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Many school textbooks woefully outdated - Deep cuts in funding shackle teachers
Houston Chronicle ^
| September 2, 2003
| APRIL CASTRO, AP
Posted on 09/02/2003 3:49:09 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Thebaddog
"Maybe they should write text books with longer life spans..."
Amen! It is ridiculous to have to buy new textbooks each year, if they would get back to basics they would find that the basics haven't changed all that much. Furthermore it isn't necessary for the books to be completely rewritten for each new "historical" happening.
The textbook game is nothing but a cash cow for the writers (more teachers) the editors and the publishers. Am I the only one who remembers teachers actually teaching and using the blackboard to write the lessons? Students were expected to copy the lessons and do the work, I daresay part of the learning process was copying the lessons.
41
posted on
09/04/2003 4:37:58 AM PDT
by
pepperdog
(God Bless and Protect our Troops)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
"In the AIDS and HIV chapter, treatments were so limited at the time the book was written there were just three possible treatments. Now there are probably hundreds,"Or thousands.
Probably.
To: meyer
Perhaps in the higher levels of science, you'll find some interesting developments, but the basic stuff for the lower grade levels hasn't changed.I graduated from high school in 1968 and from medical school in 1976.
I guarantee -absolutely, positively, 'effin GUARANTEE-that I could teach biology, chemistry, and physics through 12AP with books from 1965.
And the results would probably be better.
I majored in English Literature in college. I also guarantee (given that William Shakespeare died in 1616) that I could teach high school english through 12AP without any books published since 1940.
The whole discussion is absurd.
To: Cincinatus' Wife
My daughter attends a private school that I pay a whopping
$200 a year for books.Last year,this school had the highest SAT scores in the state.Problem solved.
44
posted on
09/04/2003 4:47:08 AM PDT
by
quack
To: pepperdog
It is ridiculous to have to buy new textbooks each year, if they would get back to basics they would find that the basics haven't changed all that muchThe basics appropriate to grades K-8 have not changed since the pyramids were built.
To: ODDITHER
We were forced to read Shakespeare out loud in class - passing the books back and forth when it was our turn to read. Isn't Shakespeare outdated? :)
46
posted on
09/04/2003 4:52:41 AM PDT
by
A. Pole
To: Thebaddog
Maybe they should write text books with longer life spans instead of being topical to the minute like Newsweek. Excellent point!
47
posted on
09/04/2003 4:53:12 AM PDT
by
A. Pole
To: Marie
Science needs to be updated every 5 years, thoughStrongly disagree.
Science is a method, using tools which change very slowly.
The most important tool, reasoning ability, changes not at all.
At the postgraduate level, currency with the developing literature in your subdiscipline is critical.
In high school, it's stupid. Every second spent on "the latest discoveries" is a second wasted, since the half-life of new discoveries is less than the time it will take a high school sophomore to graduate from college.
Memorizing constantly changing (and half-wrong) facts has produced a generation of science illiterates.
To: samtheman
New books mean latest leftist agendas.
Yup. The textbook publishers get rich in collusion with the PC-police... all paid for by the taxpayer.
No one even talks about this. People better wake up. Nothing is as it seems. There is a war on, and we are losing EVERYTHING.
49
posted on
09/04/2003 4:42:33 PM PDT
by
At _War_With_Liberals
(As long as the sociopath Clintons are breathing, we are in grave danger.Bill is just the opening act)
To: mathluv; dawn53
**To: dawn53
Yes/1 To start with, 5 problems may not be enough to develop understanding of a new concept. The review is the strong point of Saxon. And there is an extreme shortage of problem solving. PS is not just a word problem, that they know they will use the concept being taught. PS should require thinking. That has always been Saxon's weak point. And he would not change to meet state requirements. **
Huh? 5 problems? Perhaps you read incorrectly. 30 problems are the usual, along with extra problems in the back of the book, for Saxon.
I'll let my daughter know she isn't up to par. Last year while in 7th grade she tested out at 10th grade level in math. She uses Saxon.
I'll let the junior and state colleges near me know about your opinion as well. They use Saxon.
Further, I'll email Dr Jay Wile, PhD in Nuclear Chemistry, about your findings. Not only has he written science texts, he endorses Saxon as a go along.
