Aversion to textbooks?

[DragonFaerie]

DS has a strong aversion to textbooks.  Workbooks are no problem.  Reading is not a problem.  But he hates textbooks, the whole read the chapter, define the vocabulary words, answer the questions at the end.  He hates it and does terribly with them.  Even writing is less troublesome for him (he would rather write a paper about what he read than look up words and answer questions). When should I be concerned?  Or should I ever be concerned about it?  I have all three of the Holt Science textbooks for middle school, and just one week in, I've ditched it.  Again.  I tried a history textbook year before last and it was a major bust, too.  It's not that he doesn't learn.  He just seems to really abhor those school textbooks.  So, can we get away with never having to use them?  Am I doing him some kind of horrible disservice by not requiring that he use them?  I'm hoping to hear that textbooks are no big deal and we are free to never use them at all. :D

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I have a problem finding "textbooks" appealing in any way, shape, or form.  

 

I think Math is the only real "textbook" we use on a regular basis.  

 

We do have many books and workbooks but when I buy an English or Science Textbook, it does not go over well at all.  

 

Many schools are using ebooks and videos as well.  I would not feel guilty.  I do tell our dc that there will always be work or reading we do not enjoy, but must be done.  

 

Choose your battles.  

 

I did just purchase some Science DVD's (Supercharged Science) and am waiting on them to arrive. I hope to be able to do some experiments with these.  

 I also ordered some more Science books that are supposed to be written in story form by Joy Hakim.

 

We do have a set of WORLD Encyclopedia's, and many History and Science books as well.  

 

I just bought a grammar book and did not know it was a typical textbook.  I got it today and now it is in the box to consign.  

The Blue book of grammar is on the shelf and I need to get it out now. :) 

 

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

Do you have an ipad? ibooks has several textbooks that are more engaging then print books, with videos and interactive modules embeded. Also in the few I've looked at the vocab is easily defined by touching the word, the questions are answered in the book, DS uses the highlight/note to answer questions that aren't interactive.

 

Something else you could do is use the TOC from your Textbook and have him research online and at the library the topic/topics and write or verbally give summaries of what he's learned. Maybe do a project or a presentation for a final.

[Farrar]

I don't think it's a problem. There are some good textbooks out there for middle and high school, but there are also plenty of good books that aren't textbooks. Eventually he'll probably need to use one, but if you've helped him hone his reading skills reading quality nonfiction from other sources, then he'll use one when he sees it as a means to an end he wants.

[Arcadia]

I have all three of the Holt Science textbooks for middle school, and just one week in, I've ditched it.

....

I'm hoping to hear that textbooks are no big deal and we are free to never use them at all. :D

The middle school Holt science textbooks are kind of colorful yet dull. The Prentice Hall ones are about the same.

 

Math and physics are easier with textbooks though unless you want to invent your own questions, use Khan Academy and/or use the SAT subject test prep books as question banks.

 

My younger tried the Newtons Law of Motion test on Khan Academy just for fun this afternoon.

 

Louis Bloomfield's How Things Work and his Coursera course of the same name by the author may interest your son.

[lewelma]

I expect my kids to be able to handle textbooks by 9th grade, so my aim is to dabble in one by 8th grade. 11/12 can be too young for some kids. 

 

Have you seen this thread Developing advanced reading skills? It is about slowly building kids up to textbooks. 

 

Ruth in NZ

[momto2Cs]

The middle school Holt science textbooks are kind of colorful yet dull. The Prentice Hall ones are about the same.

 

Math and physics are easier with textbooks though unless you want to invent your own questions, use Khan Academy and/or use the SAT subject test prep books as question banks.

 

My younger tried the Newtons Law of Motion test on Khan Academy just for fun this afternoon.

 

Louis Bloomfield's How Things Work and his Coursera course of the same name by the author may interest your son.

 

We got a Prentice Hall book as the basic "spine" for my daughter's zoology studies, and she feels it talks down to her (she's 11).

 

My ds13 loves the How Things Work course. You can really do as much or as little as you like with Coursera.

 

I expect my kids to be able to handle textbooks by 9th grade, so my aim is to dabble in one by 8th grade. 11/12 can be too young for some kids. 

 

Have you seen this thread Developing advanced reading skills? It is about slowly building kids up to textbooks. 

