31 Days Homeschool and Textbooks

Textbooks are an integral part of our homeschool. While we don’t use textbooks every day or for every subject, I have found them to still be very important. Some years we seem to use them less than others. When the kids were younger, we did unit studies most of the time and. (But more on that later.) We use textbooks as tools in our learning. It helps me make sure I am covering all that needs to be covered. But textbooks just give an overview without going fully in depth in something. When we are reading a chapter in the text and the kids show a real interest in what is being covered, we take time off from the textbook to explore the subject deeper. Getting books from the library to expand our study on the subject is a common occurrence in our house. I love to find books that make the subject come alive for the kids. What makes me smile is when one of the kids decides to dive deeper in a subject. When we studied the solar system we checked out several books. Below was just round one, we went back and revisited the subject again a few months later with even more books from the library.

If we can we do hands on activities like make a sundial, or go on field trips to help bring what we are studying to life. Whether we sit outside late at night and watch a meteor shower or the eclipse during an afternoon, or watch Venus transit the sun. Whatever we can do to bring something off the pages of a book and into real life we do.

Now you would think with my view of textbooks, we wouldn’t have that many but the truth is we have a ton. I actually collect them it seems. Many were given to us and others I have bought. I can tell you at this point I have used texts from several different companies and they all have their pros and cons. It really depends on the learning style of your child on what is best. But the most important thing to remember is that you don’t actually need a textbook to learn. The most powerful and rememberable learning experiences cannot be found in a textbook.

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