Lapbooking with MFW

[txquiltmommy]

I am just wondering how or if they flow together. I am very interested in doing lap books with my kids with MFW curriculum. Do any of you belong to or use products that flow well with MFW?
Sandy M.

I have used some of their lapbooks in the past. I have bought the e-versions online and printed them here at home.

I take complete responsibility for this, but here is the sad reality of a lapbooking session with my two boys....I hand them something to cut and then "re-trim" it for them because they cut crooked. I give them something to tape and then "re-tape" it for them because they didn't get it in the exact spot I wanted it. I do some of the labeling because I don't "trust" them to get the lettering to fit in the exact space that it needs to for our fold out such-and-such. So, my boys lose interest, wander off, and leave me to (perfectly) assemble a lapbook by myself at the table! This is what happens when wonderfully laid back and creative little people sit down to work with a control freak!!! :) Whew! Confession!!

On a more serious note, I'm not sure I know of topics that would exactly relate to Adventures. However, many topics in Adventures lend themselves to cute lapbooks that you can come up with all on your own. For instance, in week one we made a Pledge of Allegiance lapbook and it was adorable. (I let them do it ALONE and it turned out GREAT!) We also did one for Native Americans and one for Colonial Life. I keep them simple (since I have previously mentioned perfectionistic tendencies) and try to let the kids have creative lisence.

IMHO, the ones we have put together as a result of our Adventures studies have been more fun and more relevant than the premade ones I have purchased online. I do think lapbooks are a fun and creative way to capture our work. Not sure that gives you much help. I have nothing against the ones I've purchased, but those dictate your studies as opposed to making a book on our own as a summary of what we have learned in Adventures. Two different approaches, I suppose.

[Mom of 5]

WOW! I really relate to wanting it to look perfect. At this point with my kids being younger I do a lot of the cutting of the books ahead of time and I even cut the little papers that were to go into the book so they wouldn't write beyond where they were supposed to. This has worked so far.
I think at this point I am going to just start looking for graphics programs that might give me cutouts to use at times.
Thanks again.
Be blessed
Sandy M.

[courthart246]

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:04 pm
I recently found a fun, new way of reiterating the learning process with my dc. It is called lapbooking. Perhaps many of you have discovered this as well. We enjoyed doing this over the summer for fun.

I was very interested to see that Live and Learn Press makes Apologia science helps for notebooking that go with the MFW science in RTR and Ex to 1850. You can download an ebook, print it out, and it has mini books that help you create a notebook to go with the Apologia science books, including mini books to record the experiments.

We are currently doing ECC, but my ds LOVES science, so we are adding Apologia Zoology on Fridays, our light day, and we are spreading it out quite a bit. I noticed that in coming years we will be doing Astronomy in RTR and Botany in Ex. to 1850. Perhaps some of you are doing those now.

Anyway, I just thought I would pass on the idea. It definitely takes a little more time, but it is a creative way to reinforce things they are learning. Both of my ds's love them. There are lapbooks that go with countries and with the different habitats we are studying in ECC. They have some great preschool ones too. We may do some more for fun next summer. The websites for these resources are handsofachild and liveandlearnpress.

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:07 pm
There are two companies I enjoy - http://www.handsofachild.com and http://www.liveandlearnpress.com. Both have literature sections with specific books to lapbook. Live and Learn press has a Study a Fiction Book lapbook that you can customize to whatever book you would like to read. I have not done any of the literature lapbooks specifically, but I have done others, and we enjoy it very much.

Courtney

[Jacqueline]

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:32 pm
Thanks - very interesting! We use Apologia and I think these sound like a great way to reinforce what the students learn.

When I heard about lapbooking last year I was thinking it would be too...juvenile (silly word since my kids are juveniles, but you get my drift). Then I went to one of Tammy Duby's workshops at the convention this year and understood how they could be used all the way through high school.

We're using lapbooks right now for English from the Roots Up and Bible (one of my kids is using CtGreeks this year).

Instead of putting the Greek roots on index cards, we make "layered books" for each root and at the end of the week attach them to our "shutter fold" book...terms come from The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook by Tammy Duby. I highly recommend her book, which can be found online at Tobinslab.