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

Dd16 did no textbooks till 14 and then we used some really good college intro ones. Much better than the highschool ones, in our opinions.

 

My ds13 is trying a textbook for the first time this year (8th grade, and besides math, which has almost always been a textbook for us). He's using Hewitt's Conceptual Physics, and really likes it so far. I don't think it hurts to wait until 13 or 14.

[Clear Creek]

My oldest is using PHSE textbooks for middle school science, but she just reads them and finds library books for further study on the topics that interest her. She would hate it with a burning passion if I made her define words and answer questions for each chapter. My goal for middle school science is broad exposure and cultivation of interest in the subject; high school is the time to memorize terms and whatnot. So far it is her favorite subject, and she has pretty high retention, as well.

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks so much.  Y'all have made me feel MUCH better.  I actually do have The Way Things Work and The New Way Things Work.  I was planning on putting those together with something (maybe Coursera) for a physics-type science when DS gets to 8th grade.  He wants to be either an architect or an engineer of some sort, so we're really focusing more on the math right now anyway.  For science, I've decided to go with the Earth Science Daybook and the Sciensaurus handbook.  I know it's kind of light, but I guess I won't worry about that right now.  I'd rather keep him doing some science and enjoying it than push for rigor and have him hate it.

[regentrude]

I have not seen a middle school textbook that would not make me want to run and scream.

My kids did just fine not using textbooks (except for math) until they were ready for introductory college texts in high school (DS dabbled in a few books listed below).

I have found the school textbooks I have seen to be of poor quality and do not see it as a loss not to have used any of them. They can learn just fine from real books.

 

The few science texts I used for middle school (7th grade) were

Bloomfield How things work

Conceptual Physical science by Hewitt/Suchocki

Conceptual Physics by Hewitt.

 

 

[Lanny]

What will he do when he is older and goes to a university and needs to use textbooks for his courses? His experience using them will have been very limited. Regarding Middle School textbooks, most of the ones used for TTUISD Middle School courses are Glencoe textbooks and my DD usually prefers Glencoe textbooks. However, for Math, in Middle School and in High School, they use Prentice Hall textbooks...

[wapiti]

What will he do when he is older and goes to a university and needs to use textbooks for his courses? His experience using them will have been very limited.

 

I don't think this is a good reason - it won't take six years' worth of textbook experience.  Besides, middle school texts are not really comparable to college texts.  Surely the student will need texts for some courses in high school.

 

for Math, in Middle School and in High School, they use Prentice Hall textbooks...

 

FWIW, the Prentice Hall math texts that I have (prealgebra and algebra) aren't horrible but aren't fantastic either.  Topic coverage is fairly decent. The word problems are sometimes vague and ambiguous and the instruction could be clearer.  I don't care for how they're organized.  Above all, like many public school texts, they are quite visually-nauseating in book form, though the on-line versions less so (maybe because only so much fits on an ipad screen at one time; my dd13 used PH on-line for algebra, though the teacher added a lot of his own instruction and problem sets).  Basically, the PH math texts are a decent attempt but not well-written, IMO, and certainly not well-laid-out from a visual standpoint.

 

(eta, does anyone know why I keep ending up with more than one font style in my posts?)

[Lanny]

I don't think this is a good reason - it won't take six years' worth of textbook experience.  Besides, middle school texts are not really comparable to college texts.  Surely the student will need texts for some courses in high school.

 

 

FWIW, the Prentice Hall math texts that I have (prealgebra and algebra) aren't horrible but aren't fantastic either.  Topic coverage is fairly decent. The word problems are sometimes vague and ambiguous and the instruction could be clearer.  I don't care for how they're organized.  Above all, like many public school texts, they are quite visually-nauseating in book form, though the on-line versions less so (maybe because only so much fits on an ipad screen at one time; my dd13 used PH on-line for algebra, though the teacher added a lot of his own instruction and problem sets).  Basically, the PH math texts are a decent attempt but not well-written, IMO, and certainly not well-laid-out from a visual standpoint.

 

(eta, does anyone know why I keep ending up with more than one font style in my posts?)

 

Good comments about the textbooks. I mentioned that TTUISD uses Prentice Hall Math textbooks in Middle School and High School, because most of the Middle School textbooks DD has used have been Glencoe textbooks. The fact that they chose not to use Glencoe textbooks for Math leads me to believe that Glencoe Math textbooks are not as good as Prentice Hall Math textbooks. That may or may not be true... They use special editions for Texas, which hopefully are better than what you indicated. 

