No textbook for kids in Montgomery County?

[Anonymous]

My daughter started 1st grade this year. I am astonished that kids do not have any textbook. This is really unacceptable!

Without textbook, I have no idea what she learns in school and how she can review those.

Is there anyone care?

[Anonymous]

Are you new to MCPS?

Here is a guide to the first-grade curriculum:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides/english/ParentGuideGrade1.pdf

See specifically the sideways diagrams on pp. 3-6 for each marking period.

For more information, you can look at the work she brings home, and you can e-mail the teacher if you have questions.

[Anonymous]

What about for HS. My friends son goes to a W school and he was given 2 books for each class so he can keep 1 at home.

[Anonymous]

This is my first kid into MCPS. Thanks for the info.

Is getting rid of textbook a strategy in MCPS? Without textbook, all kids' work will be pages here / there. Or is there any special teaching material that MCPS gives to teachers?

Anonymous wrote:Are you new to MCPS?

Here is a guide to the first-grade curriculum:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides/english/ParentGuideGrade1.pdf

See specifically the sideways diagrams on pp. 3-6 for each marking period.

For more information, you can look at the work she brings home, and you can e-mail the teacher if you have questions.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Do not know the answer of HS. If there are textbooks in HS, a couple more questions:

- How many grades are without textbook now?
- When did MCPS start to eliminate textbook for those grades?

Anonymous wrote:What about for HS. My friends son goes to a W school and he was given 2 books for each class so he can keep 1 at home.

[Anonymous]

The chemistry book will come home the same day her latin book comes home. I am a shocked her AP history and Trig book have not been handed out yet.

[Anonymous]

I don't know when MCPS got rid of textbooks for the first grade, but I would think that it was decades ago. I went to elementary school in the US in the 1970s (not at MCPS), and we didn't have textbooks until fourth or fifth grade.

[Anonymous]

Good question OP.

DD is in 4th grade, and still no sign of a textbook.

I would like to peruse (not just single worksheets that come home now and then) to have an understanding of what's being taught and what's she's expected to understand. I feel like the goal is to keep the parents in the dark as long as possible, and direct them to meaningless edu-speak pricey brochures when they have questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good question OP.

DD is in 4th grade, and still no sign of a textbook.

I would like to peruse (not just single worksheets that come home now and then) to have an understanding of what's being taught and what's she's expected to understand. I feel like the goal is to keep the parents in the dark as long as possible, and direct them to meaningless edu-speak pricey brochures when they have questions.

You could start by looking at the curriculum guide for fourth grade.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides/english/ParentGuideGrade4.pdf

(I don't think that "Multiply any whole number by a 2- or 3-digit factor." is meaningless edu-speak; do you?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good question OP.

DD is in 4th grade, and still no sign of a textbook.

I would like to peruse (not just single worksheets that come home now and then) to have an understanding of what's being taught and what's she's expected to understand. I feel like the goal is to keep the parents in the dark as long as possible, and direct them to meaningless edu-speak pricey brochures when they have questions.

You could start by looking at the curriculum guide for fourth grade.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides/english/ParentGuideGrade4.pdf

(I don't think that "Multiply any whole number by a 2- or 3-digit factor." is meaningless edu-speak; do you?)

While I have learned to decipher the stuff that MCPS hands out ... they give me a headache and they do confuse at first.

Here is what I would do. I would email the teacher and ask her to name which textbook they are using. They will say that they are not using any one resource....which is true in a sense...but see if she will relent (at least for Maths) and give you the name of some textbook.

Then - search at Amazon.com for that textbook - go through the reviews and if something better is being recommended...buy it 2nd hand (>$10)...You will have something to teach your child at home with.

I have used Houghton Mifflin Math Textbooks for 3rd grade, and found that they were in synch with what was being taught. Especially the current vocabulary (Math Terms) being used in the school.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=math+houghton+mifflin

[Anonymous]

1st graders are barely reading..what kind of textbook were you expecting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter started 1st grade this year. I am astonished that kids do not have any textbook. This is really unacceptable!

Without textbook, I have no idea what she learns in school and how she can review those.

Is there anyone care?

I found it confusing as well when my kids started school. Especially for Math. I had no idea what they were teaching. The curriculum is one thing, but the way Math terms are used and the way the concepts taught nowadays - they are different from how I had learnt it in school and college. So you do need a TEXTBOOK here. Having workbooks was not enough for me, because I wanted to use the same vocabulary that was being used at school.


You can ask the teacher to let you borrow a textbook or give you the name of the textbook they are using....or go to Amazon.com and buy 2nd hand Houghton Mifflin Math Textbooks.

For English readings - I would go to the Reading Specialist (each school has one) and ask for a list of texts that they would be using. Most of the times though English and Science is not as much of an issue, as Math is.

My 2 cents! Hope this is helpful.

[Anonymous]

I teach fourth grade for MCPS - we no longer have textbooks in the classrooms. We used to have Harcourt Math textbooks when we were in the old curriculum but they were never used.

[Anonymous]

Not sure I get why you need textbooks. As others have pointed out, the county website has the curriculums. As for the day to day, teachers don't want you helping with homework.

[Anonymous]

another idea OP. CALM down. It is first grade. No need to micro manage your child. Let her learn at school and play at home (really the best learning for children that age).