My 12 year old daughter missed a week of school due to illness. I’m trying to help her with her missed Social Studies homework (The Ottoman Empire) but she’s not allowed to bring her book home and everything I find on Google is way to long, detailed, and/or academic to search through repeatedly for help. Does anybody know of good resources for 7th grade Social studies?
I know homework questions are frowned upon here, but I’m looking for help finding help, not asking for direct help from the SDMB.
You need to get in touch with your daughter’s teacher directly. If she’s not allowed to bring her book home, the teacher should be able to provide appropriate resources to help her catch up.
What time period is she studying? The Ottoman Empire went from 1299 through 1922, so no wonder you are tripping over a huge amount of data. Narrowing it down to the pertinent years will help you. For that matter, it would help us point you in the right direction.
However, as Johnny Bravo said, contact the teacher for the worksheets, or at least the time period.
Um, explain why she’s not allowed to bring the book home. Is she the only student using it? Is this a class that doesn’t involve reading and doing homework at home? I’m a teacher and I find this to be a very unusual arrangement.
Its common in my district where one book is used by all Social Studies classes - the kids don’t have their own books. High school they do - middle school they didn’t ever have social studies homework, so no need for books for everyone.
Budget cuts are great.
But our kids can “check out” a book from a teacher for this purpose. There are a few spares.
My first step would be your child’s teacher. If they aren’t responsive, start copying the principal. If he isn’t responsive, call and get a meeting with you, teacher and principal. This happens quickly, escalate fast - she gets today to respond to your email, the principal gets tomorrow, or you have an after school meeting on Thursday or Friday. Because your daughter was out due to illness, they should not only loan her the book, but the worksheets and materials needed to catch up. If the book can’t leave the classroom, find out what time in the morning before school the teacher would like you daughter in the room. Seriously, be a pain in the ass, you’ll get the book. Don’t let your daughter say “Dad, they won’t let us take the book home” and let it stand there.
Is the homework something that could theoretically be done with outside resources (e.g. “List five political positions recognized by the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century and write a paragraph on the major duties and powers of each”, albeit perhaps with a little more difficulty since you actually have to, y’know, do research as opposed to just reading the textbook), or is the assignment more like “Do questions 5-10 on Page 56 and complete the Chapter 6 Enrichment Project on Page 62.” where you really do need the book?
It can be harder than that, but that is where you start.
You need to have the title, the author, the date published & the name of the publisher. Check all the traditional sources. If and only if you strike out, check the publisher’s website.
If you have to direct-buy from McGraw-Hill for example, it USED to be possible (for a Really Hefty fee) to get one printed, even if that text book was generally out of print.
From experience (because of the book situation, we bought a Math book for our kids every year for home use, then I homeschooled last year using similar textbooks to what my kids got in public school), you have to be really really sure you get the right book. Publishers will print a Texas edition and a Florida edition and a California edition - and they’ll look the same. Buying off Amazon can be difficult in these circumstances. The problems scramble, in Social Studies they don’t even cover the same material.
And its expensive - even used.
I’m betting dollars to donuts that “Dad, they won’t let us take the book home” is what is happening - and the kid is right - except in those circumstances where its appropriate - like she was out ill. The kid communication system between school and home is terribly error prone and inaccurate - and yet, teachers, parents, and administrators continue to rely on it despite newfangled things like “email” and “websites”