 

If I write a post or comment in an Editor or Word Processor and then copy/paste it into WTM, sometimes the font and font size is not what I want and I have no idea why that happens. If I reply directly as I am doing here, usually it looks OK. 

[wapiti]

The fact that they chose not to use Glencoe textbooks for Math leads me to believe that Glencoe Math textbooks are not as good as Prentice Hall Math textbooks. That may or may not be true... 

 

IMO, the PH texts are better, i.e. slightly more rigorous, than the "McDougal Little" texts on the same subject and of the same vintage (post-2000) even though they come from the same publisher and have basically an identical format/layout/organization.  So yes, I think there are some differences in content among public school texts.

 

They use special editions for Texas, which hopefully are better than what you indicated. 

 

FWIW I wouldn't hold my breath.

[DragonFaerie]

What will he do when he is older and goes to a university and needs to use textbooks for his courses? His experience using them will have been very limited.

 

This was my concern, too.

 

 

I don't think this is a good reason - it won't take six years' worth of textbook experience.  Besides, middle school texts are not really comparable to college texts.  Surely the student will need texts for some courses in high school.

 

 

And this is what I was hoping to hear, that I don't have to force textbooks down his throat for the next six or seven years.  But if I can find a way to use one every now and then, maybe he'll learn to work with them without screaming and running out into the night (okay, hyperbole, but you get my drift). 

 

I did try talking to him about what, specifically, he doesn't like about using the textbooks.  It's not the reading nor the material so much as the answering of endless questions and not really understanding what the questions are asking.  He can read and understand the text, but the questions, to him, are not straightforward, there's a ton of them, and it takes him forever to wade through them.  He'd be just fine if he could read the textbook without having to do the questions.  In fact, he would rather write a 1-page paper about the reading if it meant he didn't have to do the questions (which is really saying something as this kid really doesn't like to write).

[Arcadia]

It's not the reading nor the material so much as the answering of endless questions and not really understanding what the questions are asking.

The questions do seems abit overmuch in quantity. Maybe do the quizzes and the labs and consider it done for middle school. He would need to do some of the calculations questions for physical science. I'll focus on note taking instead.

 

The high school texts has lots of questions too if you were considering using those instead.

[lewelma]

  He can read and understand the text, but the questions, to him, are not straightforward, there's a ton of them, and it takes him forever to wade through them.  He'd be just fine if he could read the textbook without having to do the questions.

 

Two thoughts.

 

1) Learning to answer well-thought out short answer questions with well-thought out, succinct answers is a very difficult skills to master.  I worked with my old son for and 30 minutes a day for 3 months before he got the hang of it.  You might need to do some teaching here.

 

2) My goal at your ds's age is to get my kids appreciating textbooks and liking to learn from them.  So personally, I would just let him read the book and skip the questions (unless you are trying to accomplish goal #1, but that should be done separately so as not to turn him off textbooks.)

 

And just in case you did not get to the link I posted above, here is the 'steps' I use to train my kids to read textbooks.  It seems to me that your son is in Step 3, and you would like him to be in Step 4.  Step 4 IMHO requires quite a bit of teacher time, and is best implemented after success in step 3:

 

x-post

 

Step 1. Read through lots of different types of non-fiction and discuss the pros and cons of each: narrative nonfiction, biographies, paragraph books like Eyewitness, cartoons like the Cartoon Guides, and more full-text books . For a young child, this process will take 2 years (or possibly more). We do this in History and Science.

 

Step 2. Read through an entire "spread" book like How Things Work. Start to finish, systematically. These types of books have mostly pictures. Each spread is a single topic with little connection between topics. Text is short - paragraphs and descriptive notes about the images. But the goal is to get the feeling of being systematic.

 

Step 3. Reading a textbook that is easy and *interesting* to the student. Just reading -- not studying, no tests, no reports, just discussion every couple of days. The goal here is to interact with text that is more connected between pages, but with no **pressure**. Plus, it is on a topic that is *interesting*, so there is motivation. Only about 60% is learned, because there is no real studying.

