birchbark Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 We spent most of the younger years of DS's doing the Charlotte Mason thing. I was instantly sold on the value of living books and we have pretty much relied on them for our spines. However, as DS progressed through grade levels, the need for increased content demanded more and more and more books to cover the material. As our family has grown, I find myself drifting away from that approach. I'm needing more simplicity, an efficient schoolday, and more bookshelf space. :D And so I find myself looking at The Textbook. I don't believe that single-subject books are the only example of living writing. I recently received an Oak Meadow history book for use next year and find it very engaging. I know there are other "living textbooks" out there. Can any of you give some recommendations? Any subject, any grade, Christian or secular, old or new, what are your favorite textbook finds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Many here love the K12 Human Odyssey series for world history. We have it, and we are giving it a whirl next year for ancients. It really does appear pretty engaging! http://www.christianbook.com/the-human-odyssey-volume-1/9781931728539/pd/728534?item_code=WW&netp_id=881460&event=ESRCG&view=details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 The Way Life Works, The Way We Work, The New Way Things Work. I find these really well done and that they straddle the line somewhat between 'living books' and textbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 They can vary within a publisher too. The Abeka4 history text is nice and the BJU 10 World Studies has particularly good middle chapters (what we've been doing). In those cases, you're finding that different authors wrote for the publisher, so you sometimes land on an author you particularly like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I personally like textbooks as read alouds. It's often the exercises in textbooks that I don't like so much. Also when it comes to upper level physical sciences, the chapters build on each other, and with my lack of focus on content, they can take too much effort to keep up with the cumulative lessons. Textbooks are just books. It's how you USE them that matters. Student editions from the early 2000s are often just a penny. I often buy them at Amazon, and use them with living/trade book methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I am using AOPS for myself and I find it to be an excellent math book. They explain the how and the why with well written text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 i love both of Hakim's series, History of US and Story of Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 With science texts, because it can be a very abstract subject, I want a LOT of diagrams, illustrations, graphs, charts, etc. To that end, I've been very impressed with the middle school aged Holt Science and Tech series: Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Many here love the K12 Human Odyssey series for world history. We have it, and we are giving it a whirl next year for ancients. It really does appear pretty engaging! http://www.christianbook.com/the-human-odyssey-volume-1/9781931728539/pd/728534?item_code=WW&netp_id=881460&event=ESRCG&view=details We are SL users, but we also own all The Human Odyssey textbooks. My son read two of them last summer during his free reading time. He loves them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 With science texts, because it can be a very abstract subject, I want a LOT of diagrams, illustrations, graphs, charts, etc. To that end, I've been very impressed with the middle school aged Holt Science and Tech series: Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. Erin, it seems like everywhere I go, there you are. (I was just reading about the SAT and Saxon because that's what my dd is going to use next year.) I recently bought the Holt Life Science text for my dd to use in 6th grade. My niece uses it in PS and after flipping through it at her house, I found it appealing enough to purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I am using AOPS for myself and I find it to be an excellent math book. They explain the how and the why with well written text. Me too, I had to start with Pre-Algebra :sleep: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I really like the NotGrass America program. It's more textbooky, and it's been a fabulous year with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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