Last year when my son was in second grade, we were introduced to the concept of Notebooking. We used the Playful Pioneers curriculum by Peaceful Press and various seasonal nature studies and holiday guides by Treehouse Schoolhouse. These courses would encourage students to copy prose, sentences from their readings, or their own thoughts in a narration-style notebook. Sometimes he would add his own art, and sometimes we would glue and color pictures relating to the topic. I found that my son really enjoyed having a place to leaf through his previous work, and a feeling of pride over his notebook began to grow. The artwork and writing combined with his thoughts and intrigues created an atmosphere of learning that was well-rounded and well-enjoyed.
We have spent the past few years practicing the skill of oral narration in our homeschool. I am firm believer that a child’s ability to write should not interfere with the rest of their learning, so this practice has slowly and naturally grown to include his own writing. While we continue to practice writing skills in meaningful ways, my son has been eager to put words to his thoughts. Sometimes I will write what he speaks. Sometimes we will slow down even more and construct sentences together with his own ideas. Sometimes those sentences turn into paragraphs, and beautifully so! The writing process constantly evolves as our children grow in confidence and ability, but the pressure isn’t there to perform, or write perfectly. The purpose begins with them sharing what they have learned, or what stuck out to them.
Being that I am one who veers from formal assessments in our homeschool, I found that “notebooking” could show me so much of what my son has learned than any fill-in-the-blank or memorization -style curriculum… but it also provides him a sense of daily accomplishment in his schoolwork, too. I was interested this year specifically to further explore notebooking with my son, as I noticed how natural it felt for him. We selected various curriculum to support this for his third grade year: Both Early American History and US Geography by Beautiful Feet books, as well as another year with Treehouse Nature Study by Treehouse Schoolhouse. My son creates a different notebook for each of those subjects, and what a beautiful keepsake they will become at the end of the year. Some of his notebooks are styled on watercolor paper, some in primary notebooks. I will detail our personal approach in sections below.
So, what is notebooking?
Notebooking is simply a written narration by your child. It could cover a span of subjects, and ultimately, they decide what they will write. It’s their thoughts in words, what stuck out to them, an answer to a question they had about a topic including research, or it could be a poem or verse from the text read. They can use art to elaborate and draw from their imagination, diagram, or even use art tutorials to pair with their writing. Your child can transcribe in a lined notebook or use loose leaf art paper. Ultimately, it becomes a collage in book form of what they have learned in whichever subject they are covering.
Why notebook?
Notebooking is a wonderful way for children to express themselves no matter their age or the subject. It makes their work meaningful to them. It also can serve as a beautiful keepsake and yearbook so to speak of their learning. Notebooking gives your child a bit of control over their education, and instead of memorizing facts for a test, they are able to express and expand upon what they’ve learned. It’s simple to integrate into your their day at any point in the year, and is easily adaptable for various ages at once. They can notebook for multiple subjects including history, geography, science and nature study. You can also include art tutorials and research projects in with their notebook. It strengthens their writing and allows them the opportunity to work through their thoughts. There is so much research out there sharing the power that writing has in relation to retention. We have recently pushed our workbook-style Language Arts curriculum to the side because I have noticed to many organic opportunities to fine tune grammar and writing for my son, too. I will include examples of our notebooks and notebooks by other homeschooled children toward the end of this blog post. You will see how notebooking can grow with your child through many grades, how easy it is to integrate in family style learning, and the range of subjects notebooking can be used for.
How do I adapt per age?
For younger students, you can include pictures to cut, color and paste for the subject they are learning about. They may tell you orally what they’ve learned, and you can transcribe. They can even trace over your words. You’ll be surprised as you go how much detail they begin to add week by week. They could also copy a line from the text they liked the best, or from their poetry (if included). They may choose to write relevant words as titles or labels on their page.
As writing skills are formed, you children can continue to dictate to you. You may wish to write on a blank sheet of paper or a dry erase board before they copy it in their notebook. This gives you the opportunity to focus on some grammar/writing skills. They can copy the final draft on their notebook page and adorn with their own drawings or clipart. You can ask them what they’d like to draw a picture and include an art tutorial from YouTube or a book, or they can trace, draw from a picture example, or draw freely.
As your child gets older, they will begin to write on their own. You can encourage the use of pencil to correct errors together, then they can trace in a pen or fine-point marker. Their drawings may become more sophisticated, and they may wish to include multiple pictures on one page.
What supplies are needed?
Depending on your preference, or the subject, notebooks can be kept a number of ways. We personally keep separate notebooks for differing topics. For instance, my son is currently creating narration notebooks for Geography, Nature Study (both on loose leaf watercolor paper that we will later bind), and History (I’ll link our History notebook here). We love to use this watercolor paper, watercolors, colored, pencils, crayons, markers. You may also need glue, and either a fine point pen or thin marker. Essentially, paper, something to write with, and art supplies of your choosing are needed to accompany and text being read or curriculum you are studying. If using loose leaf paper over a pre-bound artbook, your child can create their own cover and you can take the completed notebook to Staple’s or any print shop to get spiral bound.
OUR HOMESCHOOL NOTEBOOKING EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES
I have been so inspired by many homeschool families over the years, and have loved getting to know the following families, in particular. These moms teach me so much on many levels, and I hope seeing how their children use notebooking for homeschool offers more insight to your research, too. Thank you Lyndsey, Bobbi, Jada, Lindsay, and Trish for sharing your experience with me and giving permission to share your photos!
@treehouseschoolhouse
Lyndsey is the creator of our beloved Nature Study and Holiday curricula. The examples she share are created by her children when they were ages 6-8.
You can find Lyndsey on Instagram. Be sure to visit check our her beautiful curriculum, too!
@bobbyewest_
I love how Bobbye uses notebooking for various subjects, even math! Pictured is her daughter’s Addition and Subtraction Table created for her math notebook.
You can find Bobbye on Instagram. Scroll through her page to see many more notebook snippets across multiple subjects. Her daughter’s notebook pages are outstanding and detailed!
@littleschoolofsmiths
Lindsay is a great account to follow if you have children of multiple ages. She also write hands-on, family style curriculum that incorporates notebooking. Pictured is from her new Adventures to the New World history curriculum.
You can find Lindsay on Instagram, and she also has a blog.
@jada_dannielle
I always look forward to seeing how Jada teaches her children history, They are also a BFB (Beautiful Feet Books) fam and have been learning about World History.
You can find Jada on Instagram. Her highlights are super helpful, and I refer to them often!
@juiceboxhomeschool
Trish gives great insight to homeschool in the upper elementary grades, middle, and highschool. Her children continue to use notebooking as they get older, even for Chemistry!
You can find Trish on Instagram. Her blog is a good one to bookmark to read more about notebooking, too!
