Why are there no textbooks in FCPS elementary?

[Anonymous]

Text books go out of date very quickly and they are expensive to replace. Good teachers don’t need them, and rarely use them when they do have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers spend a half an hour a day copying stuff they got off the internet, the volumes of paper used is huge. So schools are not spending money on textbooks but are definitely spending a lot on paper and copying.

This is true.

[Anonymous]

Textbooks are useful as a resource. The fourth grade Virginia Studies textbook is well written and engaging. (though the first edition had problems) Students learn reading skills such as how to use headings and text features, and how to find the main idea in sections.

Not having a math textbook is a terrible idea. Parents want to know what is going on so they can help their kids. Instead, teachers have to come up with a variety of resources and essentially reinvent the wheel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because teachers don't want them, only lazy teachers use them. Good teachers don't need them.

I will admit that so far, up until 3rd grade, my kids have had excellent teachers that have done a great job and clearly don't need textbooks. But probably their jobs would be easier with them.

Lazy, incompetent teachers use videos in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers spend a half an hour a day copying stuff they got off the internet, the volumes of paper used is huge. So schools are not spending money on textbooks but are definitely spending a lot on paper and copying.

This is true.

Two times true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Textbooks are useful as a resource. The fourth grade Virginia Studies textbook is well written and engaging. (though the first edition had problems) Students learn reading skills such as how to use headings and text features, and how to find the main idea in sections.

Not having a math textbook is a terrible idea. Parents want to know what is going on so they can help their kids. Instead, teachers have to come up with a variety of resources and essentially reinvent the wheel.

The math textbook is online, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS is the same. But the reason parents are looking for textbooks is that none of the crappy worksheets that come home come with exemplars so we can know how you’re teaching the kids. My kid asks for help with his math homework, and I start showing him the ways that I know how to do it, and he’s never seen that before

For example, one day the worksheet came home saying “using the circle and stick method, solve this problem”. It was some kind of basic addition, but I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Google didn’t help, and I had to crowdsource on FB and one friend in NY had a slight clue what that was. It took us about five minutes to write out all the bits, when knowing the addition single digit pairs and how to carry would have taken 30 seconds. The worksheets should come with sample problems on the, if they’re going to teach these ridiculous methods. It’s not inspired teaching, it’s BS.

I teach third grade. We don’t assign homework, but if we did I would recommend stopping and sending the homework back to school with a note letting the teacher know that your child did not understand how to do the assignment.

[Anonymous]

Ahahaha , why are there no horse pulled carriage anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because teachers don't want them, only lazy teachers use them. Good teachers don't need them.

I will admit that so far, up until 3rd grade, my kids have had excellent teachers that have done a great job and clearly don't need textbooks. But probably their jobs would be easier with them.

Lazy, incompetent teachers use videos in the classroom.

This is not true. Well written textbooks can act as a good supplement in instruction. Some videos as quite useful, especially in social studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:schools with no books... is that funny or sad??

Two teacher elementary household here. Our schools have a ton of books. It’s not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Textbooks are useful as a resource. The fourth grade Virginia Studies textbook is well written and engaging. (though the first edition had problems) Students learn reading skills such as how to use headings and text features, and how to find the main idea in sections.

Not having a math textbook is a terrible idea. Parents want to know what is going on so they can help their kids. Instead, teachers have to come up with a variety of resources and essentially reinvent the wheel.

The math textbook is online, no?

Yes, but we have not used it. The online math textbook in FCPS is new this year and is only to be used as a resource. It's also not very good. I'm a teacher, but I know that many parents would like to have a solid reference to refer to, when it comes to math. They want to be able to help their kids.

Math textbooks are not bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fcps cant find a textbook that covers their wonky curriculum so they cherry pick here and there off the internet, have teacher enrichment days, and make kids glue stick ditto sheets into their gigantic spiral notebooks, and the like.
Math is so jumbled. I wish there was a textbook to give parents an insight of how this stuff is being taught.

The state sets the curriculum.

The math textbook exists and is online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Textbooks are useful as a resource. The fourth grade Virginia Studies textbook is well written and engaging. (though the first edition had problems) Students learn reading skills such as how to use headings and text features, and how to find the main idea in sections.

Not having a math textbook is a terrible idea. Parents want to know what is going on so they can help their kids. Instead, teachers have to come up with a variety of resources and essentially reinvent the wheel.

The math textbook is online, no?

Yes, but we have not used it. The online math textbook in FCPS is new this year and is only to be used as a resource. It's also not very good. I'm a teacher, but I know that many parents would like to have a solid reference to refer to, when it comes to math. They want to be able to help their kids.

Math textbooks are not bad.

DW and I are both elementary teachers. She teaches math and uses it as a resource. She says she uses Discovery and likes it, but understands lower grade teachers don’t care for Origo. Neither one of us says textbooks are bad. No teachers I know think that, but to complain that there “is no textbook” is a false complaint.

Neither one of us assign homework, but if something goes home that a student doesn’t understand and the parent has difficulty with, I think they should stop and let the teacher know.

[Anonymous]

I've purchased the online resource from Amazon, but not this year since mine is now in MS. Tell me how my kid gets straight A's but can't get a lousy pass advanced on the SOL. Something is missing. There is very little homework and kid is not having to do any makeup tests to improve grades but there must be some misunderstanding somewhere. Maybe I'll buy a book or have him do Khan over the summer.

[Anonymous]

There is a textbook written specifically for Virginia Studies. It is quite good.

Why can't one be written to accommodate the Virginia Standards of Learning?