Are you thinking about a new homeschool year?  We are almost at that time again.  Homeschool convention time.  If you are new to homeschooling this task of planning for your child or children’s education can be a daunting one.  Even for seasoned homeschool moms or dads this can be a complex responsibility.  There seem to be new approaches developing every year.

One method I discovered and was impressed with is notebooking.

Some of you may have heard about notebooking in homeschool circles and questioned, "What is notebooking?"

Notebooking is a learning technique in home education.  There are numerous methods used in educating our young ones at home and notebooking can be utilized with all.

Let’s define notebooking.  Notebooking is a term given to what is similar to journaling.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary definition of journal is

Journal—A diary; an account of daily transactions and events.

This is what our children will be doing when they apply this style of learning to their school work.  They will gather information on the topic being studied.  They will write reports, draw pictures, make a timeline, make maps, etc. and assemble it in their notebooks, thus the term “notebooking”. 

Notebooking allows children to have enjoyment while learning.  Notebooking can bring out a child’s imagination while achieving success in their education.  When they begin to gather information and start building their notebooks, the information they are learning, writing, and drawing about becomes entrenched in their minds.  They will also have a magnificent illustration of their own skill that is preserved to show to family and friends.

Let me remind you that notebooking is not for everyone.  Every child learns differently.  You need to figure out what your child/children’s learning style is and implement matter that is conducive to their style of learning.  Take your time and do your research and things will fall into place.  I have been homeschooling for over 10 years now and I still find new ways of doing things.  Remember there is no right or wrong way to homeschool. 

I hope that you will join me each week here on “The Company Porch” as we talk about notebooking.  Below is a link to a form I created to help you stay organized at those homeschool conventions.

My Homeschool Agenda

Happy Homeschooling,
Lisa Golda

Lisa Golda lives in Texas with her husband Tom and their 2 daughters Katie and Maryanna.  She has homeschooled for over 10 years, creating notebooking pages and” how to’s”.