public school books

[cajunkaren]

I was wondering if anyone here uses public school books as in Mcgraw-Hill, Holt, etc..... I was thinking of using the Mcgraw-hill book with the activity book to go along with it. Has anyone went this route, because from what I read on the boards they don't. Thanks for your responses..

karen

[meet me in paris]

Well anyone who uses Calvert uses these. We tried it - I liked the idea of it. It wasn't a good fit for my older daughter because the textbooks are so busy and bright and colorful with blurbs all over the place. It was distracting for her. But lots of people around here use Pearson-Prentice Hall for science.

[melmichigan]

I use the Pearson textbooks as a jumping off point with my youngers. My older DD does a combination of PLATO science and Glencoe textbooks. :)

[AngieW in Texas]

We use textbooks for most subjects at the high school level.

Holt Biology

used Spectrum Chemistry for oldest, but will use Prentice Hall Chemistry for younger two

Giancoli's Physics

Glencoe American Literature (for the short story selections)

possibly Glencoe World Literature

Lial's Basic College Mathematics

Jacobs Elementary Algebra and/or Kinetic Books Algebra I

Jacobs Geometry, 2nd or 3rd edition (I like 3rd better)

Kinetic Books Algebra II

Larson's Precalculus or the Lial's equivalent

 

We use Prentice Hall Science Explorer for science at the middle school level.

 

My older girls used Usborne for science in elementary school, but my youngest used Scott Foresman Science starting in 3rd grade. They all preferred textbooks for science.

[ondreeuh]

My 8th grader is using textbooks.

 

Houghton-Mifflin Algebra (with Chalk Dust CDs)

Pearson/Prentice Hall Science Explorer

History of US (which is like the Science Explorer books in that they are a series)

I even have some Holt worktexts that are really nice but she is a bit beyond them so I'm saving them for my son.

 

My MIL is a PS teacher and shares all sorts of stuff with me for my 3rd grader. She loaned me a 2nd grade Treasures reading book (which seems way advanced) and a 3rd grade math textbook ... not sure of the company but something like H-M or Glencoe. I use them to check benchmarks but not to teach from. I don't really like textbooks for the younger grades because they're so heavy and awkward, and of course you can't write in them :) I also think it's more fun to learn from a variety of sources, which does either cost a ton more or require heavy use of the library. But if it works for you, then it works!

[Chris in VA]

I've used some McGraw-Hill.

Ds20 used some texts in high school.

[tinkgumby]

We use SRA Real Math, and we LOVE it. :001_smile:

[LunaLee]

My high schooler uses all textbooks. She was in ps for a really long time, and I think she was brain washed to learn from them better.:001_smile:

 

DS will start using them for some classes next year like science & ,eek gads, dare I say it here...Literature. I'm still thinking about that one though, so don't quote me.

 

My favorites are Prentice Hall and Glencoe.

[lindsrae]

Depends on the child and the age of the child, I think. I taught in PS for 5 years before having my kids (high school English). I don't have a lot of experience with other text books, but you can easily put together a better literature program than the books I was forced to use!

[momto4girls]

My mom and sister are PS teachers and pass along textbooks to me. I have found that the reading books come in handy when my little ones want to read by themselves. It's another option, another resource. I have a shelf full of them and they are free to read them whenever. The math texts haven't worked for us - they all seem fine, but just haven't worked. The science, again, we keep as handy resources and reading books, but I haven't used them to teach out of....

[bearnpurple]

We used a spectrum geography book.....the kids weren't too crazy about them but we use other curriculum textbooks in certain subjects.....

 

In our area Saxon is a big ps math textbook and alot of homeschoolers use them.....

 

If you think it will work for you, try it......

[EKS]

I have used various textbooks from major publishing companies over the years. I seem to use them more often as my son gets older.

[Dmmetler]

I've got a few. When I decided to home school, my DD's school, which had just adopted a new reading series last year, asked me if I wanted any of the old books to use, so I brought home a set of the old anthologies, plus a couple of "sample kits" from various publishers. I'm not sure how I'll use them, but there are some nice stories in there.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Math and sometimes a piece here or there for history.

[skaterbabs]

We have in the past, but IMO the materials are sub-par and hard to use effectively and efficiently. Getting sequential levels of the same materials can also be something of a challenge.