8th grade science with no book / study materials

[SKL]

Well, my kid has been warning me for some time about her science grade.  She feels she isn't getting it.  This is a brand new science teacher (her first teaching job), and she doesn't give the kids books or anything else to take home.  Also there have been no graded assignments/quizzes sent home and no grades posted until this morning.  (School started a full month ago.)

So this morning I logged in and saw 60% (F) for said kid in science.  An hour later it said 89 (B).  The difference was that the teacher deleted one item that had been a zero - something about a reading check / quiz.

For context, this kid tries to do well in school, but she does have difficulty with new concepts and retention.  Currently, with the B in science, her grade point average is 3.5 with most grades in the 90s.  So she is generally a good student, but she needs to work hard for it, and a lot of that work is done at home.

During the "meet the teacher" session before school started, I asked the teacher about the book so I could buy one for home study, and she said she would send one home, but then she told my kids that she won't.  They aren't using a book ?? it's really not clear to me.

What would you do?  I feel like the teacher should give the kids some study materials so they can shore up whatever doesn't sink in during class.

[HomeAgain]

She may not have an extra book to send home.

I'd schedule a meeting with her, take a picture of the book myself along with the ISBN, and tell her that you will be ordering one for at home.

[SKL]

10 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

She may not have an extra book to send home.

I'd schedule a meeting with her, take a picture of the book myself along with the ISBN, and tell her that you will be ordering one for at home.

That's what I tried to do a month ago.  She said "actually we are using a bunch of different short books" and none were in the room at that time ... I tried to get info from my kids, but they were vague.

I can ask again, but what do I do if they really don't have a textbook we can study at home?

[HomeAgain]

30 minutes ago, SKL said:

That's what I tried to do a month ago.  She said "actually we are using a bunch of different short books" and none were in the room at that time ... I tried to get info from my kids, but they were vague.

I can ask again, but what do I do if they really don't have a textbook we can study at home?

Ugh. 
In that case, I'd be as sweet as pie, but focus the conversation on an actual, workable plan for your daughter and keep redirecting the teacher back to it if the conversation goes in another direction.

"I wanted to touch base with you about the materials that you are using in the classroom.  I would like to see them, please, so I know what to purchase for at home."

"That's not possible, blah, blah, blah, because I'm winging it, blah, blah blah..."

"That's fine, but the plan that is currently in place is not working for my daughter.  She needs study materials to go over the information later.  What is something I can do to help her be successful in your class?"

"No study materials, etc, etc., they need the information in class and to take notes, whatever."

"I understand. However, while we work on getting her successful with that in class, what can we do at home so that she isn't unprepared?"

"Nothing at home, you're fine."

"I understand your thoughts on this, but I need you to hear exactly what I am asking from you.  She needs a study plan for at home.  There are no books available, you have no handouts, there isn't a syllabus for her to refer to.  She needs a plan to help her master the material."

If you are still stonewalled, go above her head.

[mathnerd]

Most private middle schools in my area do not use a single text for science: they use a mishmash of books and online lessons from various sources to cobble together an unit for each topic. This is really hard for home study because the child needs to rely on memory, their classroom notes and hands-on experiments in class. What I would suggest is similar to what @HeighHo said: buy a used book for high school science and review the topic from it before the test. Ask the teacher specifically if she publishes a study guide before each test as most schools that do not use a specific textbook send home a study guide for each topic and at the minimum, they have url's to where the topic can be reviewed online.

Edited September 24, 2019 by mathnerd

[Farrar]

Most schools aren't using books at all for tons of subjects. Do you know if they're using the Next Gen science standards? Or your state's standards? I'd actually start there in terms of figuring out what to buy for some sort of review. However, I'm actually dubious that a general review will help her on a test for this class. It might. And it might be a good thing for her. But she needs the information for the test.

I'd also change your tactic a little with the teacher. Instead of saying, "I want the book," which she may not have (and it may not be up to her anyway - I think there's a good chance they didn't give her a textbook, which infuriates me, by the way, but I think it's SOP these days in schools)... I'd say something like, "Teacher, I know dd is struggling a little in your class. Dd needs specific visual reminders to study because without those, she doesn't retain information. I work with her on it at home. What can you give her that has the specific information that she needs to know for tests, quizzes, and assignments? I know there must be something in writing before these checks. Whatever it is, we'd just like to use it at home. If it's a book, we'll buy it ourselves."

If there's *nothing* in writing, I'd move it up the line to the vice principal or the team leader or homeroom teacher if it's a middle school team system. That's not okay that nothing be in writing. I don't care how well they cover it in class. Kids aren't mind readers to the teacher. There has to be a written reference - books, notes, handouts, excerpts, a video, a website, anything... or it's not a fair system.

[daijobu]

I agree with @HeighHo and @mathnerd to get any solid middle school textbook and study from that.  Did the teacher provide a syllabus?  You can also try to study the topics using websites and youtube videos.

[vonfirmath]

My son (7th grade)'s science doesn't have a textbook. :(  Yes, its a bit of a problem. He's also not great at taking notes/figuring out what to take notes on.

Nor have I seen a study guide come home. I'm going to be using some of these strategies to try to get something to help.

 

[kiwik]

Neither of my kids have ever had a text book for anything.  Does your (state I suppose in the US) have a list of topics etc for each year?  Or is there one on the major companies doing X state grade y books?  I used a Pearson NZ maths book at some points for instance to see roughly what they covered.  Very roughly because for instance some teachers teach the standard alorithm for subtraction and some don't.  Some do a fair amount of science and some do next to none.  NZ schools don't specialist until year 9/grade 8/highschool.

Are both kids in the same class still?  If the both told you roughly what they did that week you could backfill with Khan Academy or something.

[SKL]

Interesting that this topic popped up again today.  I did buy a book off Ebay that seemed to be what my kids were studying early in the year, but then I realized it was a different edition.  Better than nothing, but the kids don't consider it a good study resource.

This week the teacher switched mysteriously to chemistry, and still no book or materials.

Their test grades have fluctuated from F to A and everything in between.

I hope high school has freaking texts.