Just Call Me Jamin! - How To Begin Lapbooking

Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, But He made something beautiful of my life...Bill Gaither - 1971

To find out why I call myself Jamin click here Just Call Me Jamin!

Nov. 3, 2006

How To Begin Lapbooking

Posted in Lapbooks

What Is A Lapbook?
A lapbook is a wonderful homeschooling tool! It is a regular file folder (or folders) refolded and filled with mini books and flaps. These books and flaps can be filled with all kind of information on any topic you choose. There is no right or wrong way to lapbook. Each lapbook is an original creation and will be a treasure for years to come!

Why Lapbook?
1. Lapbooking is a wonderful tool to use to teach and learn with your children! Lapbooking is exciting! Each on is like a little adventure into learning.

2. It is a way to teach your children how to become researchers and writers! Children learn to research as well as compose what they have learned so it can be presented to others.

3. It is a great place to keep a record of their work over the years. Before we began lapbooking I really had very little as far as examples of my children 's work. We use a Literature Based Curriculum and other than Math Books, handwriting wookbooks & a report here and there I didn't have many concrete examples of what they had learned. Once they began lapbooking this quickly changed! Suddenly we had these bright, colorful, exciting packages we could look at again and again. We began to find ourselves saying "Wouldn't that make a wonderful lapbook?" as we read book and went on field trips. We began to "think" like lapbookers. Taking notes on topics of interest and planning out what lapbooks we would like to make.

4. They are great for reviewing what they have learned since they are so much fun to pick up and look through over and over. How many time are your children going to drag a out a report they wrote last year and re-read it? These are like scrapbooks of their education. They will get them out again and again reviewing without even realizing it.

5. They are wonderful to show-off what you have been doing in school, whether it be to a school official or Grandma. In some States work samples must be shown to school officials through the year. What a impressive presentation lapbooks would be for this purpose! Even if you are only showing them to Grandma your children will be proud to share what they have learned. Plus you will never have to dread that end of year Project Fair again!

6. Lapbooks can be done on any topic and with any age of child. My 5 year old daughter loves to lapbook because of the creative process. Cutting, pasting, drawing, stickers, what's not to love? Because she is 5 her lapbooks are filled with Artwork and dictation. We read the information and she "tells back" what she wants in her flaps and minibooks. I have always loved this Charlotte Mason idea and this has been a fun way to incorporate it into our homeschooling.

7. They are less intimidating for reluctant writers. Lapbooking took 11 year old my reluctant writer and turned him into an amazing lapbooker! Instead of being faced with reams of blank paper to be filled he learned how to break his thoughts and topics up into manageable chunks. This took so much of the dread and intimidation out of the writing process for him. From the start he was turning out well written, well designed works of art that he was proud to show his friends & family.

8. The are compact and easy to store. Most of all they are FUN!!!

Recommended Ages for Lapbooking
Lapbooking can be done from Preschool through Highschool! The topics will change over the years but it can be adapted to any age.

What You will Need - Supplies
File Folders of all colors
Adhesives (I like scrapbooking adhesives the best.)
Scissors
Ruler or paper cutter
White Cardstock
Color Paper
Color pencils, markers or crayons
Stapler
Clear packaging tape (To add on extensions.)
Optional - Ziploc baggies and a sewing machine (If you want to make the ziploc baggie lift tabs.)
Optional - stickers, magazines, rubber stamps, scrapbooking supplies, etc...

The Nuts and Bolts of Lapbooking

Here is one method we have used: (Doing the research 1st.)

#1. Pick a topic you are interested in.

#2. Find books, webpages, etc that have information on your topic.

#3. Start reading the information you have and make notes on what information you want to include in your mini books.

#4. Find folds that you want to incorporate into your lapbook. Once you know what you want to include start writing the information into the books. Keep the mini books in a large ziploc bag and keep adding more of them as you do your study.

#5. Once you have completed your study lay out all the mini books you have made and decide how many folders and extentions you will need to have. Put the folders and extensions together and start gluing in your mini books.

#6. Design and decorate your cover.

#7. Add graphic, clipart, original drawings, stickers, etc.

#8. Design and decorate your cover.

#9. Sign and date the back. Include your childs name, age, grade, & date. This is also an excellent place to write up a bibliography of all your resources. Your DONE!

Here is the second method we have used: (Laying out the lapbook 1st.)

#1. Pick a topic you are interested in.

#2. Fold your folders and attach as many together as you want to the particular study.

#3. Make whatever mini books you want to make and put them inside the folders.

#4. Now that you know how many books you will be making start thinking of questions to answer about your topic. You will need one question for each mini book or flap.

#5. Start researching your topics.

#6. As you find the information write it into the mini books. You will probably want to write a rough draft on notebook paper before writing the info into the books. You can also type the info out and print it then cut and past it into the books.

#7. Add graphic, clipart, original drawings, stickers, etc.

#8. Design and decorate your cover.

#9. Sign and date the back. Include your childs name, age, grade, & date. This is also an excellent place to write up a bibliography of all your resources. Your DONE!

Links to GREAT Lapbooking Resources!

If you are looking for an outstanding go to resource fo lapbooking here it is! http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking/
Jimmie over at One Child Homeschool Policy has assembled this amazing website for us. One of my favorite things on the site is a video of a homeschooling Mom showing her children's lapbooks. It is really inspiring!

Here are 4 great site if you want to Lapbook on a shoestring! There are lots of good FREE lapbooks at the sites below...

