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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.[/quote]

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.[/quote]

Yes it does matter.  There are multiple editions and levels of this book.  If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful.  The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces.  There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade).  You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.[/quote]

[b]I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows. [/quote][/b]

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses.  You are better off looking at their program of studies.  The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools.  10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed.  The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher [b]will likely give them full access to any slide shows.  [/b]More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.[/quote]

You don’t get it. Kids don’t learn well from online slide shows. We need real text.

[/quote]

DP: You don't get it--the PP is saying the 8th grade textbook is not advanced enough for what the MS students are doing--and kids are reading the lab books which are "real text."[/quote]

DP.  Fwiw, DC is a rising 8th grader so I can only speak to 7th grade science.  It's a lab based class that uses the lab notebook - but the teacher was checked out and he didn't learn much.[/quote]

I'm the PP in a STEM profession and I was really impressed by the quality and level of what my 8th grade DC was doing in FCPS science honors (at Robinson).  The level of Chemistry is what I would expect from a high school chemistry class (though obviously it was only a portion of the course and didn't cover the entire curriculum) and I appreciated the integrated approach they took to the sciences.  I also appreciated the amount of labwork done and that these labs involved thinking and observation--not just canned activities. Overall it is such an improvement on ES science. I absolutely resist these notions that students would somehow be served better by following along a textbook.  Sure, grab a textbook if you have very little science background and need a refresher--but these textbooks are written to suit the nation's standards, not a particular district--regardless of all the complaints lately, FCPS (and many other UMC/highly educated areas) need to go far beyond what a textbook publisher is going to write to serve the nation's 8th graders which include a wide variety of levels and backgrounds.  Plus to be honest, whenever I have looked at any, they are so generic to often be meaningless, contain some outdated conceptions.  You are honestly better off reading Wikipedia on any topic in them.[/quote]

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