Anonymous wrote:This is by design.

It is a horrible way to teach as many websites are completely inaccurate or politically biased.

Do you think that textbooks are not inaccurate or biased?

I don’t think textbooks are a good value - they are very expensive and fall out of date. Even if a particular period of history hasn’t changed, how we think about it and what about it should be emphasized and how it impacts the present does change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Except that many kids don’t do this. It’s not a prerequisite so there are lots of kids coming out of honors. I think the teacher has a big ego and only wants one type of learner in his class. It’s a shame when a teacher makes a kid suddenly hate a subject they’ve always loved.

I’m 50 years old and no one ever taught me how to take notes this is not a skill that all teachers teach, and not every method works for every kid, Watch a YouTube video or help your kid out on your own.

Back in the 90s and early 00s the Cornell Notes note-taking and recall method was taught and wildly popular in DC area public schools. Not sure if it’s used today since most note-taking is digital and no longer pen and (notebook) paper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Except that many kids don’t do this. It’s not a prerequisite so there are lots of kids coming out of honors. I think the teacher has a big ego and only wants one type of learner in his class. It’s a shame when a teacher makes a kid suddenly hate a subject they’ve always loved.

I’m 50 years old and no one ever taught me how to take notes this is not a skill that all teachers teach, and not every method works for every kid, Watch a YouTube video or help your kid out on your own.

"it was this way when I was a kid" is such a damned cop-out in education. Times have changed. Education has changed. Teachers have changed - most in good ways. I do help my own kid. There are some amazing teachers out there. And also some really bad ones who haven't kept up with the changes.

So if a teacher instructs them on note-taking that makes them a good teacher? My DD had a HS teacher that forced Cornell notes and the students got in trouble if they didn’t use them. it caused unnecessary stress in my DD‘s life because that particular note style did not work for her. I would say that was a bad teacher.

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Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but if there is no textbook what do they test on? If they are all finding information on various websites then what do they study? Are the tests essays or multiple choice? I would be puzzled on how to help my kid prepare.

You shouldn’t be helping your child to prepare for a test. A teen who is in high school should be old enough to figure out how to prepare for tests in his own classes. What will your child do when it’s time for college if you are preparing him/her for every test

My mom helped me study all through HS. She quizzed me on things. I did just fine getting a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue. I then went to Harvard Law and guess who helped me study, including for two bar exams. My mom. It could have been anyone: a roommate, my husband, whomever. Just someone to help see what I know. There is nothing wrong with that. Everyone studies differently and I was someone who needed help with recall. It worked out.

I helped my oldest study in HS the same way because she asks me to quiz her. My youngest, also in HS, doesn't need or want me to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Except that many kids don’t do this. It’s not a prerequisite so there are lots of kids coming out of honors. I think the teacher has a big ego and only wants one type of learner in his class. It’s a shame when a teacher makes a kid suddenly hate a subject they’ve always loved.

I’m 50 years old and no one ever taught me how to take notes this is not a skill that all teachers teach, and not every method works for every kid, Watch a YouTube video or help your kid out on your own.

"it was this way when I was a kid" is such a damned cop-out in education. Times have changed. Education has changed. Teachers have changed - most in good ways. I do help my own kid. There are some amazing teachers out there. And also some really bad ones who haven't kept up with the changes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Except that many kids don’t do this. It’s not a prerequisite so there are lots of kids coming out of honors. I think the teacher has a big ego and only wants one type of learner in his class. It’s a shame when a teacher makes a kid suddenly hate a subject they’ve always loved.

I’m 50 years old and no one ever taught me how to take notes this is not a skill that all teachers teach, and not every method works for every kid, Watch a YouTube video or help your kid out on your own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Except that many kids don’t do this. It’s not a prerequisite so there are lots of kids coming out of honors. I think the teacher has a big ego and only wants one type of learner in his class. It’s a shame when a teacher makes a kid suddenly hate a subject they’ve always loved.

Anonymous wrote:We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

They probably expect that the APUSH kids took AP World where they spend a lot of time on learning note taking.

Anonymous wrote:No one in this country learns true history anyway. They learn a white supramcist, colonized, and pro -American view of history. So textbook or not it's all junk!

Better than the alternative. Although we're halfway there now.

No one in this country learns true history anyway. They learn a white supramcist, colonized, and pro -American view of history. So textbook or not it's all junk!

We experienced no textbooks in 9th or 10th grade honors history and bam! huge dense book for APUSH and a teacher who says "read and take notes on a whole chapter before the next class. zero modeling of note-taking or guidance in how to do this. just an expectation that kids who've never had a textbook will know how to do this.

My kids are getting their online textbooks this week. You can always ask for a physical copy to take home if that’s more your speed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid in AP world history came home with an enormous textbook.

What textbook?

AP world and most of the AP classes use textbooks.

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but if there is no textbook what do they test on? If they are all finding information on various websites then what do they study? Are the tests essays or multiple choice? I would be puzzled on how to help my kid prepare.

You shouldn’t be helping your child to prepare for a test. A teen who is in high school should be old enough to figure out how to prepare for tests in his own classes. What will your child do when it’s time for college if you are preparing him/her for every test

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but if there is no textbook what do they test on? If they are all finding information on various websites then what do they study? Are the tests essays or multiple choice? I would be puzzled on how to help my kid prepare.

Same way we did when I was in high school (and college, for that matter)? Review notes from class. Complete review assignments. For classes with slide decks, pull them from blackboard and go through them again.

The number of textbooks I ever used at home (K-college) can be counted on one hand, and they were all math/physics (and only for homework, not for notes or studying). We had textbooks in history classes, sure, but in high school they were only for sub day lessons and in college if you went to the lectures you basically didn’t have to read (and if you read you could skip lecture).