 

Step 4. Learning to study from a textbook. To actually learn, memorize, internalize ALL of the material. I choose a SHORT textbook and have given my ds 1.5 years for a 1 year course. We are currently doing this now. The goal is to learn how *you* learn. The science course is 2/3rds science and 1/3rd study skills. This part of the process require a LOT of my effort and time. We are currently trialing different methods: Options being:

 

1) Taking notes in a notebook and then summarizing them

2) Taking notes on notecards and then on the front, writing a question that would summarize all the material

3) Using YouTube to visualize the reactions

4) Making mind maps, using colors

5) Using a program like Quizlet to memorize material

6) Increasing interest level with fun videos, living books, random experimentation

7) Learning to answer short answer questions effectively

8) Making the material feel like real science by doing a large scale investigation

 

At first I sat with him for 1 hour per day and helped him identify important information that he did not know and take notes in an organized fashion. Then I made my own study materials and allowed him to look at them for a few minutes, and then put them away, and make his own. Now, he is only looking at my study materials if he does not quite "get it." Finally, I will quit making study materials, and will just check his as he makes them.

 

We have also had discussions about how he learns, why it is useful, what the next level of the material would include. I have also been a cheerleader. Celebrating his successes, shoring up his weaknesses. We are not through with this process, as study time will be in October for the IGCSE Chemistry exam, but I will continue with the FULL involvement this year.

 

Step 5. Independent reading and studying of textbooks with interest to the student

 

Step 6. Independent reading and studying of textbooks with *little* interest to the student

 

Step 7. Reading peer-reviewed articles and integrating them into the core of a subject (not done in high school)

 

Step 8. Reading peer-reviewed articles in a different field, and integrating them into your field of study (I applied economic models to ecological systems, this is very difficult to do!)

+++++

 

My younger son (age 10.5) is in step 2, my older son (age just 14) is in step 5.  At least with my kids, this process takes time and I don't expect to skip steps.

 

Ruth in NZ

[stripe]

1) Learning to answer well-thought out short answer questions with well-thought out, succinct answers is a very difficult skills to master.

Your skills-building steps are quite helpful and always worth rereading. In fact, I love how you break things into skills and steps.

 

I think one issue can be the popular parental assumption that no textbook is worth reading. There are members on here, particularly those with some sort of math or science background, who used textbooks a lot and don't see them (or math and science) as soul-killing. The idea that there exists a textbook with well thought out anything is contentious indeed, much less your suggested goal that a child appreciate them.

 

Obviously it's worth seeking out the good ones.

[PeterPan]

I don't think this is a good reason - it won't take six years' worth of textbook experience.  Besides, middle school texts are not really comparable to college texts.  Surely the student will need texts for some courses in high school.

 

 

 

 

This was my concern, too.

 

 

 

And this is what I was hoping to hear, that I don't have to force textbooks down his throat for the next six or seven years.  But if I can find a way to use one every now and then, maybe he'll learn to work with them without screaming and running out into the night (okay, hyperbole, but you get my drift). 

 

I did try talking to him about what, specifically, he doesn't like about using the textbooks.  It's not the reading nor the material so much as the answering of endless questions and not really understanding what the questions are asking.  He can read and understand the text, but the questions, to him, are not straightforward, there's a ton of them, and it takes him forever to wade through them.  He'd be just fine if he could read the textbook without having to do the questions.  In fact, he would rather write a 1-page paper about the reading if it meant he didn't have to do the questions (which is really saying something as this kid really doesn't like to write).

 

Fwiw, I think it's tricky to take consolation on your situation when you don't know what the actual cause is of his frustration and whether it lines up with the cause the people responding here dealt with.  There are a number of causes (everything from adhd to a language processing disorder to spectrum to just being a typical boy to...) that could explain what you're describing.  So if your cause is more clinical, obviously proceeding without figuring that out and building those skills won't help.  

 

Reading comprehension is 80% prior knowledge (see No Mind Left Behind), so it *is* valid to pursue the content any way that works for him, build the skills, and know that it CAN come together later in college without years of textbook reading.  This happens, yes.  