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Lapbooks_at_HSS.php

homeschoolhelperonline.com

http://www.lapbooklessons.com/

www.littleblots.com Free lapbooks for preschoolers

Here are some site that shows you how to make mini books.
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/lapbooking_resources.htm

http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm

http://www.txchess.com/minibooks.htm

Clipart!

http://www.teacherfiles.com/clip_art.htm

http://school.discovery.com/clipart/index.html

http://webclipart.about.com/od/webclipartatoz/l/blnettop.htm

http://www.kidsdomain.com/clip/

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/FX101321031033.aspx?pid=CL100570201033

http://webclipart.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coolarchive.com%2Fclipart.cfm%3Fparameter%3DOffice%2520and%2520Business

Other great Online resources

Here is a great site that has forms for organizing your thoughts on a topic:

Character Study, Pros & Cons Scale, SQ#R (Survey, Question, Read, Retell, Review), Thematic Web, KWL (Know, Want to know, What was Learned.), Storyboard, plot graph and much, much more!

Make your own puzzles. (Excellent resource!!! Lot's of types of puzzles to create on your topic.)
http://www.puzzlemaker.com/

Jigsaw Puzzle Pattern (Heart) to print
7 pieces:
http://www.msssbible.com/memoryverses/createyourown/heartpuzzle3.htm
14 pieces:
http://www.msssbible.com/memoryverses/createyourown/heartpuzzle1.htm

Cool Shapes to cut and paste (suitcase w/clothing, paper chain of men w/ hearts, faces, etc.)
http://www.msssbible.com/memoryverses/createyourown/

Make your own postage stamp:
http://library.advanced.org/10320/Approval.htm

Templates to Print
http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm

Templates, templates and more templates!
(Including templates to make mini folders!)
http://www.stampersmall.com/templates/

Templates For Pop-Ups
http://robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp

Cool fold to include worksheets in Lapbook
http://wildwood.homestead.com/expandbook.html

Create Your Own Crossword Puzzle
http://www.edhelper.com/crossword_free.htm

Create Your Own Printable Awards
http://www.dltk-cards.com/award/

Make a Venn Diagram Online
http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/venn_diagrams/

Make a Timeline to Print
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines/

Program to help you write an Acrostic Poem
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/acrostic/

Free Printables
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/

http://www.abcteach.com/

Free Printable Mini Books
http://mrsjonesroom.com/teachers/minibooks.html

http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/index.htm

Cindy Rushton Website
http://www.cindyrushton.com

Cindy Rushton's Blog
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cindyrushton

Scrapbooking To Learn
http://scrapbookingtolearn.com/

Lots of Info on Lapbooking
Tobins Lab Lapbooking Info Sheet. Here is the link http://www.tobinslab.com/downloads/Lap%20
Book%20Info%20Sheet.pdf This is a sheet with some good basic info on lapbooking. Here is the Tobin's Lab catalog section on lapbooking. Lots of good resources for sale. Here is the link to the catalog. http://www.tobinslab.com/shopping/catalog.aspx?scCatalog
CategoryID=63&CategoryTrail=0
(This is a great place to buy Dinah Zikes books!)

Here are some great places to buy pre-made lapbook kits. All of these offer Freebies!!!
Hands of a Child http://www.handsofachild.com
Live And Learn Press http://www.liveandlearnpress.com
Knowledge Box Centeral http://www.knowledgeboxcentral.com/

Here is a site that shows a Human Body Lapbook and all the links to make your own.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSBCompanyBlog/230284/#c422930

Lapbooking Yahoo Group
In my opinion this is the BEST resource on Lapbooking. Over 3000 homeschooling Mom's sharing ideas about lapbooking! It is AWESOME!!! (And is brought to us by the ladies over at Hands of a Child.) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lapbooking/

Outside The Box Ideas

No law was ever written that lapbooks have to be in a file folder! How about making a GIANT lapbook using a Presentation Folder? - http://homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/109818/

Make A Paper Bag Book. - http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/194729/

Make A Scrapbook Page - http://homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/105639/

The Only Limit Is Your Imagination! (Or Your Kids!!!)
The best advice I can give you for lapbooking is "Just Do It"!!! No one will be grading you. Get out your supplies, put on your thinking caps and have fun! You will be amazed what you and your kids can come up with together. Isn't togetherness the best part of homeschooling?

Still want more lapbooking info? Click here for Lapbooking 101!

Here are a few of my other posts on Lapbooking:

Lapbook Construction

Lapbook Crate Organization

How do you make mini books for your lapbooks?

¤ American Girl Lapbook - Felicity
¤ Amelia Earhart Lapbook
¤ Election Lapbook
¤ Armenia Lapbook
¤ Resurrection Eggs Lapbook
¤ Goodnight Moon
¤ Transportation-Preschool
¤ Wordless Lapbook
¤ Bee-Attitudes Lapbook
¤ 12 Days of Christmas
¤ Boston Tea Party
¤ Money/Finances
¤ 5 Senses
¤ Creation
¤ Middle Ages
¤ Dinosaurs
¤ Father's Day
¤ Astronomy
¤ Earth Day
¤ Passover
¤ History of Video Games
¤ Martin Luther King Jr.
¤ Christmas
¤ Thanksgiving
¤ Ben Franklin
¤ The 10 Commandments
¤ Civil War
¤ Halloween
¤ Chocolate
¤ Bees
¤ Money & Japan
¤ All About Me
¤ Shakespeare
¤ Our 1st Lapbook - Money
¤ The Wonderful Story of Easter
¤ The President's Report

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Comments

Nov. 2, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by mamaduso

Thanks so much for this. I just downloaded a free lapbook from livenadlearnpress on thanksgiving and we are having a blast. I could never figure out how to do these and having the premade book is just what I need to learn. ONce I have gotten my feet wet I think we will be able to take off. I love this idea and my three crafty girls are loving it too.
Susan

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