Notebooking

Notebooking is a great way to shake things up in the literature-based style of home education.  One only needs to check the topic before the reading (today's was Daniel Boone) and simply do an internet search on the topic plus the word "notebooking."

I have a lifetime membership to Notebookingpages.com, so I just printed a simple one-page document with a picture of Daniel Boone for my BKSK 3 group.  I read the entire Daniel Boone assignment from the Beginner's American History (to make up for taking yesterday off) and assigned a "complete" written piece on whatever part of the chapter struck their fancy.

I do not assign a number of sentences or a certain length of writing.  I just want them to write and produce something that I can put in a page protector in a three-ring binder for all eternity.  Notebooking really is that easy.

I've over-thought the whole notebooking topic for years; all it did was set me up for failure.  I found all sorts of really cool free printables for different subjects, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money in colored ink.  I tried lapbooking, which is just notebooking in 3-D, and my kids hated all the cutting, folding, and gluing.  I tried the Evan Moor History Pockets, but again, my kids hated all the cutting, folding, and gluing and I hated all the photocopies I had to make.

But notebooking when the mood strikes? That keeps things interesting and prevents waste and burnout.

Just make sure you keep your notebooking pages away from your baby sister!

Box Day!

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote that we (my husband and I) weren't sure if my 13 year old would be joining the homeschool next year or if he would go to the local middle school.  The main reason he would go was that I didn't think I could continue to meet everyone's educational needs, especially with three little ones three years old and younger.  The last two years have been extremely difficult thanks to L (3yo) and especially H (1 1/2yo).  H was born in November of 2013, right at the beginning of a school year, and was extremely colicky until the following summer.  With another baby joining us next month, I thought for sure he would be better off in public school...

...only we don't live in the best of areas.  The public school does have nice teachers and some nice kids, but overall, this isn't our first choice for "socialization" or character development.  Our small town has a library, a grocery store, and a fire station.  It also has three bars, four marijuana dispensaries, a tobacco shop, a liquor store, and a wine store...all within walking distance of one of three food banks.  Since over 60% of the students attending the schools qualify for the free/reduced lunch program, the schools just hand out free food for both breakfast and lunch to all kids, plus they send them home with backpacks full of food on the weekends.  Our little region is also famous for its meth houses, homeless camps, and bank-owned homes overrun with squatters.  The school buses are used as public transportation during the day while the kids are in school.  I know they don't clean the buses before the kids get back on.  And my friends often report they find drug needles at the bus stops.

After we tested IJ (he scored very high for his age) and much talk about social issues, finding alternatives to the "teacher experience," and admitting that whatever path we choose will mean work for me-no matter what-it was easy to decide to keep him home.  I happily ordered BKSK 8th grade Reading with History and it arrived today, along with the IGs for the younger kids.

When I was unpacking all the new books, I wished I had been homeschooled.  Maybe I will take the Reading with History course with him!