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[quote=Anonymous]
So well said. 100% support on textbooks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What do people mean when they say "textbook" with regards to elementary school math?

My kid uses workbooks at school and these come home periodically when they are done, so we can see all the content and our kid's work. It's not like the textbooks I had as a kid because it's single use -- all the content is in the workboook and the kid does the work directly in the book instead of a separate sheet of paper. But the contents are pretty much the same as the textbooks I had as a kid.

I do sometimes wonder if not being forced to create their own work on a separate piece of paper causes something lost. Something about the mental organization it takes to read a lesson, look at the problem set, and then write the problems on a separate sheet and work them out in a way that is clear to a teacher when they turn it in.

However, all of the options for math supplementing also use workbooks. Is there a math tutoring program that uses traditional text books and kids having to re-create their work on blank paper? I am unaware of them.

So I'm not sure that supplementing is offering a big advantage over what is happening in class in this respecting. Everyone is using the same sort of materials. The main advantage of supplementing is that it's more time on math, and enables kids to work ahead so that when they encounter concepts in school, it's review instead of an introduction.[/quote]

I’m not sure why recopying problems from a textbook would be more effective than solving them in a workbook.  To address it, however, I think you could simply have your child recopy their problems from a workbook to a blank sheet of paper.

As for supplementing, I don’t think there’s a significant advantage in supplementing just to accelerate your child.  First of all, many math curriculums spiral so much of classroom instruction is already designed to be a review.  I think the key is that math concepts should be mastered as they are introduced to make sure the child’s foundation is solid before they try to learn more advanced concepts which build on those earlier lessons.  Secondly, when a child is advanced and feels they aren’t learning anything new, it causes other problems.  For those reason, I generally recommend enriching advanced students rather than accelerating them.[/quote]

There is so much added value in having an actual text book.  Copying the problems from the book on to paper helps with organization. They learn to both copy accurately, but line numbers up and create and orderly format.  Then theirs the actual text. If they are unsure how to do something, they have the text to reference. Parents can also clearly see what problems are supposed to be done and the methods they are being taught- so they can help their students.  It’s an absolute travesty that text books have been cut out [/quote]

PP you responded to here

I agree with you 100%.  I think textbooks are vital.  They serve many functions including: providing instruction from subject matter experts that has been professionally edited, and often reviewed by other subject matter experts; explanations and examples that are coordinated with problem sets; and additional study resources such as a glossary, index, selected answers for self checks, etc.  Perhaps the most valuable service they provide is that they enable the parent to view the curriculum.  This not only makes it easier for parents to help with homework, but it allows them to be informed about deficiencies in the curriculum.

When my kids were in elementary, I was constantly frustrated because the school system (which liked to proclaim itself “one of the best school systems in the country) eschewed professionally developed curricula with proven track records in favor of a proprietary curriculum they had developed in-house.  It was loosely based on 2 commercial math programs that were so bad that parents were actively protesting them elsewhere, but without the subject matter expertise or professional editing.  With no textbooks to review, and when even the tests were considered proprietary and thus were never sent home, most parents had no idea what was actually going on.

I still remember when DD had progressed to middle school math where they were finally provided with commercially produced textbooks.  When she asked me for help with her homework, I asked her if she had read the explanation preceding the assigned problems. She was astounded when I showed her that not only did the textbook provide an explanation, it also provided examples of sample problems similar to those in her homework.  Then her mind was completely blown when I showed her that there were selected answers in the back so she could check her understanding, along with a glossary, and an index.

Since the PP that I had responded to was complaining primarily about the workbooks not requiring recopying of the assigned problems, and didn’t mention a lack of instructional material, I assumed (perhaps incorrectly), that the workbook was a supplementary resource to a standard textbook.  When I was in school, we always had math textbooks, but while math workbooks weren’t provided, we had plenty of supplementary worksheets.  Similarly, in reading, we had spelling textbooks, grammar textbooks, basal readers, and workbooks that were companions to the basal readers.  I think textbooks are absolutely essential (Personally, I have a preference for traditional printed formats, but would choose a well-written, mathematically sound e-book over a hard copy that favored pedagogical trends over mathematical content.). If a textbook comes with SUPPLEMENTARY resources, whether that’s as workbooks, videos, games, etc., I may question whether they add any value, but don’t see how they detract anything, as long as the core textbook itself provides strong instruction.
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