Lap Book disaster! Help!

[Jenn Robinson]

Hello!
I am new to the lapbooking/ fold-n-learn thing and I could use some help from those with more experience.

I've only done 4 lapbooks with the girls and they all ended in frustration.

The problem seems to be that they lose focus on what we're doing and I'm trying to scurry around and read the lesson, cut the things out, write the answers, etc.

Should I have evrything pre-cut? If so wouln't they miss the "skill" of cutting?
Should I have all the answers already written out? It seems like when I stop to write things down they loose their attention of what we're talking about.

But if the cutting and writing is done for them- what would they do? Just glue pieces on the folder?

Also, should I read the section first and then do 5 cut outs instead of - Read- cut out- read- cutout?

The idea of this seems so wonderful to me! This is how I wish I'd been taught. Maybe my girls are just too young (7 & almost 6) to appreciate it? But they seem like they should be the perfect age?

I don't want to give up on this so any advise would be wonderful!!! I've never known (personally) anyone else who does school like this. Only you guys!:D So I would love to hear "how" you do it!

Thank you so much!:)

[Heather W]

You might start with a simpler lapbook first of all with not so much cutting and pasting!

Next, much of what goes into a lapbook for us is the work they are already doing for FIAR. I try not to add lots of extras unless the kids really enjoy it.

so, if Jane's lesson says, "Try to make your own similes or metaphors." Then I have the kids write them or dictate them to me and then we display that in the lapbook.

If you're talking a fold and learn from FIAR or another company where there are lots of pieces to cut and glue, then I might cut some and have them do some. Share the task.

Also, I do the lessons and talk to the kids about things and do an assignment one day and then another day we'll glue it in.

So, I might batch the work so it isn't a frenzy of cut and paste all at once.

My 5 and 7 yr olds do this pretty well in snippets. Good luck!

[Paige P]

The first FNL I did, I sat down with my girls and did it all in a marathon. By the end, we were all exhausted, and I was extremely frustrated.

When I decided to incorporate notebooking into our school year this year (I thought it was a great way to review and for them to "store" fond memories), I figured I'd best find a better way to get it all in there. We do things on a daily basis -- if we color the map and flag, then we cut it out, and I put it in a folder (each girl has one), and it's saved. If we do a craft, I either take a picture, download it and put it in the folder or just put the craft in the folder. If we write examples of puns or any other LA idea, then it goes in the folder THAT DAY. Any cutting gets done day-by-day. At the end of the week, all of our cutting, etc., is done, and all we have to do is figure out the layout and paste things in. I will sometimes add comments below pictures, and Katie sometimes does her own if it's not too involved. Oh yes, my dds are 6 and 5.

If I were to do a big FNL that doesn't allow for a day-by-day cutting, I'd probably do most of it beforehand. They get plenty of cutting practice at other times. It's just not worth the frustration and lack of attention, etc. that happens when there's all kinds of "extraneous" stuff to do. My girls can't sit there for 2-3 hours working on one project like that -- it's just too much at this age.

Hope that helps ;)

[Rebe]

Hello!
Maybe my girls are just too young (7 & almost 6) to appreciate it? But they seem like they should be the perfect age?


In my experience, they're the right age if you want to help them quite a bit (as you've already seen!). If you want them to do it more independently, I would say 8 is the minimum. My very artistic ds was 8 when he was doing lapbooks mostly on his own. My dd is now 9 and creates her own lapbooks, and while they're not nearly as "nice" as her brother's, they are hers and hers alone! :) I only give advice -- she does it all herself.

I've never wanted to do a lot of the lapbook work, so I just wait until they're older. Don't feel badly if you find yourself doing that, too. Lots of moms here successfully lapbook with younger kids; I just don't have the patience for it, I guess.

[Kendall in GA]

...Here's what I do:

* I do a little each day and I do NOT create lessons just for the sake of having something to stick in a minute book.

* I ask my dc whether they want to do their own cutting. If not, I'll cut for them. (They usually want to cut they're own.)

* My dd does all of her own writing. My ds does some of his own writing. If it is too much for him, I'll have him give the answers orally and I'll write for him.

* My dc do most of their own gluing; however, I do the layouts for their books & final gluing ~ Of course, I'm open to their input. ;) (I prefer to do the layouts b/c I want to make sure that everything fits in the folder.)

* We've made lapbooks for the past 3 years and my dc have just started doing their own folds. Previously, it was just easier & quicker for me to do them.

Lapbooks work very well for us; but, they're not for everyone...Don't feel compelled to do them if they don't really work for you.

[Marcygirl]

We love our lapbooks, but I'll admit, most of the work is on me. Ben is a month shy of 7 and while he is capable of cutting, pasting, and writing, there is no way we would ever complete a lapbook if he had to do it all.

