There is a program to convert old railroad lines to bike trails all over the country. The program is called Rails to Trails. It’s been a great program for cyclists and runners.
I propose a new program along the same lines. It’s called Textbooks to Tombstones. This program would be completely voluntary of course.
I’m 49 years old this year. I’m a Home School Dad. I never want to see another textbook for as long as I live. Workbooks are Fine. They help with repetition. The Bible, some literature, biographies, and books about individual interests are purposeful reading.
My kids have been using Starfall and ABC Mouse for 2 years. The kids are 5 and 3 1/2. They both navigate the sites on Ipads as well as I navigate the internet on a desktop.
When it comes to reading and math, I record the lessons I give my children with them in the video. I play the lessons back when the children need review or when I see a lesson hasn’t stuck. If I have to take a different approach, I record that as well. I notice mistakes in my instruction from time to time. I correct those too. I’m developing a skill set along with educating my children. It works.
Says Who?
My five year old picked up Dave Ramsey’s book the other day and started thumbing through it. My wife told her to go show it to me, and I’ll be darned if she didn’t climb up on my lap and start reading it to me. My wife and I really got a kick out of it.
Am I handicapping my kids for when it’s college time by not using textbooks?
No. Reading The Bible, some literature, some biographies, and books of individual interests helps develop a love for reading. Textbooks are a chore. There is nothing like a textbook to dissuade a child from purposeful reading. Should my children be so inclined to buy a college degree one day, they’ll know how to read purposefully and efficiently, and the textbooks will be covering their interests anyway. It won’t be a big deal then. I also won’t be paying for them.
Conclusion
Textbooks have outlived their usefulness. Heuristics that have not moved past the use of textbooks should be jettisoned like solid rocket boosters from the space shuttle. Should you feel your children need textbooks for their home school curriculum, please consider what your primary source is for factual, purposeful information today. I seriously doubt you’re getting your information from textbooks. Why should your children?
The only use for a textbook is an accessory to the authors headstone. The rest could be unbound and be allowed to decay into garden soil. For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.
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