Posted in Teaching Thoughts

I love it when I can justify scrapbooking purchases as doing double-duty as homeschool supplies!

Recently, Kate and I finished a lapbook project and scrapbook tools are *so* handy for these.

Lapbooks seem to be a growing facet of homeschool educational resources.  There are several companies that produce lapbook guides and materials, some of which correspond to popular curriculum choices. 

Essentially, a lapbook is a portfolio of miniature books that cover various aspects of a topic.  The booklets or display items are created from cardstock and then attached to a display base - usually shutter-folded filing folders. 

Our homeschool group recently had an International Night and, to combine our participation with our studies, my daughter presented on Ancient China. 

Though we've done one poster for our science fair project, lapbooks are a bit more young-child sized, allowing for them to do more of the construction work. 

For the contents of the books, sometimes Kate narrated to me and I wrote for her, sometimes she narrated and I typed the info, and other times she wrote the material herself.  The scrapbooking tools come in handy for helping young hands make a neat job of the project.  And we love scrapbooking adhesives for these projects as well.

This particular lapbook was an eBook from Hands of a Child and was rated for "multi-age" students.  We did not choose to do all of the mini books - some of them covered topics that were a bit advanced for a first-grader.  But, I was pleased with how much we could do from the project.

We added a few things on our own.  After searching the web for photos of various art items from ancient China, we had several good images leftover.  We used these to fill-in some of the blank areas on the base.  We also added the dragon booklet, using some material we had read from another source.  I think my daughter liked this booklet the best, of course!

There are several companies that offer lapbooking materials in addition to Hands of a Child, including Knowledge Box and Live and Learn Press.  Each company has their own range of products, styles, and age ranges.  Each company also has a Yahoo Group for their products and to learn from others how to make the best use of the available materials and internet sources.

Depending on your child and his or her ability, you can gear products for a lower or higher age range.  I usually look for products that are geared for 3rd to 8th as I'm fairly confident that we can use a majority of the projects. 

Also, reading the descriptions of what the project covers can help determine if it's appropriate for your child.

For instance, an ancient Rome pack that asks for a biography of Ceasar or to describe the impact of the Punic Wars on the Roman Empire might not work for my 1st grader.  However, one that covers Roman pets, Roman toys, Pompeii, and the Circus Maximum might suit her fairly well.

Also, lapbooks can be a great tool to get older students interested in a difficult topic.  Some projects start at a 6th-grade level and require much more from the student.  The booklets are more involved and the opportunity for the student to expand on their own is much greater.

Lapbooks work well for us because they usually parallel material we're currently studying.  My daughter isn't a fan of review and dislikes constant repetition.  But, package it in a little booklet that she made herself and it's much less odious and I can learn what she's retained and help reinforce or clarify ideas as we go.

While it wouldn't suit our homeschool to use lapbooks exclusively, they definitely have earned consideration for future use as they correspond to our studies. 

Even though we have a long-range plan, there's no reason that we can't have fun with the topics!