For Bible my son is constructing a "pizza book" and he'll be adding his memory work to it in a creative way over the course of the year. I think lapbooks are a great companion to the notebooking already done in MFW.
_________________
Jacqueline

[Cyndi (AZ)]

As a general rule, we narrate books and keeps things simple but from time to time the kiddos like to do a "book report." I'm looking to make a list that they can choose from instead of assigning something. Some books are better suited for a particular project over another, etc...

I was wanting to break away from a 2-D, rewrite the ending assignment, to more 3-D, hands on, let's have some fun projects. Aside from the shoe box diorama, do any of you have fun ideas for book projects or a website that has fun ideas? Thank you everyone and may the Lord bless your socks off today :)

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:29 pm
Have you ever done lapbooks? I didn't call them lapbooks when I was in school, but it was a similar concept. Make little fold-out booklets inside a folder - one that describes the characters, one that describes the setting, one for "the struggle," separate ones for any character lessons that were learned. There had to be more ideas that I can't remember right now. These can include illustrations or not, but it's more memorable if they do.

[dhudson]

I had decided to start Adventures next year, with my then 3rd and 1st graders (who will also be doing MFW 1st). Then I realized that my oldest LOVES lapbooks and things like history pockets and I know that would really make her Adventures year more fun.

Problem is, there really isn't enough time to stop and do lapbooks here and there if Adventures is completed in a year. My though was to start this coming January, and take 1 1/2 years to complete Adventures with lapbooks and such added (with a break in the summer). What say all of you? Do you think this would work or does it look like a recipe for disaster? Let me also add that my kiddos go to an enrichment classes all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we fit all of our academics into 3 days if that makes a difference in answering this question.

I added some lap books into Adventures. We just did them instead of summaries. I guess it would depend on how many lap books you were planning to do. MFW gives you enough time during the day that I think you could do both and still finish in a year.

I guess my concern would be the long range plan. I am a planner so I would just ask what you are planning to do for the other half year somewhere?

[705emily]

Hellio,

I am doing Adventures this year with my 7 yo dd and we are doing lapbooks too! We really enjoy them--and my dd especially does as she is crafty and LOVES to cut, and color,paint, and glue, etc.

I have found that it hasn't added a lot of time to our Adventures study--especially if I have everything ready ahead of time!

Blessings!

[baileymom]

Have any of you made lapbooks for the K units? I am thinking of doing this so my dd can go back to what she's learned and play with any flashcards and such that we make. I am hoping it will be simple enough to put all the stuff in the lapbook at the end of each unit. I will probably take pictures of projects and activities so the will also serve as memories as she gets older.

Just wondering if you've had good luck with the process, adn enjoyed it?

We do VERY SIMPLE ones.

Our "badge" and bible truth go on the front.

Inside we usually do a poem/rhyme, pick our fave bible verse from the TM, a simple craft from dltk-teachdotcom or the TM, and maybe a story illustration from one of the books that week.

My boys (6 and 4) enjoy this as long as I don't make them very elaborate.

I got the idea from another K mom on the board.It's been fun!Like I said on the other thread about badges, I've taken pics and put them on my blog (in signature).

[beaglemamma2008]

We did a lapbook for the Aa Apple unit and had a blast!!! But Hurricane Ike paid us a visit in the middle of this unit, so now we pretty much stick to the curriculum as it is written. (House repairs for the past five months have made life overwhelming enough without adding any extras to it! )

The web site I used for our lapbook is http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Lapbooks_at_HSS.php. All the lapbooks are free, and they are divided by age so you can choose something that won't be too overwhelming for a little one. And just a bit of unsolicited advice: Don't try to do it all in one day! Just take one activity and work on it, then add them all to your book on the last day.

It really was a fun addition to our unit, and I hope to be able to do it again soon. Good luck to you!
Jennifer

[johanna]

hi there.
I am on my third round of MFW K with my kiddies and we do something that I have called "Kindergarten Keeper folders" and we basically take all our learning/projects/pictures for the week and compile them into a simple file folder when we are done the unit! This takes the place of our badge. We love it!
here is a link to my blog with some examples
http://stopforflowers.blogspot.com/2008 ... older.html

and another folder example we did
http://stopforflowers.blogspot.com/2008 ... world.html

...hope that helps!

