# Lapbooks?



## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm just wondering if anyone does lapbooks with their children. If you do, what are your favorite resources? My youngest son asks about random things a lot that he wants to know more about and I was thinking lapbooks would be a way to answer the questions and change things up a little in our school day. I've been on Currclick and found a few things, but that can add up quickly if you're not paying attention. Homeschool Share has free ones, but a lot of times I don't have the books that they use and can't find them at the library. I know I could make them myself, but I'm afraid that by the time I get it all together his interest will be on something else. 

TIA


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## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

I have been making lapbooks for our 2yo. I use free downloads, most of which I find on Montessori sites. I only use the free downloads. I could spend a fortune if I wanted to purchase them, but I don't think they are worth the $$$.

Here is a link to get you started, if you're interested:

https://www.google.com/search?q=fre...8GKnOyQG96oGQBw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1025&bih=452

I could spend weeks surfing through websites on the internet. There is so much information out there that people have so generously shared.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

I don't have much of a budget (like none) so what I have done is just use normal file folders and magazines and easy coloring printouts. I would just fold the folders up and have the child paste in the chosen pictures and the short narrations they dictated and I wrote out for them. Sometimes we'd do the write ups on the computer and use fancy fonts and coloring. Especially for the little ones, it was quick and easy. Perfect for short attention spans. They got a kick out of the cutting and pasting part of things. They were allowed to organize it however they liked.


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## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

Elizabeth - Thank you, I hadn't added Montessori to my google searches, those results look great. Currclick had a pretty good sale last week so I bought the ones that I really wanted, but I can't afford to buy them all. A lot of them are definitely not worth the price they have on them. I also try to grab freebies from Currclick whenever I can.

thermopkt - My son is the opposite. He gets tired of the cutting and pasting, but he'll write the answers in the booklets. I've been cutting and pasting and he fills in the answers as we get through a section. It doesn't bother me at all to do it because I'm more concerned with his comprehension than his pasting skills.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

My daughter would have loved this method (and its big-kid version; notebooking, since both of my kids are junior high). My son, who is actually homeschooling OTOH, would _never_ have gone for it. He would have played along nicely to make Mom happy, but it wouldn't have done anything for him. 
In addition to the cutting, pasting, etc. he has always hated to color and basically anything "presentation"ish like that. He's an extremely left-brained type of kid and likes lines, clear definitions, puzzles and riddles with _answers_, etc. 

He'd much rather take a test or write a paper than do a notebook. He has no patience for any of that creative, pretty mumbo jumbo.  (In case you can't tell, this bums me out to no end. lol)


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

My son liked the first few we did. He was younger and it was a change of pace, but he lost interest in the method. So don't buy too many ahead!! 

I did a few with DD, but since DS wasn't as "on board" with them by the time she was old enough we just didn't do many. Remember you don't have to do every book. The last one we did was for the Aplolgia's Botany book, it was a hit because I only let the kids pick 3-4 books per chapter to do. Because they were limited and had to "choose" they found it more fun. Had I printed them all out and had them do all of them.....it would have been a chore.


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

We did lapbooks with my children when they were young. Most of them had no interest in them by the time they were in 4th or 5th grade, although my oldest son did a nice one on weather later than that. We found them to be very helpful in learning math skills and with some memorization such as days of the week, months of the year and such.

There are many places with free downloads of lapbooks, but we made most of ours on our own, usually from magazines or things that we created on the computer.
Dawn


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