Is anyone else bothered that schools no longer use books?

[Anonymous]

It doesn't bother me too much to not give them textbooks, they get old and irrelevant fast, and they get wrecked, plus are heavy to lug around.

But I do wish more money when into school librairies and physical writing exercises. I think there is definite value to reading physical books and writing on actual paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Seriously. My AP history class in 1997 ended with WW2. Trump? Really?

[Anonymous]

Textbooks are enormously expensive and need to be replaced often. I think it makes sense to have more tailored print outs and workbooks, as long as there is still written material. I don't love the idea of completely computer based learning, even if their future livelihoods will computer based. I did grad school in the late 2000s and noticed a big difference using computers to take notes compared to written notebooks in undergrad in the early 2000s. It really is true that you don't process and retain material as well on a screen. Plus there's just too much opportunity for distraction and circumventing security controls. I know a first grader that figured out how to install Minecraft on their school device. Not great and definitely not great during the school day.

[Anonymous]

My kids are much younger, but this will bother me, especially once you hit middle school/high school. How on earth do you take a challenging AP history class without reading a textbook? I read literally my whole AP US history textbook over the course of the year in high school. And what about for reference? What happens when you can't remember all the parts of the cell in bio, do you just google it? How do you study?

Math, I can see, because we really just used ours for the math problems/homework, so if those are online or in handouts, then fine.

I guess I'm also biased because reading is how I learn best. I got a lot more out of the nightly readings than I did from class, just because of my learning style. And it's still how I learn best (I've never been a YouTube learner, though my husband uses it a lot to learn new things, like home repair). But what happens to kids who are that same way?

[Anonymous]

If you make the people stupid then they are easy to control. By banning books, not teaching history.

Many white people gets triggered by history. To learn history is in favor to the next generations to not copy the racist, horrible white people from before.

[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?

That's not really history, so no, in this case it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are much younger, but this will bother me, especially once you hit middle school/high school. How on earth do you take a challenging AP history class without reading a textbook? I read literally my whole AP US history textbook over the course of the year in high school. And what about for reference? What happens when you can't remember all the parts of the cell in bio, do you just google it? How do you study?

Math, I can see, because we really just used ours for the math problems/homework, so if those are online or in handouts, then fine.

I guess I'm also biased because reading is how I learn best. I got a lot more out of the nightly readings than I did from class, just because of my learning style. And it's still how I learn best (I've never been a YouTube learner, though my husband uses it a lot to learn new things, like home repair). But what happens to kids who are that same way?

It's all on Google slides. It's abhorrent.

[Anonymous]

Is the no textbook thing in public schools or also good private schools? I.e. do private schools have less screen time? My kids haven’t started school yet so I haven’t looked into this.

[Anonymous]

School should be preparing kids for adult life.

In your adult life, work or otherwise, how often do you use a book? I mean an actual bound book? When you are ingesting information for work, are you able to do it even though it isn't presented in a bound format?

I would guess rarely. And the world is increasingly not involving the printed page. I suggest that our generation's sense of discomfort, is rooted in thinking that what we did something is the "right way" to do something. I also suggest the studies on learning are influenced by the change in times. Give it a decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the no textbook thing in public schools or also good private schools? I.e. do private schools have less screen time? My kids haven’t started school yet so I haven’t looked into this.

Good private schools absolutely have less screen time. My 1st grader has almost none.

[Anonymous]

I started buying my own textbooks for home for all subjects because there were no subscribed textbooks or very poor quality textbooks. I sometimes bought Teacher's edition of highly rated textbooks because I tutored, supplemented and enriched my kids myself at home. I created quizzes, notes and flashcards for my children too. I had to cherry pick and cobble together a curriculum for my kids for all grades and most subjects.

I am a SAHM who was a liberal arts major but I am pretty competent in teaching most subjects except foreign language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are much younger, but this will bother me, especially once you hit middle school/high school. How on earth do you take a challenging AP history class without reading a textbook? I read literally my whole AP US history textbook over the course of the year in high school. And what about for reference? What happens when you can't remember all the parts of the cell in bio, do you just google it? How do you study?

Math, I can see, because we really just used ours for the math problems/homework, so if those are online or in handouts, then fine.

I guess I'm also biased because reading is how I learn best. I got a lot more out of the nightly readings than I did from class, just because of my learning style. And it's still how I learn best (I've never been a YouTube learner, though my husband uses it a lot to learn new things, like home repair). But what happens to kids who are that same way?

I think some people may be confusing a lack of a bound physical book with a lack of reading. My two kids, currently in middle school and high school have done a ton of reading. It just happens on screens (think Kindle) or in hand outs. My 11th grader has read multiple novels and AP texts through her computer.

There are a lot of advantages to this. It can be interactive. It can be edited in real time to be up to date and address anything that lacks clarity or needed context.

We can talk about whether the electronic nature of the content is somehow less optimal, or bad for the eyes or whatnot. But reading is still occurring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you make the people stupid then they are easy to control. By banning books, not teaching history.

Many white people gets triggered by history. To learn history is in favor to the next generations to not copy the racist, horrible white people from before.

The Holocaust happened because Adolf Hitler read an an American History book and uses it as an instruction manual.

But this has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, which is about physical printed textbooks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are much younger, but this will bother me, especially once you hit middle school/high school. How on earth do you take a challenging AP history class without reading a textbook? I read literally my whole AP US history textbook over the course of the year in high school. And what about for reference? What happens when you can't remember all the parts of the cell in bio, do you just google it? How do you study?

Math, I can see, because we really just used ours for the math problems/homework, so if those are online or in handouts, then fine.

I guess I'm also biased because reading is how I learn best. I got a lot more out of the nightly readings than I did from class, just because of my learning style. And it's still how I learn best (I've never been a YouTube learner, though my husband uses it a lot to learn new things, like home repair). But what happens to kids who are that same way?

I think some people may be confusing a lack of a bound physical book with a lack of reading. My two kids, currently in middle school and high school have done a ton of reading. It just happens on screens (think Kindle) or in hand outs. My 11th grader has read multiple novels and AP texts through her computer.

There are a lot of advantages to this. It can be interactive. It can be edited in real time to be up to date and address anything that lacks clarity or needed context.

We can talk about whether the electronic nature of the content is somehow less optimal, or bad for the eyes or whatnot. But reading is still occurring.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but the fall of textbooks correspondended to a reduction in assigned reading volume.

And all the crazy apps are much harder to navigate than books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School should be preparing kids for adult life.

In your adult life, work or otherwise, how often do you use a book? I mean an actual bound book? When you are ingesting information for work, are you able to do it even though it isn't presented in a bound format?

I would guess rarely. And the world is increasingly not involving the printed page. I suggest that our generation's sense of discomfort, is rooted in thinking that what we did something is the "right way" to do something. I also suggest the studies on learning are influenced by the change in times. Give it a decade.

Children learn a lot more than adults, so adults aren't role models here.

Adults who read more substantive content are reading more books than adults who read more junk.