cakemom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Does or has anyone used this who would like to share what they like and dislike about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We've only completed one of them but I really liked it. My 2nd grader did the Tale of Peter Rabbit lapbook. Well, he actually has one activity left to do and then it's all done. He loved it. In fact, at this very minute, he is proudly showing off his lapbook to his Daddy. He wanted to start school with it everyday. I plan to incorporate them all throughout 3rd grade for him. These lapbooks are very much "put together" for you. You may or may not like that. I do like it because I'm not very creative and I like the simplicity of it all being planned out for us. I enjoyed having the ebook. I printed the pages up all at once and placed them in a binder. Then, I printed them again (right from the computer) as we went through the lapbook because my son didn't want to cut up the copy that we have in the binder. It was very easy to implement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandaceC Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I personally prefer Homeschool Share...and they are FREE! :D TONS of free lapbooks for free here. :) In the world of lapbooking, the opinions are wide and varied...so this is obviously just my opinion, but the HOAC lapbooks all begin to look the same to me. The graphics aren't very creative, no color...I like the more creative and colorful mini-books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrsjamiesouth Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We thought they were very dry and almost boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I bought several printed/bound versions several years ago. I won't waste any more money with the company, as they appear (or did at that time) to have some serious printing issues. Specifically, the maps on their continent lapbooks were so awful that you couldn't even tell what continent it was suppose to be! I also bought several of their 'research packs' and I never could figure out the purpose of them... You could get the same info from looking at the table of contents from any research book - for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cakemom Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 Homeschool share looks great. You are right, it has some great graphics! for your information to go into those lapbooks, do you just google the answers to their questions? It does not look like those lapbooks come with any kind of text to explain the topics covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I personally prefer Homeschool Share...and they are FREE! :D TONS of free lapbooks for free here. :) In the world of lapbooking, the opinions are wide and varied...so this is obviously just my opinion, but the HOAC lapbooks all begin to look the same to me. The graphics aren't very creative, no color...I like the more creative and colorful mini-books. Candace, Thanks so much for sharing this. I checked it just now and it looks fabulous. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 If you scroll down most lapbooks on there have lessons and answers to go with them. Some don't and we have to google the answers. No big deal. But most have them if you scroll to the bottom. I like Homeschoolshare and what I can't find there I've gotten from other lapbook companies such as HOAC, Homeschool in the Woods , Lapbooks for Catholics, etc. I sometimes do my own stuff. But when I'm not feeling very creative or my time is limited I think these already made ones do just fine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We thought they were very dry and almost boring. :iagree: We bought an Egypt lapbook to tie up our study on Egypt, but none of the questions in the lapbook had very much to do w/ what we'd learned. Since ds was only in 1st g (& I hardly trust what might show up on a Google search), I had to find all of the answers for him & basically tell him what to write. Of course, then he couldn't write small enough, so I wrote the answers, too. *I* don't enjoy lapbooking. I think *he* would have loved it, if he'd gotten to do any of it! Since then, we've tried some free ones, but we never seem to finish them, even w/ ds, dd, & I all working together. I can't imagine having the time to spend on things like that, but...it could just be my pokey kids. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFamily Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I know I'll be the odd man out here, but we loved them! We have done two or three now, and I thought they were easy (my goal) and fun for the kids. Thanks for the link to the free lapbook sight! That is GREAT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cakemom Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 We have actually done several lapbooks and love them. The problem that I ran into was that I was putting them all together myself. Thinking of questions to ask about the topic, goggle searching everything, gathering and putting all the information together, figuring out, finding and printing what type of template to use, etc. After about 6 or 7 weeks of that, I got totally burned out!! I just can't take the time or energy to keep putting it all together anymore so I was looking for a different option for having all the lapbooking information on each topic put together for me. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 These are my favorite lapbooks. They are good and solid. I can give my oldest the information packet and a lapbook piece or two a day and know that she can do the work and there there is nothing missing. We have encountered lapbooks in the past from other places where there is missing information, we don't have the books needed, they are pretty much just writing essays for each book, etc. Hands of a Child Lapbooks are by far the best. I like them so much I got the supermembership.