I pre-cut most things, but he'll usually cut a couple. If the writing involves a word here or there, he does it. If it's a definition or longer passage, I type it into word and print it off. He does most of the gluing. It's definitely a team effort.

I would not expect 6 and 7 year olds to do all of it, not even close.

You can view a few of our lapbooks here (http://homeschoolblogger.com/benandme) if you'd like to get an idea of what we do and how I do things. I have about 3 more to add, but I'm a bit behind on the blog!

[Jenn Robinson]

Thank you all for your encouragment! I just sat down with my lapbook pieces and planned out when we are (and who is) going to what. I think some of it was a lack of planning and organization on my part.

We did "Dutchess" two weeks ago and broke it up. That was fine and relaxing. But now we are doing one about Pilgrams from HOAC. I was trying to read their pages, find the answer myself, cut it out, and write all the anwers in the correct places while saying "You do this" to them. No wonder it was no fun at all!:lol:

Tomorrow, and the next few days, I have it divided up into who writes and cuts what and now I know where the answers are!!!

I love hearing how everyone does their's and appreciate all the suggestions! Marcey- your blog is wonderful! I can't wait to see your others lapbooks when you get them up! (I just reread that and if someone had written it to me I would feel rushed to put them up ASAP- don't feel rushed! Just know I enjoyed them!:D )

Thank you all for your help and I would love to hear from anyone else! I love suggestions!

Jenn:)

[Melinda]

The idea of this seems so wonderful to me! This is how I wish I'd been taught. Maybe my girls are just too young (7 & almost 6) to appreciate it? But they seem like they should be the perfect age?


The age is precisely why I don't have a shelf-full of lapbooks. My girls are 6, 6 and 7/8. In our co-op last year, many kids had lavish and well-coordinated lapbooks done by the mother. And that fine. It's just not me. Now I've made file folder games for my kids to practice review work, but not lapbooks. To me that's something a child should be able to complete.

Anyway, we are doing "pre" lapbooks this year. Each of my girls has a composition book in which they place all of their work. We will occasionally glue a small minute book to a page or something from Enchanted Learning or Homeschool Share. We are also working on timeline cards this year and each child has a specific event to place on the timeline. That child is responsible for drawing, gluing and completing the card (with help, of course).

Oh, I also do a lot of our lessons in Powerpoint. So when the kids complete a project I scan it in to accentuate our interactive lessons. So it's kind of like digital lapbooking. :D

Next year we may tackle a real lapbook. Maybe. :lol: But we will only do one for the family with everyone pitching in for a different subject. Then eventually I'll let each child complete her own.

[Holly S]

My DD is 5 and we've done a few lapbooks. We do not do one for every book. I only do the lapbooks if I have enough ideas or printouts for it while planning for the week. I have her do one or two things each day to put in it, so it's not too big a project. I pre-cut most of it, but leave a few things for her to cut and paste. Usually I have the books precut and let her decorate or glue things into the books. On Friday (or whenever we finish), we glue the minit books into the folder. I help her apply the glue and direct her where to put it on the folder. This works pretty well, but I don't think I'd want to do this every week. The rest of the time, I just add any work she does into her notebook.

Hope that helps you!

[TinaM]

I did our first lapbook last week. It was the apple fold and learn since we rowed How to make an Apple Pie and see the world. I precut all the little things b/c they would've been frustrated and tired of cutting had i made them do it. The bigger things that were easier and took less time, i let them do themselves but it was just easier on all of us if i mostly cut it ahead of time. We all enjoyed much more and were able to focus on the lesson more too. I precut the night before btw. I dont think i'd like to do the cutting during our lesson just b/c i'd rather focus on the lesson and have all the supplies ready for us to use.

This week, we're doing 2 lapbooks. One for Cranberry Thanksgiving(i got the printables from HSS) and the other is the Turkey Time lapbook from HOAC. Again, i precut all the small things like the 15 little turkeys etc, that they would not enjoy doing by themselves. Again, it makes lapbooking more fun for them and less stressful for me.

I agree that i would not do a lapbook every week or for every book. I'd rather just gather up the printables and put them in a notebook most of the time, but doing a lapbook every now and then is fun.

eta: They each do their own lapbook, so im cutting things x2.

[Nancy Ann]

I plan ahead and look through everything and plan the basic format of where everything is going to go. I also plan how many days and what we will do on each day. This has made a huge difference from when I first started lapbooking.

I allow a few things for my son to cut out. But mostly at this young age it's listening to the lesson and pasting it together. But it's a fun thing to do and it is something he can show his friends and Dad. I like how he shares with his Dad about the lapbook.

I also think visuals are great and really aid in learning and it also will lead to asking questions.

When he is 8 or 9 I will want him to do some writing and putting it together on his own. Just like everything else I am teaching my son about lapbooks and this is just the first step.