 

However, let's just say you have unidentified ADHD and he's unable to break the task into smaller steps.  He's still going to need that skill.  Or say the questions are hard for him because he's not "attending" (focusing) while he reads.  Reading non-fiction is not like reading fiction.  If he has been doing mostly fiction reading and narrations, then this is probably a jolt.  You may need to back up and give him more doable selections where he's forced to slow down and ATTEND and answer the questions.  I did this with my dd when she was in 3rd-6th grade.  I picked the BJU science a grade ahead, because it had terrific questions in the tm to go with each section of the reading.  So you'd read 1 -1 1/2 pages and then have discussion questions in the tm.  Do you have the tm for your text to see if they have something like that?  You could try that intermediate step and THEN see if he does better with the questions at the end of the chapter.  

 

All that said, my dd is still textbook averse.  We've done some of the intensive work with a text the way Ruth describes, and frankly all it did was give my dd bad memories.  Like to this day bad memories.  Pick your poison.  Our psych says when she goes to college she'll be fine because she'll want to be there and want to be studying those things.  Videos right now are very effective for her as a way to build that background for reading comprehension.  I've chosen different things different years.  For instance, with government (high school credit) for this year, I picked a lower reading level text I know she can blow through and then bumped it up with other goodies.  That's one way to handle it.  (Walch Powerbasics, etc.)  Last year I used a video course for science.  It came with lecture notes to fill in, etc.  This year for biology I've put her together a syllabus that blends select chapters from a text and lots of science literature and labs.  So we'll do *some* but not do it constantly the way some people would.  Three days in with the text, then 10 days out doing other things.  That kind of thing.  I'm also stretching her using her high interest subject (history) by throwing her in the AP Human Geography, which of course uses a textbook and has accountability.  She has shown herself to rise to the expectations with outside classes like that.  

 

So I don't handle it only one way.  I'd definitely free yourself to try more ways of working together besides straight textbooks.  Junior high is a great age to take in lots of high school level knowledge (if the dc is ready for that) using alternative methods.  My advice is to get that content and pleasure and select something in discrete amounts on the side to keep working on the ability to read a non-fiction source.  And yes, I'd be doing some investigating to make sure there's nothing going on causing the aversion.   

[DragonFaerie]

Two thoughts.

 

1) Learning to answer well-thought out short answer questions with well-thought out, succinct answers is a very difficult skills to master.  I worked with my old son for and 30 minutes a day for 3 months before he got the hang of it.  You might need to do some teaching here.

 

2) My goal at your ds's age is to get my kids appreciating textbooks and liking to learn from them.  So personally, I would just let him read the book and skip the questions (unless you are trying to accomplish goal #1, but that should be done separately so as not to turn him off textbooks.)

 

And just in case you did not get to the link I posted above, here is the 'steps' I use to train my kids to read textbooks.  It seems to me that your son is in Step 3, and you would like him to be in Step 4.  Step 4 IMHO requires quite a bit of teacher time, and is best implemented after success in step 3:

 

x-post

 

Step 1. Read through lots of different types of non-fiction and discuss the pros and cons of each: narrative nonfiction, biographies, paragraph books like Eyewitness, cartoons like the Cartoon Guides, and more full-text books . For a young child, this process will take 2 years (or possibly more). We do this in History and Science.

 

Step 2. Read through an entire "spread" book like How Things Work. Start to finish, systematically. These types of books have mostly pictures. Each spread is a single topic with little connection between topics. Text is short - paragraphs and descriptive notes about the images. But the goal is to get the feeling of being systematic.

 

Step 3. Reading a textbook that is easy and *interesting* to the student. Just reading -- not studying, no tests, no reports, just discussion every couple of days. The goal here is to interact with text that is more connected between pages, but with no **pressure**. Plus, it is on a topic that is *interesting*, so there is motivation. Only about 60% is learned, because there is no real studying.

 

Step 4. Learning to study from a textbook. To actually learn, memorize, internalize ALL of the material. I choose a SHORT textbook and have given my ds 1.5 years for a 1 year course. We are currently doing this now. The goal is to learn how *you* learn. The science course is 2/3rds science and 1/3rd study skills. This part of the process require a LOT of my effort and time. We are currently trialing different methods: Options being:

 

1) Taking notes in a notebook and then summarizing them

2) Taking notes on notecards and then on the front, writing a question that would summarize all the material

3) Using YouTube to visualize the reactions

4) Making mind maps, using colors

5) Using a program like Quizlet to memorize material

6) Increasing interest level with fun videos, living books, random experimentation

7) Learning to answer short answer questions effectively

8) Making the material feel like real science by doing a large scale investigation

At first I sat with him for 1 hour per day and helped him identify important information that he did not know and take notes in an organized fashion. Then I made my own study materials and allowed him to look at them for a few minutes, and then put them away, and make his own. Now, he is only looking at my study materials if he does not quite "get it." Finally, I will quit making study materials, and will just check his as he makes them.

