Your children will benefit greatly from their textbooks when used consistently with proper supervision from their teacher. They will do well in college and in life.
Now it's your turn. What benefits have you reaped in your homeschool through the use of textbooks? Which textbooks have been your favorites and why? Feel free to comment below!
Monday, August 29, 2016
Man Makes His Plans But the Lord Directs His Steps
As our school year has gotten off to a rocky start with a summer virus interrupting our rhythm quite early in the game, I am reminded that I am not in control. I had such wonderful plans in place to be sure that this year would be smooth and organized. I made my file box organizer with copies of all worksheets, tests and quizzes for the year. I got each child their own school crates and attached binder rings with laminated task lists for each subject on each child's crate or workbox cart. We were so ready to jump into the year and move. We went to our first day at co-op, and one of my guys caught a lovely beast of a cold. All of us, save my oldest son, ended up sick. Ugh!
Well, God is in control and He has His ways of reminding me of this. All of my planning and organizing was not in vain, but it is not what will get us through the year. Getting sick three weeks into our school year was not in my school planner! Only by his grace, can I teach my crew of half a dozen.
We are entering week 4 of the school year and we are doing much better this year than last in regards to getting things done efficiently. My push for some older middle children to become more independent is bearing fruit! My little laminated index cards seem to be a bigger help than I anticipated. I wish I'd done something simple like this sooner!
I hope the Lord blesses your homeschooling endeavor this year as we are nearing the end of August. He is your strength. It is only by his grace we can give our children all they need!
Well, God is in control and He has His ways of reminding me of this. All of my planning and organizing was not in vain, but it is not what will get us through the year. Getting sick three weeks into our school year was not in my school planner! Only by his grace, can I teach my crew of half a dozen.
We are entering week 4 of the school year and we are doing much better this year than last in regards to getting things done efficiently. My push for some older middle children to become more independent is bearing fruit! My little laminated index cards seem to be a bigger help than I anticipated. I wish I'd done something simple like this sooner!
I hope the Lord blesses your homeschooling endeavor this year as we are nearing the end of August. He is your strength. It is only by his grace we can give our children all they need!
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