Finishing Textbook

[sixtimemomma]

I have a question...I have been struggling with this for years. Is completing 3/4 of a textbook good enough? Is that considered a full course/credit?

[AnitaMcC]

I have a question...I have been struggling with this for years. Is completing 3/4 of a textbook good enough? Is that considered a full course/credit?

In schools, it is common for the last few chapters to not get covered.

I plan for my twins to complete the full text to get full credit. But I will play it by ear and see what happens.

[eclecticmom]

Wow! That's a loaded question with many different answers. We're constantly debating this in our co-op. Textbooks are really only a tool to convey information to the child. It really depends what subject you're talking about - some are more sequential than others.

Personally, I complete only textbook information that the kids haven't already mastered. If they've mastered it (truly mastered it) then I don't make them do it over and over again, so, in a sense, we never complete our textbooks. Also, it depends what subject you're talking about.

Here are some things to think about:
1. Does the book next year start by reviewing what they learn in the last 1/4 of the textbook.
2. Am I leaving out major concepts that they'll never pick up? If so, will it matter?
3. Can I (will I) spend August next year covering only the new concepts of the last part of the previous year's book?

It might help to find a friend who is gifted in that subject area and show them what you will miss to see if it will be a problem. Usually, my girlfriends ask me that question about math textbooks. Since the textbooks build sequentially I encourage them to cover the new concepts during the following August/September and then move into the new book.

[SusanAR]

I think that most "homeschool" texts (Apologia etc.) must be completed to receive a credit; however, I don't think that standard high school texts must be completed. The publishers are trying to accommodate numerous markets, so the teacher chooses according to their state standards etc. Of course it depends on which subject you are considering.
susan

[Starr]

NY State says 80% :) .

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Most people I've talked with (other hs moms, teachers, administrators) say that 75 to 80% is the average of what most classrooms complete. I aim to complete 100%, but most of the time we fall short of that. I also use the %of the book that is completed as a test score and it gets averaged into the final grade. That is motivation to complete at least 90% for an "easy A".

Some books, like Apologia, are finished of by just reading the last module or two without tests.

[Karin]

We generally aim to finish textbooks. However, my dd will not do the last chapter of her Algebra 1 text because it's a review and this is her second Algebra 1 course, so I think it's unnecessary.

I've been planning for her Chemistry Course, and not one of the ways the Instructor's Manual suggests for a semester includes all 19 of the chapters. The poster course uses chapters 1-12, and then there are different options to do it with each outline giving a different emphasis. She'd like to do it all, but there's one or two chapters she might just read as they appear to involve a lot of review of other things she's studied. Those are chapters after the first 12.

[LoriM]

The textbook is the "spine" of any course we cover, even math. So, no, we definitely don't have to finish an entire book, but we do need to cover the scope and sequence of the material we set out to cover in a 36-week period. Some books are written with a much longer scope (and out of sequence!) than the course we use it for...some courses have a fairly standard "scope" and they might require three or four texts to cover the entire span of information we'd like to cover.

Ideally, you will design a course to meet the rigor and challenge your student is capable of completing in the time allotted, and you will include a "typical" scope and sequence for a high school level course.

If you are designing a course that is in your field of expertise, you'll have more knowledge base to draw on to decide what is a right balance of material covered and depth of that material. If you are outside your field of expertise, you might need to pull together other people's plans and blend them to fit your needs. Don't hesitate to just google things like "high school chemistry syllabus" or "American History scope and sequence" or even "topics from Algebra 1" and put together a reasonable list.

HTH!

[creekland]

We finish all textbooks as I feel what the author wrote in the end is just as important as that in the middle or beginning, but our state doesn't require more than 75%. Sometimes we 'finish' our school year for the state and still have a week or two to go in a subject or two.

Our local ps never finishes any book and sometimes only gets about half way - if that. However, we chose to homeschool so my kids would get a better education than if they were in ps.

Many homeschoolers we know do not finish books. We're unusual for our area... but I don't plan to change.

[Linda1951]

what I know she does not know. Saves us time, What she does know comes up on the test on the chapter anyway and if I find out she has forgotten it, we review it again.

[sixtimemomma]

Thanks this has been so helpful!