 

We have also had discussions about how he learns, why it is useful, what the next level of the material would include. I have also been a cheerleader. Celebrating his successes, shoring up his weaknesses. We are not through with this process, as study time will be in October for the IGCSE Chemistry exam, but I will continue with the FULL involvement this year.

 

Step 5. Independent reading and studying of textbooks with interest to the student

 

Step 6. Independent reading and studying of textbooks with *little* interest to the student

 

Step 7. Reading peer-reviewed articles and integrating them into the core of a subject (not done in high school)

 

Step 8. Reading peer-reviewed articles in a different field, and integrating them into your field of study (I applied economic models to ecological systems, this is very difficult to do!)

+++++

 

My younger son (age 10.5) is in step 2, my older son (age just 14) is in step 5.  At least with my kids, this process takes time and I don't expect to skip steps.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Thanks so much, Ruth.  This is incredibly helpful, and you make a good point about his perhaps not being ready for the kind of thinking that goes with answering the textbook questions.  He is definitely not ready for note-taking, in-depth outlining of the book, etc.  In fact, he just this week outlined one page of one book (not textbook) without complaining and wailing that he couldn't do it.  So we are making progress.  Maybe I am just expecting too much from him.  I think maybe I will start with just having him read the textbook.  He never complains about that.  Only the work that follows.  And we do have time.  He's only just starting 6th grade.  Following your model, I can have him ready for high school by high school.

 

Fwiw, I think it's tricky to take consolation on your situation when you don't know what the actual cause is of his frustration and whether it lines up with the cause the people responding here dealt with.  There are a number of causes (everything from adhd to a language processing disorder to spectrum to just being a typical boy to...) that could explain what you're describing.  So if your cause is more clinical, obviously proceeding without figuring that out and building those skills won't help.  

 

Reading comprehension is 80% prior knowledge (see No Mind Left Behind), so it *is* valid to pursue the content any way that works for him, build the skills, and know that it CAN come together later in college without years of textbook reading.  This happens, yes.  

 

However, let's just say you have unidentified ADHD and he's unable to break the task into smaller steps.  He's still going to need that skill.  Or say the questions are hard for him because he's not "attending" (focusing) while he reads.  Reading non-fiction is not like reading fiction.  If he has been doing mostly fiction reading and narrations, then this is probably a jolt.  You may need to back up and give him more doable selections where he's forced to slow down and ATTEND and answer the questions.  I did this with my dd when she was in 3rd-6th grade.  I picked the BJU science a grade ahead, because it had terrific questions in the tm to go with each section of the reading.  So you'd read 1 -1 1/2 pages and then have discussion questions in the tm.  Do you have the tm for your text to see if they have something like that?  You could try that intermediate step and THEN see if he does better with the questions at the end of the chapter.  

 

All that said, my dd is still textbook averse.  We've done some of the intensive work with a text the way Ruth describes, and frankly all it did was give my dd bad memories.  Like to this day bad memories.  Pick your poison.  Our psych says when she goes to college she'll be fine because she'll want to be there and want to be studying those things.  Videos right now are very effective for her as a way to build that background for reading comprehension.  I've chosen different things different years.  For instance, with government (high school credit) for this year, I picked a lower reading level text I know she can blow through and then bumped it up with other goodies.  That's one way to handle it.  (Walch Powerbasics, etc.)  Last year I used a video course for science.  It came with lecture notes to fill in, etc.  This year for biology I've put her together a syllabus that blends select chapters from a text and lots of science literature and labs.  So we'll do *some* but not do it constantly the way some people would.  Three days in with the text, then 10 days out doing other things.  That kind of thing.  I'm also stretching her using her high interest subject (history) by throwing her in the AP Human Geography, which of course uses a textbook and has accountability.  She has shown herself to rise to the expectations with outside classes like that.  