[RBS in OH]

I'm thinking about making lapbooks for the countries we "travel" through this year. I am looking for particular ideas of what to include. Some ideas I already have:

• clocks with our time and that country's time (time zone info.)
  some words/characters for the language of that country
  the way people dress
  biomes/geography of that land
  typical animals
  flag
  foods/recipe
  weather
  customs/celebrations (such as Fourth of July here)
  money (with pictures and/or exchange rate--maybe an equivilancy to $100 US money)
  stamps (maybe a picture of one)
  main religion (using Window on the World--maybe including how we can pray for people)

What other ideas do any of you have?

Also, is this an over-zealous idea?????? Is it just extra busywork repeating what we may already be doing in A Trip Around the World and other sources? My daughter would love doing this, but I think my son would rather have his learning be streamlined. I was just thinking that they may have fun going back to look through them. And a lapbook would be so easy and fun to pull out and share their learning with others. (Well, maybe fun for dd, as she enjoys divulging info. about whatever and ds is content to keep a lot of it to himself--typical boy/girl; it's SO much fun to watch this with twins!)

Any thoughts or experience with adding lapbooking to your studies, I'd love to hear about.
.....thanks!

[KimberlyND]

I, too, like the idea of lapbooking. I thought I would try it this summer. I found a site where you can get free lapbook pages to print out. Since we had just finished ADVs we did a lapbook about The Oregon Trail. Ds didn't enjoy it much. It became something I would dred doing with him. We never finished all the pages and he hasn't looked at it since. Dd(4) did like doing it. She likes to color, paste, and cut.

If you think your children would like doing it you could try it and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out you wouldn't have to continue.

[Julie in MN]

I wonder if you could include it in a group of optional afternoon activities? That way a little boy could choose something else and a little girl could enjoy it with mom. I used to list optional activities for my son when he was a little younger -- here's a thread about that, to help with ideas for boys: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1829

[courthart246]

I love lapbooks. However, I have found that they do add a lot of work in addition to what is already scheduled. We tried to do a lapbook with one of the Apologia science books, and while I enjoyed it, it really took a long time. We like to do lapbooks as a little break or during the summer on a topic of interest. For instance we've done Christmas lapbooks as a break from the regular routine at Christmastime. We have also done pirates and space in the summer. This summer we are reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and doing a lapbook. I'm all about lapbooks. I have just found it difficult personally to fit it in when doing our regular MFW work. That's just our situation though.

[meagabby]

We did a South America lapbook with ECC. It was our first experience with lapbooks so I purchased a download. It was pretty fun and took about 3 afternoons. We didn't make a big deal out of it so it was more like browsing all the info rather than an extension of the formal learning we were already doing.

I had 2 kids doing it and they didn't put the same info in their lapbooks even though they both had all the same print outs.
(To keep them separate, each child kept their pieces in an XL ziplock bag until the lapbook was completed.)

I know that's not much help, but if they enjoy what they are cutting/gluing/printing, then to me it's all good. I use the TM as my main goal and anything extra if just extra - not required memory work, testing, etc.

I hope you have an enjoyable year with ECC.

-dena

[RBS in OH]

Thank you all for your feedback. I really didn't expect the responses you gave, so I'm really glad I asked.

I plan to go ahead and get some file folders (which is why I asked now, as I'm making a supplies list this week), but I won't include it as regular part of our studies. I'll wait at least until we hit a stride with ECC and then will think about trying one with dc. The optional afternoon activity is a great idea and I also like the idea of using it for something completely different (like if we go out on a tangent with any of our studies).

[RobinF]

I am trying out lapbooks this year also. For the first two weeks intro here is my plan...

pocket for voc cards (got library pockets at dollar tree)

cards for continent, latitude, longitude, prime meridian, political maps, ocean and sea

They are writing the def on one side and illustrating on the other (like Geo A to Z book).
From the book People by Peter Spier they copied 3 types of writing. They also listed 3 places they would like to visit.

Next week I have a pic of the globe they will color, they will make a map, and answer questions from How People Live (extra book). Questions are # of languages, most common languages, world pop, largest country, smallest country, largest desert and largest country by population.

I may also have them add in info on the 10/40 window.

There are some great simple lapbook groups on yahoo groups that I got some good ideas for things to put in our country books.

