Notebooking With Younger Children

Use Visuals To Record Information

Items like maps, diagrams, and photos are important additions to any notebook, but they tend to define notebooking when dealing with the younger crowd. A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to children who are just learning to control a pencil.

Drawing pictures illustrating the information being studied is a fun form of narration which allows your child to review what they have learned and gives you an opportunity to see what you might need to go over again. Copying the shape of a country to create their own map helps a child to learn that country's shape and recognize it when it is seen again. In the same way, making their own version of a work of art or drawing a plant or animal being studied causes a child to take a closer look at that object.

If your child has difficulty with this type of exercize or if you'd like to add some variety to their notebook, try using some preprinted coloring pages. There are many sources online where you can print off free pictures to go along with your science, history, and geography themes. Simple outline maps and diagrams can usually be found by doing a Google search. You can also include coloring pages from a purchased coloring book. Dover has a nice selection which would work well for this purpose. You can also have your child create a collage or scrapbook page with photographs or clipart of the topic being studied.

Give Them A Model To Work From

Copycats have gotten a lot of negative publicity, but there's no denying that we all tend to learn better by example. There's nothing wrong with letting your little ones copy from the notebook pages of their older siblings or examples you find on someone else's blog. After all, this isn't a test.

If the only thing holding your child back from creating their own notebook pages is their limited ability in the areas of spelling and penmanship, try typing out what they want to say and letting them transfer it into their notebook. Copywork is a great way for a child to practice their writing skills and it is a wonderful addition to a notebook on almost any subject.

An occasional worksheet or fill in the blank sheet also provides a child with the opportuity to show what they know, without becoming overwhelmed by a large amount of required writing. Adding minibooks to their notebook pages allows them to make a big statement with a few words. They may even want to try creating an interactive notebook.

Make It Interactive

Think of your child's notebook as a journal which they can use to record the adventures of their learning experiences. What types of things might an adventurer include in this type of record?

A sudy of birds might lead to a collection of feathers. Add these to the notebook. A study of botany can involve pressing leaves and flowers to glue into a notebook. A study of the water cycle may end with an afternoon spent playing with the hose in the backyard. Take pictures and add them to the notebook. Are you studying sheep? Add a small sample of wool to a notebook page. Try making felt and add that too.

Paper models also make great additions to a notebook. There are many books which include directions for studying the human body by creating paper bones, muscles, etc. If you are studying the layers of the atmosphere, you can create multi-page books showing each layer and glue these in your notebook. Paper dolls made to show clothing from around the world can be stored in a pocket in the notebook. Pop-ups showing famous buildings can be folded flat in the notebook. Cut and paste activities are also great additions to an early learner's notebook.