Have you looked in a textbook recently? Not a college textbook for certain subjects, but the elementary
school textbooks (and even the middle and high school ones) that cover the whole year.
First, look at their size. I can stack the books we have about dinosaurs on top of each other and make
a pile that is at least a foot high. The elementary science textbooks are nowhere near that tall. Even if I
stack the math, history, and science books on top of each other they aren’t that tall. How can my child
learn all about dinosaurs if the books don’t even cover most of it?
Second, examine the content. There is a page (or less) devoted to most concepts. And while I am okay
with a page covering such trivia as geological time periods (because when does any adult – excepting
a geologist or paleontologist – use these on a regular basis?), I am not okay with a page covering the
Constitution of the United States, or a page – even 4 – covering the oceans. I am certainly not okay with
history books that include facts about people that aren’t related to their historical accomplishments.
I am not okay with endless repetitions of math problems on paper that present no alternative way of
understanding problems.
Textbooks are written for schools. They have very little value for the person who is teaching their own
child, except as a possible guide for what to cover. Textbooks might help if you are out of your depth on
a subject; but then the library also has a lot of books on various subjects.
This isn’t a case about writing your own curriculum or reinventing the wheel. Textbooks are made
to meet certain standards for preapproved items for preapproved grades. If you are homeschooling,
for whatever reason, you have already decided to discard the notion of “preapproved” in schooling.
Textbooks aren’t the thing you need.
What you need is an Internet filled with resources. If you want to learn about archeology, but don’t
have time to visit a site in Egypt and participate in a dig, what about a virtual dig? How about seeing
volcanoes explode online? Do you need worksheets designed for certain topics to aid in your themed
lessons? Want to practice handwriting with certain words? Color certain pictures? Do various art
projects? All of this is online, and most of it is free.
You need a library filled with books on any subject. If your child wants to learn more about a historical
person, read the biography chapter by chapter or page by page. Children’s books are great, but exposing
them to adult books (if you read them first for content) is a great idea too.
An art store can provide ways to make models of almost anything, collages of various kinds, crayons,
clay and a lot of ideas. Local museums, parks, and trails can provide ways to experience nature.
Homeschooling families have chosen their path for various reasons. Some want more control over
content; some want to go faster; some realize that their children won’t do well in a public school for
a variety of reasons. Whatever your reason, you have chosen to reject the notion of “preapproved”
schooling. Why would you want to use textbooks from the same schools you have chosen to reject?
You don’t need textbooks. You need a little planning for what to cover and time to find the right
resources.
Natasha Wunderlich
I’m
a homeschooling mom who made the choice to homeschool because I saw how
rigid schools were and noticed how fluid my son’s learning style was
and how hands-on his learning style was. We have been at it for over 2
years now (we started when he was 2) and are enjoying our time together.
Learning and teaching has brought us closer together as a family. I do
believe in structure and lessons, not simply free form schooling, but
those lessons are child-centered and directed by his interested. We are
moving on through Kindergarten and 1st Grade material now, and watching
him learn and grow is awesome. You can find me on: www.wunderfulhomeschool.
2 comments:
I read my adult books to my four year old. She asks me what words mean and I tell her. That alone is worth it, plus everything you mentioned in this post about learning from books. Today I said, "Gaia did you brush your teeth?" and she replied "Affirmative." What? Who are you? Hahaha.
My daughter has always had access to whatever books she needed, wanted, or I thought she would like. Our homeschool curriculum is Time4Learning, which is online, so no traditional text books. We love working online for school. We also do special projects which my daughter researches online. While I homeschool because it is what works for my daughter, I would not rule out traditional textbooks because I can utilize their research without having to do that research myself. Even though we don't traditional school, books are good even if traditional schools use them too!
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