A Peek At Textbooks: Autumn 2022
October 19, 2022
Our textbooks are usually a medley of what works best.
This year Christina and Becky have college books only. Christina still digs into our American Government high school textbook this semester because it “makes it easy to understand” as she’s taking a law course.
Kimberly is officially 10th grade. She has A Beka Book (consumer finance) and Teaching Textbooks (geometry) for arithmetic, Apologia Science, Literature Coursework from A Beka Book, a typing and writing class that uses A Beka Book Grammar & Composition as a textbook requiring paragraphs or essays on daily science and history work, and A Beka Book as her main history text. She’s already done geometry previously, but this is a new way of looking at it that helps her understand it better. Our educational philosophy is totally for repeating subject matter that allows for better understanding.
Jaquline is officially 7th grade. Her textbooks include: A Beka Book Arithmetic 6 (yes, this is completing a repeat; she has done both the 5th and 6th grade books twice), A Beka Book Creative Writing, A Beka Book Language C, Apologia Science, Military History of the United States (it’s an children’s encyclopedia set and they write a report after each letter study), A Beka Book History Coursework, and Money Management Skills (a middle-school version of “Personal Finance” that incorporates their personal savings account, teaches them to set goals, observation of household finances, budgeting, etc.). Her textbooks are officially scattered grade levels from 6th to 8th and she reads books voraciously – her reading level is far higher than her scholastic level is supposed to be.
Jillian is officially 5th grade. She is almost done with A Beka Book’s Basic Mathematics (rebranded a couple years ago as “Intermediate Mathematics” but we bought one textbook for each of the girls on our second order so we could use the same tests; Lucas and Thea will have the new book unless I can snag an unused Basic Mathematics edition) and will move into Pre-Algebra with either or both Teaching Textbooks and A Beka Book next month, she just completed A Beka Book’s Investigating God’s World last week and started Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology and Health for the Glory of God (because her goal now is Sports Medicine or Physical Therapy), History is reading and writing reports on biographies of U.S. Presidents along with Bauer’s The Story of the World, A Beka’s Book’s Language C, A Beka Book’s Cursive Writing Skillbook (that one gets repeated until they master cursive writing), Business and Money Management Skills (in addition to our normal course, Jillian has started a business with her friends and that has been incorporated into our regular coursework on finances), and she is studying art mechanics, various mediums, and art history. Jillian’s textbooks range from 3rd grade to 8th grade depending on subject.
Lucas is officially 2nd grade. His textbooks are any book he wants to read at the moment, A Beka Book’s Handbook For Reading, A Beka Book’s Writing With Phonics, A Beka Book’s Arithmetic 1, Practical Money Math, A Beka Book’s Language 1, A Beka Book’s Letters and Sounds 1, Life of Fred Fractions, Life of Fred Decimals, Phonics and Language 2, and his Manuscript Writing Tablet which makes for amazing work-on-the-go. I have him copy stuff wherever he is and try to read it. My Daddy used to have be copy my favorite dinosaur books when I was learning to write. Lucas is still what I consider a “pre-reader” (meaning when he does “read” it is choppy and he gets frustrated with not remembering the first part of the sentence). I tend to not move into more complicated textbooks until my student is a fluid reader. Lucas understands Mathematical concepts very well but gets frustrated very easily with words. He thinks math. Once he sees the patterns in English letters, he’ll be a fluid reader.
Theadora thinks she’s in school. She does WGV Gymnastics Gym-N-Learn on Fridays (it happens Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, but she only listens on Fridays right now) and calls that “my real school.” She is obsessed with writing “T”s lately. She can write T and t in cursive and “like Coach Michelle” (that means very beautiful manuscript like calligraphy because she heard me mention once about how beautiful Coach Michelle’s handwriting is – Thea calls it “coloring letters”). Thea has to have a “school book” because the others do. It’s in her “school box,” because everyone else has a school box. Hers is a writing textbook with three lines and occasional letters along it. Grandma Tina gave her a color-by-number book and a numbers workbook which she calls “her school books” too. I don’t do anything formal with her yet.
Just a tiny peek at what we have this semester. We just move from one book to another as they complete the first (like from Language 1 to Phonics and Language 2) and repeat some books or portions of books occasionally. I want them to understand it is perfectly okay to go back and reread something to better understand a subject. (Have you ever had to go back and look up a grammar rule or algebraic formula?) Learning is our family lifestyle. Textbooks are tools to reach the next step.
Thank you for reading,
Type at you later!
~Nancy Tart