Homeschool Helper with Charisse Van Horn

Did you know that every week you can get a free curriculum sample, typically in the form of an Ebook, at Currclick?  You can visit the site by follwing the linke on my other homeschooling page here: Homeschool Mate, and see this week’s freebies.  This week, it is a 42 page free Unit Study on butterflies.  It has wonderful color graphics, activities, links, printables and more.  I was talking with my husband the other day about ordering that butterfly kit on tv.  Right now the name of it escapes me, but they’ll send you caterpillars and a little housing tent.  You can watch the caterpillars make a chrysallis and turn into butterflies.  I know my two youngest would love that.  They are obsessed with butterflies, moths, and dragonflies.  Here in Florida they are plentiful.  But this unit study would go perfectly with that activity.

Now that you know how to make mini books , let me tell you about a project I just made with my kids. One of the reasons I love the mini books from one sheet of paper, is that they are easy to create as well as dispose of. You see, when kids are in public school, it’s great to save all of the work they make in a special folder. Then when they are older you can pull it out and reminisce over when the child first created the artwork or project. However, when you homeschool, you simply can’t save everything- there is just too much. That’s why notebooking and lapbooking are great activities (as well as little mini books.)

Today, I simply folded two pieces of paper and made little books with my two year old, Joshua and three year old, Ariella. Joshua made a counting book. We wrote out the numerals on each page then spelled the number word at the bottom. He put stickers on each page, counting them out as he added them. He was so cute, he kept “reading” his book to me. I wrote “Joshua’s Number Book” for the title, and he carefully read the title back to me as well.

Ariella just made an artbook. She is cutting out pictures and gluing them with her glue stick. She has already mastered letter recognition, but we haven’t formally begun writing yet. I am going to pick up some alphabet stickers this weekend from my local dollar tree and we’ll work on a “letter book.”

Now that you know what a lapbook is, you’ll want to begin learning all of the different folding techniques that will ensure you have plenty of materials and teaching tools to add to your lapbook.  The first fold that I recommend everyone to learn is how to turn a single sheet of 8 by 11 paper into a mini book.  Actually, this is an Origami book, but it works so easily, you can create mini books for your kids in less than a minute!  There is a link that will show you in a diagram, but I will try to explain it as well.  Here is the link: Simple Origami Book.

1. Fold the paper in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again, then one time horizontally, to create 8 rectangles. (Open up the paper and make sure there are eight rectangles)

2.  After Opening the paper, fold it in half lengthwise and make a cut from the center fold to the first point where the horizontal and diagonal folds meet.

3.  Now open the paper (there is a slit in the middle of the paper)

4.  Fold the paper “landscape” and you’ll have the slit on top.  Push both ends of th paper together to create a cross section.  By pushing both the right and left sides of the paper, it will automatically create an 8 page book!

Now, let your kids write away!

(here is one more link with graphics, just in case you need further clarification- Think Quest Mini Book 

Notebooking is a method of using a subject notebook to research a topic.  You can choose to use a regular lined notebook to journal in and add cutouts or pictures to your notebook by taping or gluing them down, or you might prefer to use a three ring binder folder where you can add your own notebooking paper and easily add other pages (such as cardstock or picture cutouts) by using a paper punch.  It’s important to use a notebooking method that works best for you, but as you add more imagination to your notebook, you might find that the three ring binder is more suitable for your needs.

You can combine many scrapbooking techniques with your notebooking methods to create stunning and spectacular educational notebooks.  However, the main point of notebooking isn’t in creating a beautiful work of art, but an educational research book that children have created themselves.

Here are some examples to notebooking samples online.

One Child Policy Homeschool

Scrapbooking to Learn shows some amazingly beautiful scrapbooking techniques that you can use with notebooking.

Scrapbooking to Learn: Notebooking

Notebooking Exhibit

If you’ve heard the term “lapbook” around homeschooling circles, but just aren’t certain what a “lapbook” is, you are not alone.  Lapbooking is a popular trend amongst homeschoolers, because it is an easy, fun, and highly efficient way of learning.  Sometimes lapbooks may be referred to as “shutterbooks”, but basically, a lapbook is a book that is composed from a file folder that when opened displays numerous mini books, printouts, and other paper cutouts, etc that enhance a study.

 There are numerous ways to fold paper and create mini books.  By using the different paper folding techniques, you can create lapbooks that are rich with information.  I think the viewing a lapbook is the best way to understand what one is, so I am enclosing some links to lapbooks online.

Links to Pictures of Lapbooks Online

Lapbooks and Homeschooling: The Homeschool Shop

Homeschool in the Woods

Folding Instructions for Lapbooks: This is very indepth!

When you first begin homeschooling, you may feel overwhelmed with the task that you have just set out upon, and you should!  Honestly, if anyone tells you that homeschooling is a piece of cake, don’t believe them.  Homeschooling takes lots of dedication, plenty of preparation, lots of self-discipline, and you must set goals and ensure that your children consistently meet those goals.  However, one of the first decisions that you will make is to choose from the various homeschool methods and find a style that is best for your family.

There are a number of different homeschool methods, and chances are that you may test out a number of these homeschool methods before you find the style that works best for your family as well as your child’s particular learning style.

Here are the most popular homeschool methods.

•  Traditional Text Book/Curriculum
• Classical
• Charlotte Mason
• Eclectic
• Waldorf
• Montessori
• Unschooling
• Unit Studies
• Computer Based
• Distance Learning
• Literature (C.M. Living Books)
• Notebooking
• Lapbooking
• Self Directed (Robinson Curriculum)
• Satellite or Umbrella School
• Attending Public School with a Homeschooling Option