Monday, June 22, 2009

What is Notebooking?

Notebooking is basically educational journaling.  Children use notebooks to show and tell what they've learned.  They show through drawings, photos, and maps.  They tell through written narrations, observations, reports, copywork, lists, and timelines. Some people also use minibooks in their note booking.  

Those familiar with the Charlotte Mason Method have likely heard of her use of nature notebooks, though notebooking may be used for most subjects. Students write a narration of what they've learned, accompanied by a visual component which may be anything from a drawn or painted picture, map, printed image or photo, coloring page, etc. It's great for old and young students alike (the young may need Mom's help writing what they narrate, the old have no limits!). 

Some families use note booking as the means to grade children's progress in place of formal testing. Others use it as a supplement to their other teaching methods. However it's used, it helps children cement what they've learned (note how high it falls in Bloom's taxonomy!), serves as a portfolio and a keepsake.

All you need to get started are some notebooks and writing utensils. If you decide to make your own notebooks, there are several ways to do it but my favorite way is using my pro-click home binding machine. It rocks. If that's the route you go, you just need a few printable blank templates to get started. These are easy to find online for free, see my links below.


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Notebooking Info...
  • Notebooking pages... Check out the tips, tools & tutorials here! She gives a great introduction to note booking, showing how to use it and how to get started. She also offers a paid membership if you're interested in having lots of printable note booking pages, but even if not be sure to check out the free resources here!  
  • Home Hearts... tells about all the different types of notebooks you may create


Notebooking Printables...



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