Does anyone use public school textbooks?

[meganrussell]

I have never used them before, but I found one at the Goodwill store and it looks fabulous. I also ordered a ton from eBay for a very small price. I need a simple year for my older kids and focus more on my littles. Has anyone else done this? I did a Google search and couldn't find anything....

[Mike in SA]

Often.  Jurgensen Geometry is widely used by homeschoolers, as are Dolciani's math books, Holt's Science and Technology series, Glencoe World History, a number of foreign languages...

 

 

[madteaparty]

I did order the NY common core aligned geometry because I thought DS was going to school. But it was very expensive and the teacher manual (which I need) was hard to find.

I did find the entire curriculum for what they call here "global 9" (world history until circa 1700) online, but haven't used it.

[marbel]

I've used a few high school textbooks. Some of our best homeschool years were ones where we followed a textbook and a purchased syllabus (Oak Meadow).  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We use Biology by Miller and Levine. I mostly follow the Kolbe Academy syllabus but use a different set of labs.

[Zoo Keeper]

We use Dolciani for Pre- Algebra and Algebra.  Jacobs for Algebra and Geo as well.  I also like Holt Geometry. 

 

I'd also use Miller Levine Biology, if I had it.

 

We also use Warriner's Grammar and Comp in  grades 7-12--the version I'm using is older texts from the 60's and  70's (local private school was cleaning out the book closet and I rescued them from the burn pile...)

 

I tend to use older versions of texts mostly because I'm a penny pinching tightwad frugal. :)

[mirabillis]

We love Dolciani Pre-A & Algebra.

Also happy with Jurgenson's Geometry

And Holt Biology. 

:thumbup:

[meganrussell]

Great! I did buy Holt and GLENCOE, as well as some Prentice Hall and Scott Forsman. They are older versions, but look great. I think it will work well!

[foxbridgeacademy]

I do almost exclusively.  There's a lot of plans out there already for many of them so if you really want easy I'd look for those then buy the texts that go with them.

 

[Alessandra]

I have used ps textbooks too, especially for science. Usually multiple, multiple authors, everything quadruple checked, great diagrams and illustrations.

[meganrussell]

I do almost exclusively. There's a lot of plans out there already for many of them so if you really want easy I'd look for those then buy the texts that go with them.

I haven't seen anything like this. I've googled and can't find a thing! Could you give me some tips on how to find this.

[eternalsummer]

The best way is to look for the grade level and see if you can find a syllabus online.  So we use Prentice Hall's Biology (the one with the dragonfly on the front); it's often used as a 9th grade bio book, so I look up Prentice Hall biology syllabus (sometimes I add the search term "notes" or "powerpoint") and then just cruise through the results to see how teachers are organizing the material, how long it takes, what videos they may show with certain chapters, how they organize their notes (this has been very useful for DD as this is her first year really doing note taking), sometimes descriptions of labs, assignments, etc.

[meganrussell]

The best way is to look for the grade level and see if you can find a syllabus online. So we use Prentice Hall's Biology (the one with the dragonfly on the front); it's often used as a 9th grade bio book, so I look up Prentice Hall biology syllabus (sometimes I add the search term "notes" or "powerpoint") and then just cruise through the results to see how teachers are organizing the material, how long it takes, what videos they may show with certain chapters, how they organize their notes (this has been very useful for DD as this is her first year really doing note taking), sometimes descriptions of labs, assignments, etc.

Thank you!

[Lanny]

I don't think the problem in the Public Schools in the USA is the textbooks. I think many of them are very good. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I have, but to be honest we haven't loved them.  With some subjects it really does not matter at all (math, for example). With others, that's one sure way to kill interest in learning about something.  YMMV of course. 

[katilac]

Sure. We've used Holt for science and math, and all the books we used included a pacing guide that was helpful for scheduling. One used Miller Levine for biology.

 

Breaking the Barrier for French. 

 

Humanistic Traditions is our spine for history. 

 

We have a stack if high school literature books, but they are more of a supplement, not what we use daily. They are cheap to buy used. Sometimes they have stories or poetry we don't already have, sometimes I get ideas for questions or assignments. They also include some short author biographies, with a bit of historical context, and that's been helpful.