ARTICLE ON PARENTAL REVIEW OF TEXTBOOKS:
September 8, 2005 – Viewing
Your Child’s Textbooks
When you as parents went to
school, probably the source for the curriculum in
your classes was a textbook.
That still
seems like a reasonable source to me, but things
have changed.
One
of the first things to check after school starts
each semester is your child’s textbooks. Ask your
child, K-12, to bring his books home, one at a
time, for you to peruse. In asking him to do this,
two of the things you will discover are whether or not
he has his own texts and whether he is allowed to
bring them home.
The
first surprising thing that your child may say to
you is “I didn’t get a book for that class.”
Chances are your child is telling you the truth.
There
may be legitimate reasons why this is the
situation. Perhaps the KISD administrator in
charge of ordering books failed to order the books
in time or to order enough of them. (Not ordering
happened one year.) Perhaps the school is
following the current fad of eliminating the text
in favor of something else.
For example, spelling books
were phased out over fifteen years ago, and
instead, your child was asked to learn how to
spell from lists of words.
The lists of
words were placed on the KISD web site.
You could even
view the previous year’s spelling list words if
you wished.
After I wrote this column
the first time, spelling books came back. (Who
says I’m not effective?)
And that’s OK
by me.
Students need
spelling books.
I would have
to look at one, however, to see if they’re the
right kind of spelling books.
If they still
include terms and phrases like “estimated
spelling,” “visual markers,” and “mature
spelling,” or if there are no rules to go along
with the words being learned, or if they are not
grouped logically, then I would have to say that
the “cover” may have changed, but the innards are
still the same.
Let me refresh your memory
regarding your own spelling lessons.
First of all
you had a book, so you could take it home and look
at it, and a parent could help you read through
the directions and the explanations and the words.
The words were
usually grouped by letter or the same sounding
vowels or some other logical method of tying
certain words together, so that when you learned
them there was something to hang on to that made
sense and was memorable.
Usually you
had a pre-test after you had looked at the words,
wrote sentences using the words, maybe had a
Spelling Bee using the words, and then you took a
spelling test on Friday.
No one ever came up with any
empirical evidence that this method didn’t work.
Everyone I knew at my school could spell unless
they just didn’t have the mental capacity.
Someone,
probably an out of work administrator, decided
that what worked did not earn him any money, so he
made up, out of the blue, another method of
learning
to
spell.
He toured the
offices of his employed administrator friends with
a sales pitch, and VOILA!
he made a sale
to one school district, and soon there were others
that fell for the scam. The spelling guru became
rich, and children everywhere suffer because
they’ve never ever really learned how to spell.
Ever notice how many foreign
born students or home schooled students win the
National Spelling Bee?
There’s a
reason.
Their parents
are at home teaching them how to spell the
old-fashioned way!
But
back to my textbook advice.
Look at each text that your
child DOES have.
Look at the
people who wrote it.
Google them to
see what else they do.
Look at the
book.
Is it mostly
pictures?
What is the
content of the pictures? Is it colorful?
Is it TOO
colorful?
Did the
publisher spend more time making it pretty as
opposed to putting good content in it? Find out if
there are “ancillary” materials that go with the
text.
Sometimes the
stuff they don’t want parents to see is in those.
Often the ancillary materials include a workbook
that stays at school, a handbook that accompanies
the text, videos and so forth.
You probably took all the
same courses your child is taking so you can judge
his texts. Read the text. Does it make sense? Are
there factual errors? Read the questions at the
end of the chapter. Are they about the factual
material within the text?
They should
be.
Perhaps you
will see some other kinds of questions that ask
your child to do some activity, or interview some
person, or do something else of which you may not
approve. Are those questions more touchy feely
than academic? The questions might also be
directed toward you the parent.
Sometimes the
questions are very personal, and one wonders what
it is the school is trying to find out about the
child’s home life. The questions should be about
the subject matter, and they should elicit from
your child the knowledge that he acquired by
reading the text.
If you get REALLY interested
in what they are teaching your child, you can ask,
through an open records request, for a copy of the
curriculum for that course.
They are
obligated to give it to you.
In KISD,
thanks to “alignment” both “vertically” and
“horizontally,” and KMAC lesson plans, every kid
in town is supposed to be pretty much on the same
page at the same time doing the same thing.
HOW BORING!!!
A
little effort on the part of parents might open a
lot of eyes about what students are being asked to
read and learn. Maybe I will be wrong about your
child‘s situation, and you will find that he has
accurate, well written texts.
I
hope you do.
On the other hand, and as
time passes, you might find that your child has no
textbook in one class or all of his classes.
That may
become the norm.
What is
replacing the textbook?
Is it a
well-educated, academically schooled teacher who
is very knowledgeable about the subject matter?
That might be
OK.
Or is it a computer?
That might not
be OK.
I personally
believe that a computer cannot take the place or
even supplement a smart teacher, but then that’s
just my opinion. Or is it a hackneyed lesson plan
from KMAC that may or may not be suitable?
Is the school sending home a
text to remain at home so your child doesn’t have
to carry a book for that class back and forth?
Ever stop to
think what that practice costs the taxpayer?
You should.
Ask your child if he
actually uses the text.
Ask about how
the teacher teaches.
You might even
want to visit the school (ask permission and make
an appointment) to see for yourself.
It’s not hard
to see what’s happening in a classroom, even if
they’re ready for you when you come to visit.
I remember as a school board
member, I sometimes asked to visit this or that
classroom.
They always
knew I was coming, and yet…
I once visited a second
grade math teacher at Fielder Elementary School.
Of course they
always sent an administrator with me, so I didn’t
abuse the privilege very often as I didn’t want to
waste their time, but on this day, the Assistant
Superintendent was with me.
We sat in the
back of this particular classroom, and the teacher
was teaching addition using pennies for “manipulatives.”
The funny
thing was, she couldn’t spell
penny!
The word was written as “penney” all over the
chalkboard.
Another time, as board
members, Larry Moore and I visited Katy High
School.
The principal
was with us, and he opened the door to go into the
classroom. Although
it
was a small class, all the students were sitting
on the desk tops eating snacks and drinking cokes
and watching an “R” rated video movie.
We just sort
of backed out the door.
The principal
was embarrassed, and neither Larry nor I could
think of a thing to say.
What CAN you
say?
Unfortunately,
I’m sure that sort of thing goes on way too much
in our schools, and it isn’t really funny at all.
Parents need to ask
pertinent questions about what goes on in their
children’s classes.
If you care
about your kids, you will find ways to figure out
what goes on at school. Just for the record, I
think it’s more important to be concerned about
what your child is being taught at school than
whether or not he is “happy,” or on the “A” team
in a sport.