For those that do lapbooks:

Do you use them in addition to a "formal" curriculum? Or do you gather your own books from the library & internet, etc and then do a lapbook and that is your curriculum?

I guess I'm trying to see if I can do a subject, say history or science with just lapbooking (researching on our own and completing a lapbook) Or if I still need a textbook, etc to go along with it.

Opinions?

My kids have tried a few but keep loosing intrest in them but that is a personal thing with my kids. Alot of the lapbooks I have found  seem to be a complete topic so if you were doing a lapbook on Bees all the information is inclused on that topic. I found alot of free lapbboks online and you might want to try a few of the free ones to see if it's what your expecting.

angel

Hey Char,

We just started doing lapbooking/notebooking this year and my kids love it!  My oldest has pretty much hated any and all history and science books.  She's thinks they are boring.  Well after reading a couple pages in several of them I thought the same thing.  When she was in elementary we did science with activities or experiments, so a friend suggested I try notebooking.

I use some that are from Hands of a child, but I use Amanda Bennett's stuff, and I find stuff on Currclick.  Some are all inclusive. But some let you do it just like a unit study.  Now my kids didn't care for the file folders, they would prefer to keep three ring notebooks and add to it as we go.  Right now my 12 yo has one for States, Government and World.  My 7yo has one for States and Presidents (government).  For example, we are just getting ready to start South Dakota, I find coloring sheets, puzzles, and easy items for my 7yo.  But for my 12 yo I find puzzles but I also find harder lessons.  Like on the National Park Service website, they have the junior ranger badges.  Some of these have articles they need to read,  ideas they need to think about and write what they think should have happened or should happen. I'm also using the Which Way USA? State books for fun info.

We are also getting ready to start one for the Olympics and that one is just going to be in one of those little 3prong folders.  Since there won't be as much stuff going in there right now.

One thing I have noticed is that they seem to retain more information this way.  I also have invested in some scrapbooking items like the paper, some stamps,  alphabet stickers so they can have fun decorating them.  I find alot of this at my dollar store. (I think they are beginning to know me by my first name) lol 

Sorry this is a novel and if I ramble I apologize.  But I hope this helps and feel free to pm me.

We love lapbooks. You can do them exclusively or as a supplement. That's the beauty of it, it's up to you!  You can buy them or make up your own. There's also a site ,  Homeschool Helper, that has a ton of them for free. You can stuff to them or leave stuff out. Completely up to you. Can finish them or if the kids lose interest you can move on to something else and put them aside for a while.

We never used text books with ours. We used some books we had and hit the library for ones we didn't. (I'm out of printer ink so it's been a while since we've done one and the kids are begging to do them again.lol)

Thanks for all the info.

Stacy B that website looks loaded with info and I like all the templates for flaps and things. That would be a great time saver. I was just thinking of making my own patterns but that is much easier.

Stacey C - my kids love scrapbooking and making cards so I thought they might enjoy lapbooking to. You said they seem to retain more info this way. I'm hoping this will help them remember things since it is hands on.

Angel I see that you're a boxer, I'll be checking your shelf. =-)

My kids loved lapbooks and I'm using them with my preschooler now.  They also transported easy between home and hospital.  I love to scrapbook and my kids like being crafty, so both notebooking and lapbooking really appealed to me.  :o)  It can be alot of cutting and prep, but I do it while watching a movie or show at night, sitting and waiting in clinic, etc.

Here is another great resource Lapbooking

Live and Learn Press has very complete lapbooks and you can get several free when you join the yahoo group

Char I'm kinda running low on books right now but i will restock when things calm down a little.  I'm trying to get my kids intrested in scrapbooking and maybe once they have tried it they may like the lapbooks more. I might try a much simpler one to get them used to it i have started my kids on a topic I thought they would love but if i'm not sitting there with them telling them step by step what to do they just quit working on it.

I would like to ask a question to some of you that are having better luck with lapbooking how much of the lapbooking is done by your kids independantly? How much time do you spend helping them? What ages are your kids able to work alone on this kind of project?

"What ages are your kids able to work alone on this kind of project?"

Good question, I'd like to know that too.

Carla, if you don't mind me asking, how old is your son? How long has he had leukemia? It has to be doubly-hard to homeschool when caring for a cancer patient. I admire your determination and strength.  I'll pray for him and your family.

"What ages are your kids able to work alone on this kind of project?"

For us it kind of depends.  My 12yo I can give the basics to and she can pretty much work on her own.  I tell her what we are doing, give her access to the sheets I already have printed or she can print off ones I have on the computer and she just reads the books and starts filling in her pages.  Now my 7yo I look for pages that he can do on his own like puzzles, etc.  But when I read the books to him I need to spend a little more time while he writes because he is  still learning to spell.  But I try to let them do as much as possible themselves.

What about anyone else?

on a site i was reading today they say to use it along with the curriculem. oh i'm to tired to think come back tomorrow for this sorry

I think I'd like to try ABC ones for my little guy (he's 5).

Anyone know where I can print off color-in letters about 2-3 inches high?

My son is 7 and has been battling Leukemia since Sept 2005.  For alot of the 05-06 school year he had a homebound teacher.  Then my husband and I decided I could do just as well with him, so the 06-07 school year we homeschooled.  We brought our oldest daughter home to school as well.  It was challenging, most of our "home"schooling was done inpatient at the hospital, because he had relapsed during that time and began treatments all over again.   He returned to PS this year and in March we found out he relapsed again.  He has been in the hospital 5weeks this coming Friday.  It's likely he won't be coming home for another month yet. 

Alpha printables...

First School

Kid Zone

The Sandpaper Letter template at the Montessori is fun for letting them run their fingers over the letter, really helped mine with handwriting too.

Alphabet Notebook

Oh Carla, I'm so sorry!  I'll be keeping your family in our prayers. 

That's hard Carla, but God is in control. I'll be praying the He will strengthen you and your sweet family through all of this.

We use lapbooks as a way to enhance our curriculum, which is a combination of Five in a Row and Homeschool Share unit studies. They are a fun, organized way for the children to gather and record what they have learned. Some of the units we do lapbooks for are topic specific, while others are literature based. There are tons of free lapbooks, and units to go with them, at Homeschool Share.

As for what my children can do on their own, at 8 and 10 they pretty much do all the cutting, folding, and pasting. We read over the lessons together, and then they do the components. 10yo can read through the lessons, pretty much find the reference materials she needs to complete any components, and work pretty independently. Sometimes my children are working on different topics/lapbooks, and sometimes they will work on one lapbook together.

We tried lapbooking a few years ago and it was a failure. I ended up doing most of the work, there wasn't really any interest on their part, etc. I think it was just an age thing, as now they want lapbooks all the time. So don't be discouraged if it isn't your child's thang now, try again at a later date.

HTH,

Wende

I didn't read all the posts but another good lap booking sorce is www.handsofachild.com