[jasntas]

Do I need to do this? Is the K curriculum enough without me creating lapbooks for every week? If they are needed, where do you find the information for them? How long does it take you to plan for them?
Mary Lou

I couldn't imagine adding lapbooks to K. Especially every unit. I would have been so overwhelmed.

I have just found lap books myself and I think they can be a great addition or supplement if the child enjoys doing them and you have the time. I have seen them mentioned here from time to time but just checked them out for myself.

We are currently using ECC with a 1st and 4th grader. My 4th grader is a struggling reader and I found all of the advanced projects to be too much for him. But I was having a hard time finding ways for him to remember the info I was reading on the countries.

I decided this week to try a lapbook for Canada. I told them both this was just a trial project to see if they would like it. I gave them a week to work on it. They both completed their lapbooks within two days. They would work on it every spare (school) minute until they had it completed. Most of the research info was in the 'A Trip Around the World' book so it wasn't hard or time consuming to find.

My ds loved it so much and he seemed to have learned so much more than he did in the previous two countries. After completing his lapbook he even hung a sign above his bedroom door yesterday that said "Canada". (Since he is now so knowledgeable on the country. )

I got the pre-made lapbook info from a site called homeschoolshare.com. I don't think I would have even attempted it if I would have had to track down all the material myself. All I had to do was print and help my dc assemble it. I usually have to finish a project for them, esp my ds, but they did this one almost entirely on their own. That's one main reason for my excitement.

Just to let you know, if this would not have been a hit, we would have completed this project (no matter how painful ). Then would not have used them again. We will see how enthusiastic they are with Brazil.

[courthart246]

I love lapbooks, but I did not use them to supplement Kindergarten. That program is quite complete without them. I like to use lapbooks for a change of pace, like for Thanksgiving week or Christmas. We've also done some lapbooks over the summer for fun on a subject of interest. The MFW curriculum is full and rich, and adding extras is not necessary. But if you enjoy lapbooks at all, I would suggest adding them in for fun when you can.

[Erna]

Not necessary. I found that with my oldest, she enjoyed doing lapbooks and we added them to our K year. It was a blast!

Now, with my second K child and doing ECC plus having a 3 yo and baby in the house I doubt we'll be doing lapbooks. I might do a few elements or make some fun pages with her to have but I don't know if we'll go "all out." It's amazing how much I could and did add for a single child who really loves academic and whose comprehension was pretty far along compared to my second.

We just did one lapbooking component a day based on our reading or whatever was applicable (like chart from a taste test added to an US lapbook). There were some lapbooks that were really simple and some that were very complex. By the end of the year, I was making simple lapbook pieces to go with some of the themes that had nothing on-line.

Lapbooks can be fun if you and your child enjoy them, if you have time to do them, but they aren't everything. We continued doing some interest-led lapbooks in 1st and I made provincial and territorial lapbooks for ADV due to having to alter everything to a Canadian theme b/c of where we live. I didn't have provincial and territorial pages like the US users of Adventures had access to. I found that the lapbook craze eventually waned for my child but I know if we did one out of interest, she'd probably go for it. It's not everything.

[mtnmama]

We do lapbooks for some units like the solar system and water, maybe in the future for wild animals. It will probably be limited to three or four per year because they are time consuming.

[cbollin]

I was wondering if anyone is doing lapbooking for the history component of MFW? I know the history component is complete and doesn't need it, but I have a special needs 15 year old who has enjoyed lapbooking in the past (Little House on the Prairie, science topics!). She is visual and I feel it's a good way to have bits of info in front of her that would help her to remember.

However, I'm not all that creative and rely on the freebies I find online or purchases kits where the booklets are already made.
1. Does anyone know of any lapbook "kits" out there written to follow MFW? I realize I can purchase project packs for the Middle Ages, Ancient Rome, etc. but they are a whole study in themselves.
2. And if not, any recommendations on how you do lapbooking for history? My daughter has a hard time writing and drawing, and can't do a whole lot of independent work, so I would be there helping her.
3. And in case none exist....just to put a bee into someone's creative bonnet (!).....I know there are lapbooks out there you can purchase for the Apologia science books, Mystery of History books, etc. Should anyone want to come up with some, I know I'd love to buy them (currently on RtR)!!!!

