Mini Books

[Tasha]

We actually did our own lapbook (our first) from my son's History for Little Pilgrims called Exploring America. We did this one just to get our feet wet with lapbooking. However, we used the mini book templates from homeschoolhelperonline. I wanted to try something from Little Blot's but he had his heart set on a geography lapbook. He loves geography.

My regret is that with using those templates does not leave much room for a child to write neatly. Do you think it's best for younger children (he's 7yo) to have medium to large mini books? Also, should the information be typed out prior to pasting to the mini books? This way, it is easier for the child and adult to read. My husband, son and myself have to strain just to see what was written in pencil.

We used manila folders and colored printer paper. I had him use a pencil just in case he or I made a mistake. Do you have any suggestions on how to do lapbooks when a person is creating it on their own?

I plan on making a lapbook with empty mini books for examples. This way as he can see in person (me too!) and pick out which one he wants to use by just looking. I think this will help me because I'm from this site, to this site, to that site...it's too much. So, I will make all of Valerie's lapbook foundations (back pockets, extensions, etc), then I'll do all the mini book examples.

[Valerie]

Tasha-

I'll let you know what I do for our lapbooks, but every child is different in how they like to put things together and such, and what works for me might or might not work for you.....but I guess that's what's so great about homeschooling!

My daughter is 4 years old and sometimes the minibooks are rather small. It can be hard because if your child isn't ready to be writing that small then they have a hard time or even get frustrated with them. I would suggest that the minibooks not be used so much as the handwriting aspect of your lapbook. You might look at them as more of the "Fun" part of the lapbook and let your child write freely (although sometimes illegibly on those parts) Or, as you've suggested, use these minibooks as an oppurtunity to work on typing skills for your child. You could open a simple MS WORD page where they could type in some of the answers or vocabulary or whatever you're working on.

Sometimes when I make minibooks that need small answers on them, I print the answers in a tracer font, so my daughter can simply trace the letters in a smaller font then she would normally write in. You can download free teaching fonts, the one I use is called PRINT DASHED and I got it free from some site I don't remember, but just google it :)

Now, you don't wanna scrap handwriting skills altogether, so I like to use Handwriting Pages, that I simply Tape on the top of the lapbook, so that they flip upwards. You can print up pre-lined handwriting pages from www.NotebookingPages.com they have a free section, or create your own custom handwriting pages from www.dltk-kids.com

You might also consider adding a pocket to your lapbooks, where you can store larger pages and such.



Now as far as the process of creating a lapbook that is quite strange for our house because I make a lapbook right alongside my children (so I can post an example on the site) I agree that it helps here to see where the books get placed, but for the most part, I just let her decide where they go.

I'd love to hear what others think, because my house is kinda strange in our process of lapbooking. We print everything first, cut, and glue it to the lapbook, and then we go through and pick which section to work on.

I hope that helps a little, and I look forward to reading what others think as well!

In Christ,

Valerie

[Tasha]

Valerie, thanks so much for the helpful tips.

[Valerie]

Sure no problem, I hope you can put a couple of ideas to use?

Valerie