Text Books

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Proud_Dad
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:55 am

Text Books

Post by Proud_Dad »

Do any of your DC's get given text books at secondary school?

When I was at school we generally had at least one text book for each subject and in some cases like English many more. The books were ours for the year to take home and were the basis for much of the syllabus, study and homework.

Since my DS started Y7 in September he has not bought home a single text book for any subject. Only exercise books and scraps of printed paper which quickly get lost or damaged.

Is this normal these days or just his particular school? :?
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Text Books

Post by southbucks3 »

My lads have text books, jh boy has most as no iPad yet, rgs boy had some more in year 7 but less now as its largely downloaded books on iPad.
I caught jh boy out at the weekend with him pulling a fast one about maths he had "missed" whilst at orthodontist, the maths teacher had put the textbook pages on the learnig gateway next to the homework so he had a quick lesson at home. :lol:
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Text Books

Post by Tinkers »

DD has text books for science (3), and geog, think she has one for French but not sure about german (does have a workbook for german though). Also has maths text book, but they also get worksheets.
Set book for English.

Can't remember if she has text books for history and RS.
SteveDH
Posts: 464
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:30 pm
Location: Harrow

Re: Text Books

Post by SteveDH »

Our DD had so many big heavy text books that on certain days, depending on subjects we were worried she would injure herself carrying her bag.

Also some were new text books although it was up to her to cover those ones, I can't remember if she was given the material to do it with though.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Text Books

Post by southbucks3 »

SteveDH wrote:Our DD had so many big heavy text books that on certain days, depending on subjects we were worried she would injure herself carrying her bag.
This was part of the sell it to the parents spiel during , 'we want your son to have an iPad for school' info evenings. I am not sure all the lying in your back, iPad in air "revising" or running away from parents who are trying to beat you with a stick after discovering you were really using the expensive obligatory iPad for instagram or flappy bird, is terribly good for their physical health either.
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Text Books

Post by KB »

Our GS still uses traditional methods which revolve around text books.
They do have some homework set on school intranet and some departments have them submit work on line but its certainly not universal yet, although things are moving that way.
There is no doubt a case fir 'engaging' students in the digital age but also introduces new opportunities for getting distracted....
twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Re: Text Books

Post by twinkles »

No, my son has never had any text books given to him.
Elibet
Posts: 155
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:50 pm

Re: Text Books

Post by Elibet »

Proud_Dad wrote:Do any of your DC's get given text books at secondary school?

When I was at school we generally had at least one text book for each subject and in some cases like English many more. The books were ours for the year to take home and were the basis for much of the syllabus, study and homework.

Since my DS started Y7 in September he has not bought home a single text book for any subject. Only exercise books and scraps of printed paper which quickly get lost or damaged.

Is this normal these days or just his particular school? :?

Hi proud dad, I know some schools out there don't hand out text books to children ( goodness knows how they expect them to learn!) , but if I were in your shoes, I would make enquiries from teachers and your DC about all the texts being used, and buy a copy in each subject for you and DC to use and learn from at home.

My child's secondary school gives them textbooks in nearly all the topics except for the ones that rely heavily on the web for sources of info ( eg Geography, RE, Art, History). It is theirs to keep for the whole year, then they have to return it for the next set of Yr 7s to use.

No point in getting any old book covering Maths Yr 7. It is important to see what text your DS is actually using in his class. Every school out there uses a different text book for Maths ( loads of publishers out there) (ditto with Science, French, English, Latin and German).

Hope my advice helps...
Proud_Dad
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:55 am

Re: Text Books

Post by Proud_Dad »

Elibet wrote: Hi proud dad, I know some schools out there don't hand out text books to children ( goodness knows how they expect them to learn!) , but if I were in your shoes, I would make enquiries from teachers and your DC about all the texts being used, and buy a copy in each subject for you and DC to use and learn from at home.

My child's secondary school gives them textbooks in nearly all the topics except for the ones that rely heavily on the web for sources of info ( eg Geography, RE, Art, History). It is theirs to keep for the whole year, then they have to return it for the next set of Yr 7s to use.

No point in getting any old book covering Maths Yr 7. It is important to see what text your DS is actually using in his class. Every school out there uses a different text book for Maths ( loads of publishers out there) (ditto with Science, French, English, Latin and German).

Hope my advice helps...
Thanks for the advice. We were thinking of just getting some of the standard KS3 guides (Letts, CGP etc) but as you say probably better to ask the teachers.

I've tried asking DS what text books they use in class but generally just get a blank look! :roll:
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Text Books

Post by Guest55 »

These days many schools invest in electronic copies of texts that can be loaded to the VLE; it can be a cheaper option and, of course, the 'copy' stays in pristine condition. Relevant pages can be dispalyed in class on the multi-media projector.

Year 7 are doing the new NC so texts will be out of date so please don't buy anything at the moment.
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