Thanks much,
Dorene

hmm... I shouldn't answer as I'm not a lapbook type of gal. But, I'm going to PM you a link to CurrClick's winter whisper sale and maybe among the tons of 50% reductions there might be a lapbook in there from some publishers? maybe? MOH might work fine for that since that exists. aanyone else who wants more info on that sale, it's easy to find if you put "currclick winter whisper sale " in search engine. It's not really a secret sale at all. It's just a fun way they are doing the sales promo.

ideas for helping to draw for notebooking which is different from "lapbooking", I've enjoyed Draw and Write Through History to help with that. Follows along fairly well with MFW. It's just for how to draw specific theme related items (castles, knights, Vikings). Maybe some of that could help her or you with what to draw and how to draw it even if she struggles? It's quite visual.

hmm... wait a minute... just remembered with RTR. How about doing middle ages dress up while reading some of the history? and doing the middle ages feast ideas in the TM and then make sure you take pictures as part of your booking. There will be an activity to make Shakespeare theatre. Maybe a "scrap book" approach could help too? I don't know. I'm just talking out loud.


-crystal

[Julie in MN]

There have been a few discussions about lapbooking here:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2287 [above]

And 1974 girl mentioned a lapbooking site here:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 664#p66664

And Mycobabe mentions several more sites:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 817#p29817

Naomi mentions a blank template:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 966#p61966

RTR - MandKhowell found a human body lapbook for free:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 613#p57613

RTR - And Rachel's 5 senses one might apply, too:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 381#p24381

RTR - Astronomy from Dianne & Melissa:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 825#p64825
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 590#p68590

Okay, that was fun, a big search for me And I think my artsy dd would have enjoyed those once in a while. But a word of caution: My ds would NOT love lapbooking, so keep an eye on whether it's fun for mom or fun for kids.

Another caution: Every so often there's a post on the board about how a family is overwhelmed with MFW and never gets their day done. Sometimes it comes out that they are finding so much fun that they have added more-more-more. When you add, keep in mind that you may need to also subtract. Or do the activities in the afternoon, after school is done.

Julie

Postby Julie in MN » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:44 am
We've never done lapbooks, but I've read a lot of posts about them:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2287 [above]
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 964#p75964 (USA, How to Make a Cherry Pie)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 716#p74705 (USA)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... =50#p33409 (ECC, missionaries)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 780#p54780 (ECC, world)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 361#p70361 (China)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 979#p18979 (Japan)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 913#p47913 (CTG)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 026#p11026 (CTG)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 315#p34315 (RTR, Rome)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 782#p74782 (EX1850, Botany)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 095#p76095 (EX1850, book of James)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 093#p56093 (1850MOD, Lincoln)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 699#p15699 (composers)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 108#p67108 (K)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 800#p41800 (K)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 757#p47757 (K)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... =33#p29818 (K, zebras)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 778#p54778 (preschool)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3993 (high school science)
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 230#p71230 (weather)

[dorenekimberly]

Thank you ladies!

Thanks for the links to the lapbooks on the human body, etc. I appreciate it, although I'm looking more for a lapbook that follows along with the history part of it. And I do like the idea of "notebooking"/scrapbooking as well. We did a really neat Roman feast with the kids dressed up and I put that in their notebooks, although with the projects they have made (Roman writing tablet, etc.). And thank you for the CurrClick's winter whisper sale...I'll be checking it out!

When I was feeling very ambitious (before the school year started) I did purchase some project packs/lapbooking kits on Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages, but I know now that doing them AND MFW's history is way too much. It's like two different curriculum, which isn't what I want at all! Trying to simplify our days.

Ideally (call it lack of motivation on my part!), I wish I could just purchase a lapbook kit that follows the schedule of MFW's history. Guess that's not going to happen, though, but thought I'd throw the idea out there in case something like this existed!!!!

Have a great day! Thank you all again!
Dorene

[Pylegang]

Here are some links:

Free Lapbooks

Homeschool Share: Knights - http://www.homeschoolshare.com/knights_lapbook.php & http://www.homeschoolshare.com/MTH_k...es_lapbook.php

Lapbooks for Sale

Live & Learn Press - http://www.liveandlearnpress.com/vie...hp?category=19

Knowledge Box Central (not TOG) - http://www.knowledgeboxcentral.com/miaglaforagk.html

Hands of a Child - http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/Se...?k=middle+ages