From My Heart to Yours - Articles to Encourage and Inspire!

Notebooking...Learning and Fun Rolled into One
(This is an email that I sent to someone who was asking about how many and what kinds of notebooks her kids should have.)

I want to encourage you in the area of notebooking :-)  First it's okay to have several notebooks going at once!  I find that the most important thing is to let the kids put what they want in THEIR notebook.  Some of our notebooks are on topics that I choose and we add to regularly as we work together.  For instance, we have an American History notebook that has a timeline and we add names/dates to the timeline.  We also add maps or activity sheets or copywork that I might have them do to go along with whatever area of history we're reading about.  This notebook is mostly the timeline and a few drawings or maps.  I'm not big on "reports" and worksheets :-) Now, they might see an article in a magazine that they want to cut out and add to their notebook, or they might be inspired by our read-aloud and decide to make a flag, or "costume" or some other creation.  With an article or picture they've drawn, we just put it in the notebook.  If it's something they've created, then we take a picture and when the film gets developed the photos go in and they can make notes or for the "non-writers" they dictate a note about what is in the photo.

My sons also have notebooks that we got started because of an area of interest, for instance birds (this is my youngest son's passion).  Noah (8) pulls out his notebook when he feels like it...sometimes it's when he's drawn a picture, one day it was after we saw a bird photo on the front page of the newspaper and we had to buy the paper, just for that photo! Sometimes we can go weeks without that notebook coming off the shelf...and that's OK :-)  I find that when I try to "take over" and "capitalize" on their interests to make the notebook more educational and give too many suggestions for writing etc., that my sons quickly lose interest! 

Noah is a beginning reader/writer as well, but that hasn't kept him from having several notebooks!  Sometimes I leave space and only write a short sentence that he dictates.  Then when he's older, if he wants to add more notation he can!  Another great idea to encourage them to practice writing is to the labeling or notation in yellow highlighter and have your child write in pencil over the highlighted letters :-)  I find that when they are working in their notebooks, that they really want to write their neatest because it's THEIRS.

By the way, the internet is a great resource for finding cool pictures and info about whatever your child is interested in!  My son's bird notebook is full of info sheets I printed from www.enchantedlearning.com

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