Homeschool in the Woods - History Lapbooks (AAAHHHH!)

[LisaKinVA]

So...I got the Explorers to WWII project stuff. I have *never* done lapbooks before. I know I'm not going to do this right. I mean, how in the world do I know where things go? I realize it's color, cut, paste/tape type of stuff...but I want it to look NICE, too. I'm in over my head, here. I just know it.

 

Those of you who lapbook, please hold my hand. I'm not a lap-booker, but I know my middle kids (especially) will LOVE this. I'm using it in conjunction with VP Self-paced on-line (Explorers to 1815), to enrich that. If we don't have $$$ for next year, I will be forced to use it for 1815 to modern ages.

 

HEELLLPP!

 

Thank you.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Check out the photo's HTTW has of completed lapbooks. That will give you an idea of what the final product might look like. Then follow the directions exactly. Chances are there are photo's of the projects in the CD/Download you received from HTTW.

[Tess in the Burbs]

The Old Testament one we have from them had directions but it took looking at the finished one to understand the directions lol. But it was the last part of the instructions telling how to put together.

[HS Mom in NC]

I usually make my own like a portfolio at the end of a unit study that I designed, so I have no template to follow. You can make it how ever you like. The lapbook police won't come get you if you do yours differently than the person who designed it.

 

Focus not so much on where every little part goes, but how to add extensions to make more room for more things. Unless it's something that requires specific placement in order to function properly, you can put it where ever you like.

[LisaKinVA]

So...how do I add "extensions" ?

[HS Mom in NC]

These are horizontal extensions. She shows a couple of different ones.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVJ2OBMICM&list=PL568585F0CD8973AD

 

 

 

This one is a vertical extension.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1inXbba3cg

[Amber in SJ]

After making several years of lapbooks, shutter book style with all the extensions, we decided it just wasn't worth the trouble. We would lose completed components if it took too long to get through the unit or components would get torn or smooshed if they had to be stored until the end of a unit. Now we do short lapbooks with multiple volumes of the same topic. A single file folder used without changing the fold can hold anywhere from 5-10 components. If a unit is going to take me two weeks to cover, I will divide the components 1/2 and have them make two lapbooks and call them American Revolution 1 & 2 or Mammals a & b.

 

Just my little shortcut

 

Amber in SJ

[Amber in SJ]

One year I bought each of my children a spiral bound sketchbook and those were their history scrapbooks. They could glue in maps or lapbook components and they could sketch anything they wanted or even throw in clip art. Any museum trips relevant to our history studies and we took our sketchbooks along for sketching. We glued in postcards, pictures and ticket stubs. They captioned or journaled or narrated as we went along. It was a pretty good year for history that year.

 

Amber in SJ

[HS Mom in NC]

I put all our components in one file folder as soon as they're done for safe keeping until we're ready to assemble the lapbook.

[LisaKinVA]

I put all our components in one file folder as soon as they're done for safe keeping until we're ready to assemble the lapbook.

 

So...I hold all of the components and we put the book together at the very end? We don't assemble as we go? Oh my. I guess that's why I have all of these plastic envelopes ;)

[elizabeth rose]

One year I bought each of my children a spiral bound sketchbook and those were their history scrapbooks. They could glue in maps or lapbook components and they could sketch anything they wanted or even throw in clip art. Any museum trips relevant to our history studies and we took our sketchbooks along for sketching. We glued in postcards, pictures and ticket stubs. They captioned or journaled or narrated as we went along. It was a pretty good year for history that year.

 

Amber in SJ

 

Oh my gosh, I LOVE this idea. Thank you so much for sharing, I am going to definitely do this, did I say I LOVE it???

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

We usually make Fridays the day we add new things to the lapbook, there is no wait dd could wait to the end to assemble it.

This year we will be making lapbooks for science and history. For science we will be using a lapbook I got for Apologia Flying Creatures but we will not be making one big lapbook. instead I plan on using a file folder per chapter, inside the file folder will be the lapbooks creations and on the back I will attach with metal brads any paper generated from the chapter (notes, drawings, experiments). Then each folder will be 3 hole punched and put in a binder.

 

As for the Time Traveler lapbook, there should be a tutorial on the cd that will walk show you how to make the lapbook. O plan on having this premade before school starts. I am aslo going to buy plastic see through sleeves you can put in a notebook so the lapbook can fit nicely in with all her other things she will write/draw for history. The lapbook you make with the TT looks daunting but it is not really overwhelming since you do a little at a time.

[mschickie]

We have also done it in a binder. I use card stock to put all the mini-books and such on it. I love the Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers time lines. They work really well for a binder approach.

[nukeswife]

There should be instructions for putting it all together in lesson 23 or 24 of the CD you got. I gave each of my kids a big plastic envelope (similar to the ones they use for interoffice memos) and they keep everything in that until the end.

[lillybell]

I decided to forgo the lapbook for the unit because I had my 2 youngest daughters complete different parts of it since they had other history and this was just supplement. They shared in working on profile cards and maps together. What I ended up doing is setting up a bulletin cork board and we would staple the items as we went on the bulletin board. My youngest loves lapbooks but since this was a team effort, I wanted them both to have access to the information and see it.

[sbgrace]

We have also done it in a binder. I use card stock to put all the mini-books and such on it. I love the Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers time lines. They work really well for a binder approach.

 

This is how I do ours. It's easy. We just add as we create components and start a new card stock page when we need more space. This also makes reviewing previous work as we go easy.

[skeeterbug]

I prefer to make the file folders into books like demonstrated here at Aussie Pumpkin Patch.

 

http://blog.aussiepumpkinpatch.com/2010/11/mini-file-folder-book-tutorial.html

 

I much prefer the way these look to traditional lapbooks, and we can easily add pages if needed. You could add just a vertical extension if you don't need another whole folder. (Note that the size of folders here is much larger than your letter size folders so you won't need to trim them as much.)

 

Here's a finished one we did so you can see how it looks.

 

http://www.ouraussiehomeschool.com/2012/08/olympic-lapbook-activities.html