Notebooking & Writing Ideas

Do you ever have your children put dividers in a notebook at the beginning of the year, only to find that you run out of time to keep it organized? I sure do. We have several notebooks....history, writing, science, etc. I always have the best intentions to keep up with the notebook throught the year, but some how time gets the best of me. After evaluating our week, I hope to use Fridays to update our notebooks. Here are a few of my thoughts on how Fridays will be used over the next few months....

1. We will work on the basic subjects (reading, writing, 'rithmetic) and use the rest of the time to read and work on our notebooks.
2. Each child should update their personal reading list with the books they have completed that week. We use a chart with the categories of history, literature, science, biography/Bible and fun (your child's choice).
3. All papers that have not been inserted into the notebook will be placed in the appropriate spot.
4. The best work will be placed on a decorated page and then inserted into the notebook.
5. Titles, borders, and sprucing up will be added as needed.
6. Research for particular topics will be done
Cindy Rushton makes many suggestions for making notebooks appealing to others. She is always encouraging you to decorate your pages, making them presentable to your audience. For those of you who follow Cindy's guides, Notebooking-Yes, You Can Be A Binder Queen, Too, Nature Study the Easy Way, or Language Arts the Easy Way, the following products will be an inspiration to your endeavors!!!

A local co-ops asked me to order a great book, The 123's of Creative Doodling. I immediately thought it would help those families who use notebooks. This book is perfect for the child who may not be a great artist because it takes you step-by-step through simple drawings. I plan to have our children use it as they decorate their notebooks.

When placing the order for the Creative Doodling book, I found a few other books that I believe will help with the children's notebooks. The Kid's Creative Lettering Book instructs the child, in a step-by-step manner, how to use a variety of letter fonts in your notebook. The LMNOP Book of Lettering has more intricate letter styles for the more advanced student.

My children's favorite product when using the Creative Lettering book are rulers. Some rulers have letter stencils on them and other rulers have borders. My kids used to have a terrific time as they try out rulers. "Mom, these are really cool" was repeated a few times when they first used rulers. Some children may be better served using the stencils to title pages in your notebook and border their best work.

Kerry