 

So I don't handle it only one way.  I'd definitely free yourself to try more ways of working together besides straight textbooks.  Junior high is a great age to take in lots of high school level knowledge (if the dc is ready for that) using alternative methods.  My advice is to get that content and pleasure and select something in discrete amounts on the side to keep working on the ability to read a non-fiction source.  And yes, I'd be doing some investigating to make sure there's nothing going on causing the aversion.   

 

OhElizabeth, thanks for such a detailed response.  DS does not have any clinical diagnoses for anything.  He's just a boy who would rather be playing Minecraft or building his fort in the yard than doing boring old school work. :D  But I do see improvement this year over last, and all hope is not lost.  He loves math and is getting ready to start pre-algebra soon, so I know he has an educational foothold in that regard.  We'll just have to work on the reading/notetaking/response aspect.

[lewelma]

I wanted to say that OhE and I don't really disagree.  I am so sorry that her dd has come to dread textbooks, and I am glad that OhE is adapting, and adapting very well by the sounds of it.  As far as I am concerned, the number one thing you do NOT want to do is push textbooks before a child is ready, and lead them down the path of aversion.  Textbook are an incredibly useful tool to learning the standardized introductory material in most fields, and they can work for a huge percentage of students (clearly not all).  If you son likes reading the textbook, then he is actually not adverse to textbooks, what he dislikes is all the extra work that you are assigning.  I think that that is great for a 6th grader.  11/12 years old and enjoying reading a textbook?  I mean, wow!  That's so cool.

 

So ditch the notetaking/ question answering portion.  Skip the vocab words, and the little 'this is how you study' text boxes.  Just let him love the learning.  This will be a powerful tool in your toolbox when it comes time to teach him to *learn* the material from a textbook.  Attitude is everything. Give him the gift of time. Time to saver a good book -- especially if it is a textbook!

 

I also want to make very very clear that when I laid out my 'steps', I purposely avoided adding grade levels.  Not all kids are the same.  And although it would be ideal to have them studying from a text independently in 9th grade (step 5), you need to work with the student sitting next to you on the sofa.  If you push too hard, and turn them off, then you will have an uphill battle for years. Some kids just aren't ready, and you need to not feel rushed.  If you don't get to step 5 until 11th or even 12th grade, well better that than never getting to it at all because your kid has come to hate textbooks.  My younger is moving through the steps much more slowly than my older.  He is not really a nonfiction reader, and never has been.  So it is itty bitty steps, one at a time, and lots and lots of subtly psychological manipulation/encouragement on my part over years.  Just the other day my little boy (age 10) said 'this book is the perfect level of difficulty.  It will definitely help improve my reading skills.'  !!!!  :hurray:   At this age, my older was reading a textbook, not so with my younger.  He is probably 2 full years behind.  But he will get there on *his* schedule, and no pushing on my part is going to make it go faster.

 

I also want to mention that there are some kids who will never be able to use a textbook in a traditional manner.  And if by 11th or 12th grade, it looks like your kid cannot actually read and absorb the content even after working for years to master the skill, then I would move to Plan B.  Still assign a textbook, but teach your student how to look for explanations on youtube, or form study groups, or get alternative resources.  The material in the textbooks still has to be learned, but the student would need to learn to hunt down alternative resources, synthesize the material, and still study for a traditional test about the topics in the textbook without actually reading and studying the actually textbook.  This method is not ideal because it will always be difficult to find audio materials on every single piece of a textbook, or it could be expensive if the student has to hire a tutor for every subject in university that requires a textbook.  This is why I would definitely make it Plan B.  But there is a Plan B and your student can use it if required.

 

The main thing that I do NOT want for my students, is to leave high school with a limited range of material that they can learn from.  As far as I am concerned, when they hit university, they should be able to master the material for any class regardless of the resources chosen by the professor.

 

Ruth in NZ

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks, Ruth.  I love that you mentioned the ability to learn from a wide range of materials.  DS, for the first time last week, got to use his computer (instead of an atlas) to look up information to complete his map work.  He was absolutely tickled and felt like a "grown up" student getting to do that.  LOL...

[DragonFaerie]

One more note, I told DS today that he will get to continue reading the textbook for science but just won't be doing any of the questions and such from it.  He'll use the Earth Science Daybook and short writing assignments for his "output."  He was grinning from ear to ear.  Yay!