Is anyone else bothered that schools no longer use books?

[Anonymous]

I have a kid in elementary, middle and high school and none of my kids seem to use books. Of course they read in English but that is it! My high school kid is taking world history with no book. My middle school kid has no algebra book. My elementary school kid has no science book.

Does this bother anyone else?

I hate that everything is online. I want to buy my high school kid a book he can flag and highlight.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty low on my list of concerns. It's not like textbook-learning was inspiring for lots of kids.

-Teacher

[Anonymous]

They don't?

[Anonymous]

There are US history textbooks being used in poorer schools that don't mention Trump being president because they're that dated. Don't you agree it's best to have up to date information?

[Anonymous]

We have buy the textbook for classes where it's helpful to have a hard copy. Otherwise, I think textbooks were heavy and expensive, so no big loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty low on my list of concerns. It's not like textbook-learning was inspiring for lots of kids.

-Teacher

Kids are learning less now than 10 years ago. Is it the lack of textbooks? Is it block scheduling that reduces daily practice and doesn't work for attention spans of students or teachers? Is it using computers rather than paper and pencil? Is it NCLB effects? Are kids just worse now? Or teachers?

[Anonymous]

Its been clearly shown that people remember information better when they read it in a book vs on a screen. Its been clearly shown that people retain information better when they write it down vs. type.
Yes, its a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty low on my list of concerns. It's not like textbook-learning was inspiring for lots of kids.

-Teacher

Kids are learning less now than 10 years ago. Is it the lack of textbooks? Is it block scheduling that reduces daily practice and doesn't work for attention spans of students or teachers? Is it using computers rather than paper and pencil? Is it NCLB effects? Are kids just worse now? Or teachers?

It's all of it. Also there are fewer teachers. Also it's COVID. Also it's lazy parents/guardians. Also it's no discipline for students who are disruptive. Also it's decades of lowering standards to raise graduation rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid in elementary, middle and high school and none of my kids seem to use books. Of course they read in English but that is it! My high school kid is taking world history with no book. My middle school kid has no algebra book. My elementary school kid has no science book.

Does this bother anyone else?

I hate that everything is online. I want to buy my high school kid a book he can flag and highlight.

If you’re in MCPS, that is because he doesn’t even have science every day. In ES, they get one small block of science every day for four weeks, then no science at all for six week, then back to daily science for four weeks. You couldn’t get through a textbook at that pace - not even close!

[Anonymous]

Very. In MCPS we finally got books for pre-cal and one other class. BUT, the school only had a classroom copy so you had to buy your own if you wanted it. None in Algebra or Geometry. No books to read either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are US history textbooks being used in poorer schools that don't mention Trump being president because they're that dated. Don't you agree it's best to have up to date information?

For history? No. My AP history class in 2000 ended with the Vietnam War. History isn’t current events, and 2016 is hardly history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty low on my list of concerns. It's not like textbook-learning was inspiring for lots of kids.

-Teacher

Kids are learning less now than 10 years ago. Is it the lack of textbooks? Is it block scheduling that reduces daily practice and doesn't work for attention spans of students or teachers? Is it using computers rather than paper and pencil? Is it NCLB effects? Are kids just worse now? Or teachers?

It's all of it. Also there are fewer teachers. Also it's COVID. Also it's lazy parents/guardians. Also it's no discipline for students who are disruptive. Also it's decades of lowering standards to raise graduation rates.

This was happening before covid. The curriculum and teaching style changed more than 10 years ago and its not a good change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty low on my list of concerns. It's not like textbook-learning was inspiring for lots of kids.

-Teacher

Kids are learning less now than 10 years ago. Is it the lack of textbooks? Is it block scheduling that reduces daily practice and doesn't work for attention spans of students or teachers? Is it using computers rather than paper and pencil? Is it NCLB effects? Are kids just worse now? Or teachers?

It's all of it. Also there are fewer teachers. Also it's COVID. Also it's lazy parents/guardians. Also it's no discipline for students who are disruptive. Also it's decades of lowering standards to raise graduation rates.

Agree with all of this. And to OP’s question, yes I miss books and wish they had them. As a parent, it makes it much harder to engage in helping my child study and being familiar with what material they learn in class with no books. It isn’t even a matter of looking on Google classroom, most of the material isn’t there. It seems schools have largely moved to group discussion and project content. Plus I believe learning is just better from books. Between flipping pages, highlighting, taking pencil and paper notes; using multiple senses is proven to help you learn material better.

[Anonymous]

No, because they take info in my listening to books/videos. I never liked to read and I read very slowly.
As for learning, I think my kid knows a lot more at age 9 than I did at age 18. Making a living for him probably involves computers. I don't think it will be using physical books and highlighting.
If learning is about making a living when grownup, then I have a backup plan for him in case he 'doesn't learn'. I have enough money invested that if he takes it over at 18-22, he doesn't really have to work as long as he manages it well.

[Anonymous]

I think the people who are anti-textbook are taking a very oversimplified view of it. Using a textbook doesn’t mean using ONLY the textbook. A good teacher uses a textbook as a guide and then supplements off of it.

But more broadly, I think it’s fairly well-established that many people comprehend more when they read from a physical book than a screen. There are attention span implications for kids who exclusively use screens to learn, especially in lower ES.

I’m very glad that my 1st grader has virtually no screen time at school. They have physical books and materials.