Notebooking & Lapbooking.
Pure, fresh, clean paper, the crisp strokes of the creator’s pencil--mixed with a splash of inspiration, make notebooking a unique educational keepsake.
Notebooking can be as simple as you like, or as grand as you can imagine.
No other learning tool has such potential for individuality and versatility.
Each page represents the limitless boundaries of a living education unrestricted by a textbook or workbook.
What is Notebooking ?
Notebooking has been used for centuries. It may be in the form of a worn out recipe book, a nature journal, a scrapbook, an artist’s sketch book, a family history or a scientist’s reports. All these are types of notebooks. Put simply it is an educational scrapbook or journal.
Notebooking is a great way to create a record of learning in a creative and meaningful way.
Learning is not limited to the textbook or worksheet but to what has captured the child’s interest or what the child knows. As they create their notebooking pages they learn. As they record their information they discover and make a reference for the future.
Notebooking is a skill and an art. It gives children a sense of accomplishment, with a stamp of originality. Notebooking offers a vehicle for collecting a range of ideas and subjects and melding them into a treasured testimony of their learning journey.
A Book of Centuries (pictured below from 7 & 8 year olds) is like a giant timeline notebook that records the whole of history.
In this a student records brief facts, narrations, maps and sketches about the events of history as they occurred.
Types of Notebooks
Ring Binder Folders
Notebook pages are placed into a clear sleeved protector in the folder. The advantage of this method is your page is protected and you can shuffle, add, subtract and/or move pages about. We use this for our history notebooks and book of centuries. They are also good for specific unit studies and homeschool planners.
Here are some instructions on making your own homeschool planner notebook.
Blank scrapbook
Notebook entries are made directly on to the pages of the scrapbook. This works best when it doesn’t matter if the entries are random, or you know you won’t want to add things later on. We use blank art books for Nature Journaling and our bible notebooks. They would also be good for or recording experiments. This method is good because it is compact and easily transportable.Music notebooking Pages (from 7 & 9 year old)
Beginning Notebooking
Notebooking can be used for many different subjects and approaches.
Choose the topic to study and select a main reference book (or spine). From this book you can plan a basic direction to begin your study.
Here are some Australian spines.
- The Wonderland of Nature is excellent for nature journaling.
- Our Sunburnt Country for an Australian History Notebook.
Then you allow the child to determine what goes into the notebook. You may give helpful suggestions for the more reluctant children.
Your aim is to spark their imagination and creativity so that they will ‘own’ the notebook and put their own stamp on it.
The pages could include; chapter summaries from a book; narrations, copywork or dictation, maps, field trip accounts, poems, songs, recipes, newspaper articles, fashions, photos and personal reflections.
Your aim is to spark their imagination and creativity so that they will ‘own’ the notebook and put their own stamp on it. You may give helpful suggestions for the more reluctant children.
The pages should have a written part and be aesthetically pleasing. They can glue in pictures or add their own artwork. Encourage them to label the pictures or refer to them in their writings.
The pages could include; chapter summaries from a book; narrations, copywork or dictation, maps, field trip accounts, poems, songs, recipes, newspaper articles, fashions, photos and personal reflections.
The Book of Samuel notebooking pages (5 & 7 year old)
Who should notebook?
Notebooking is great for all ages. Its versatility allows you to shape the notebook for each child.
We all work on a topic together. With my younger two, who aren’t great writers as yet, recording their information mainly with pictures. It’s amazing how much detail they can put into one drawing. After they have finished I ask them to explain the picture and I ask them what they would like me to write on their notebook.
Many homeschooling families report that notebooking is a great encouragement for them. When they look back on previous notebooks they are proud of what they have done. I know my own children especially enjoy the admiration from family and friends.
Nature Journal notebooking pages (9 and 10 year old)
What then is a lapbook?
A lapbook (or shutter book) is a manila folder that is folded in different ways with interesting extras hidden inside.
Lapbooking is great for all sorts of unit studies and topics.
Lapbooks and notebooking have a lot in common.
Lapbooking tend to be more useful for children who wont do a lot of writing.
Find out more about our:
New Zealand Flags and Symbols Lapbook
Notebooking Resources To Help You Get Started
The Wonderland of Nature Journal.
Here we have provided some of our own ideas about nature journaling and nature study in an Australian environment, plus referenced some useful resources for nature journaling and provided notebooking pages. We use The Wonderland of Nature as the reference for this book.
This resource was put together by a homeschool family who love notebooking. There are over 100 notebooking templates for your Australian History studies, plus 15 bonus templates pages that correspond to each chapter from Our Sunburnt Country.
Over 50 notebooking templates for your New Zealand studies.This resource can also be use with Nature Talks to New Zealanders.
This resource has a narrative story about Bach and some notebooking resources.
Make your own homeschool notebook. Why let the kids have all the fun! We also have some instruction how to make your own homeschool planner.