From Cindy Rushton's Desk(TOP!)!

How To Plan the PERFECT Lapbook… by Cindy Rushton

How To Plan the PERFECT Lapbook…

by Cindy Rushton

Didn’t you just WONDER about that title??? Is there a PERFECT way to plan out a Lapbook? Well, NO! And…YES! J

No, there is not a 3-step plan to making the PERFECT Lapbook. In fact, just sit down and look at the examples of different Lapbooks out there…aren’t they ALL just adorable? Aren’t they ALL simply perfect? I love the variety of Lapbooks out there. There is no perfect topic. No perfect layout. Each and every Lapbook is simply precious!

So, did I say that there was a PERFECT way to plan a Lapbook? Well, yes…YOUR WAY! Find the things that will make Lapbooking work for you. Find the steps that fit into your schedule. Find the tools that make it easy for you. Then, do it YOUR way! J

When I first got started, I was truly wondering which way would be the very best for planning a Lapbook. I function best by having a plan. I also function best by knowing what to expect. This was a great hindrance to Lapbooking for me right at first. I was so accustomed to the flexibility and NON-planning of our notebooks that it was a bit daunting to think of where to begin with our Lapbooks.

If that is not enough, I really wanted to be sure that our booklets coordinated and that our colors were complimentary. I have always been very peculiar about color and matching up everything just right—that is an area that I can be ALMOST neurotic! J

I asked on the Lapbooking loop for advice. My friend Amy Pak gave me some of the best help I could have received. I want to share her advice with you here. PLUS, you HAVE to see her cute history timeline products AND her awesome website—see: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TimelineHelps/)  Here is her email back to me:

Hi, Cindy!

So good to see you on this list! It's a natural fit for you--isn't it refreshing
to find new ways to excite our school days? I love stumbling upon another
creative way to love learning...

When it comes to lapbooks, yes, they often do take a little more planning, but
don't let this daunt you. You'll warm up to the idea! There are ways to
"pre-plan" or work with existing booklets. One thought is to make several dummy
copies of a variety of book folds.

The PRE-PLAN METHOD:
Using plain paper, create a few of each type at different sizes. Keep them as
masters with just measurements written on them. That way, when it comes time to
create a lapbook, you can get an immediate idea what mini-books or brochures
will fit into your file folders. As your child goes to create each one, use the
measurements of the ones you chose to fit inside the folders. Then you know
everything will have its place in the end!

The EXISTING BOOKLETS:
So you have several already made little booklets and you don't know how to make
them all fit? Create flaps for your files! Big flaps, small flaps--it will look
like a "lift-n-see" book when you're done! Make the flaps big enough to hold
each project and hinge them well with clear packing tape to an edge of the file,
or create full page flaps to lift and find another page beneath it! Flaps can
practically go on endlessly, as flaps can also be adhered to other flaps!

Clear as mud?

In His service,
Amy Pak

Don’t you just love this? Amy’s ideas were just freeing to me! They made everything fall into place. Since then, we have had a potpourri of ways that we have put our Lapbooks together.

Þ    On my (Yes, I did one and Elisabeth did one! Both are completely different!) Presidents and Elections Lapbook, I prepared my booklets during our study, then planned out my extensions based upon how I wanted to present my booklets as a wrap up project. It worked great on that project.

Þ    On Elisabeth’s Presidents and Elections Lapbook, she wanted to set up her Lapbook using Matchbook Booklets for each President. She used one booklet per President. She included a picture of the President on the outside of her booklet (she got if from a President’s Game that was shared on the Lapbooking E-Group). On the little flap for the closure, she included their name and term of service (also clipped from the game pieces). On the inside, she used a little chart for each President that gave information about them that she thought was neat (she got it from a workbook that we bought from Sam’s Discount Warehouse).  After she made each of the little Matchbook Booklets, she figured out how many extensions she would need to have all of them displayed like she wanted them displayed. She also thought out how she wanted to begin. She began with the first President placed on the bottom extension with the chronology going forward to the top. Now, she can add to her Lapbook at any time as we have new Presidents through the years (isn’t she sooo smart??).  This project was made while she worked on the Matchbook Booklets. After she finished the last President, all she had to do was decorate the Lapbook insides with stickers (she is a Scrapbooking NUT!) and the cover with the design that she wanted. So, on this Lapbook, the project directed the study.

Þ    For our On the Go with Lewis and Clark Lapbook, I decided to make the Lapbooks at the end of the study as a wrap-up for the entire study. It contained an overview of the study. Nothing in depth (that was included in our notebooks). Rather, the Lapbook gives an overview of what we covered.

Þ    Our Branches of Government Lapbook contains the booklets that were left over from our Presidents and Elections study.

No right way or wrong way…just the way it worked out! We have been making it work for us. You can make it work for you! Just have fun!