You may have been a math teacher...but you aren't the queen of the subject.
Thanks for the ping Dawn...even though I'm a couple weeks late. You pinged my former screen name. :o)
To: mathluv
P.S. What would suggest students use in place of Saxon?
To: homeschool mama
There are a lot of people who love Saxon. He was very charismatic, and sold his way of teaching based on that. I am not as familiar with his high school texts, but what I do know is not positive. ÅNY book can be used to teach, if the teacher knows the subject. If the book has to do all the teaching, none will necessarily work that well.
The 5 problems I referred to are that there are usually 5 problems on the new topic being covered, with the remainder being review. There are usually 30 problems per lesson, plus more at the back of the book.
52
posted on
09/11/2003 4:44:30 PM PDT
by
mathluv
To: homeschool mama
What is your level of understanding in math? That would be the determining factor. On other threads, I've heard of a Japanese program. Most commercial ones, I don't care for either. There are some older ones that are good, but it depends on the grade level.
53
posted on
09/11/2003 6:48:19 PM PDT
by
mathluv
To: Cincinatus' Wife
Well, I think the solution is e-books. Every kid should have an e-book. New material could easily be downloaded every year (or more often).
The initial e-book is expensive, but it would last for a long time. They would hold all the textbooks plus regular age-appropriate books to read.
To: mathluv
My son's private school used Saxon for math. He hated it, and so did I. It was very repetitive and boring. My son is gifted in math, and it was way tooooo slow for him.
We put him in public school because we hated the Saxon math so much. The public school uses Harcourt-Brace. It's much faster pace, and it has challenge sections for kids that master the lesson. My son always got the challenge sections.
To: Cincinatus' Wife
"Texas history teachers this year won't have to use antiquated textbooks..."
How in the hell can a HISTORY book be "OUTDATED"? Has history changed?
Is it suddenly fact that the Americans bombed the poor unsuspecting Japanese at Pearl Harbor? Did Reagan take bull dozers and tear down the wall in Berlin?
Did Jefferson marry a black and have all white children from a mistress? Did the slaves free Lincoln?
WTF.
I can unserstand the books being worn out...but antiquated (meaning out dated)?
Bull Hockey
56
posted on
09/11/2003 7:19:39 PM PDT
by
lawdude
(Liberalism: A failure every time it is tried!)
To: luckystarmom
My grandchildren go to public school (in a rural area - good school) that uses Saxon. I sub some, and know many of the kids. Saxon is boring and repetitive - no prolbem solving, nothing to 'get their attention'. I also see kids who do not know their basic skills - multiplication tables at 4th, or, the other day, at 7th. I know the teachers as well. I don't blame them (except that they adopted Saxon in the first place.)
Grades 6-8 don't use Saxon. Harcourt is used for 6 & 7, Prentice for Algebra, maybe Pre-algebra. Harcourt isn't hard enough, to me, for 6-7. I have taught out of older Harcourt books. There is not enough new stuff for these grades. I helped one of the kids work on homework - fractions - and the understanding was not there - after 5 years of Saxon.
Prentice is not too bad, but I prefer Glencoe/McGraw-Hill for newer books. I used Dolcianni (Houghton Mifflin) for years in Algebra.
57
posted on
09/11/2003 8:01:32 PM PDT
by
mathluv
To: Cincinatus' Wife
After having attended college, I believe school textbooks are woefully expensive as well
58
posted on
09/11/2003 8:06:26 PM PDT
by
cyborg
(and you thought I was just joking about the tinfoil hat)
To: luckystarmom
**We put him in public school because we hated the Saxon math so much.**
You stopped homeschooling your son because you hated the math program?
To: mathluv
Thankfully, my daughter is being tutored in Algebra by her father, using Saxon. They both love the program. My husband knows high math and his father was a rocket scientist, instilling a good understanding and appreciation for the subject.
As far as Saxon being charasmatic, you sure couldn't determine that from his books. Black and white...no flashy colors. My daughter prefers this. And very honestly...it works for her. :o) Can't argue with that.
I've heard good things about Chicago Math...and a program called Singapore Math (not sure of the exact text name).
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