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 These are my favorite lapbooks. They are good and solid. I can give my oldest the information packet and a lapbook piece or two a day and know that she can do the work and there there is nothing missing. We have encountered lapbooks in the past from other places where there is missing information, we don't have the books needed, they are pretty much just writing essays for each book, etc. Hands of a Child Lapbooks are by far the best. I like them so much I got the supermembership.:001_smile: :iagree: I was just talking to my 5th grader yesterday (he likes to complete more detailed lapbooks independently) - and he did one from another company which was VERY frustrating, info you couldn't find and then he did the large Native American one from Hands of a Child and hands down he preferred the HOAC. He and I both loved that the information was complete in the project pack for all of the mini-books. We still read extra books on the topic from the library - but it was nice to know that we weren't going to have to wander around looking for answers for the mini books. I've discussed this with him and we're "sold" on HOAC and will probably only do their lapbooks from now on. I just don't have the time/energy/motivation to come up with my own and/or search for obscure answers. So the small cost is definitely worth it. Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I have bought tons of lapbooks from them but have yet to put one together :tongue_smilie: I like that they have everything ready. I don't have time to search the net for information and graphics plus I can purchase them all printed for me. But even so, I never did get around to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda (Australia) Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We've completed a few of their lapbooks - loved the Water Cycle one, and my girls also enjoyed the chocolate one (I wonder why)? We're not really a lapbooking family, but enjoyed the fact that they were well laid out and easy to use. I can see the point that they may begin to look all the same after a while, but I think if you used a few from here, a few from there, you'd end up with a good variety of topics and styles. And after a while, you can easily take the ideas to put together your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 These are my favorite lapbooks. I've never attempted a lapbook because I am craft-impaired. What would be an easy first lapbook to tackle for myself dds 6 & 7? Thanks!:001_smile: AND -- I'm ordering those grammar books. They look wonderful. I love the Serendipity blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandaceC Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) Beth, here are a ton of free options in your age range: ETA: the ones that say LB beside them are the titles with lapbooks. :) HSS free lapbooks, Level 3 What I especially love about HSS (Homeschool Share) is that most of them are literature based. So, you check out a few books from the library, read together and do your lapbook and VOILA - you have a week planned out for you! (or more...) In case any of you have more specific questions, HSS does have a message board that I help moderate...it is not NEARLY as busy as this board...but there are some sweet, fabulous ladies over there who are always willing to help answer questions or chat. :) HSS forums Edited June 9, 2010 by CandaceC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Does or has anyone used this who would like to share what they like and dislike about this? I like them a lot. I like that they include all of the information necessary to complete the lapbooks, but in a text format separated from the lapbook section. Children have to read the text to find the answers to put on the lapbook, and it's not always obvious. This is more fun than regular workbooks but serves the same function, I think. I wish that they put the explanations of how to assemble and fill in minibook directly next to the forms that you cut out to make the minibook. I hate flipping back and forth unnecessarily. I had a great experience when I ordered a custom lapbook. They made the Norse mythology lapbook for me. They were sensitive to our religious differences (them being Christian, me being a Neopagan who believes in the gods in that book). They kept me informed all along the way so I never felt like they had forgotten the custom book I ordered. I prefer their lapbooks to Knowledge Box and the free ones because HOAC are better organized, richer and more full of helps, have more minibooks, and are more flexible, being in black and white and requiring more student work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I also bought several of their 'research packs' and I never could figure out the purpose of them... You could get the same info from looking at the table of contents from any research book - for free! I believe these are the informational text that are now combined into the lapbook files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I've never attempted a lapbook because I am craft-impaired. What would be an easy first lapbook to tackle for myself dds 6 & 7? Thanks!:001_smile: One that my dd and I really enjoyed at that age that is easy and will give you a nice taste of lapbooks and whether you want to invest more time and money in them is: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/boxes_for_katje.php I do like homeschoolshare for the younger ages.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Thank you!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We've done HOAC and enjoyed them. We haven't done any for awhile and I think the girls are over lapbooks but when they were younger they were really proud of the finished product. They are easy to make yourself too. But sometimes it is nice to have the planned ones too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee67p Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 my kids couldn't write that small and all 3 doing the lapbooking at the same time meant that I wasn't going to write the information 3 times in a row for them. SO, we use the activity ideas and the graphics and instead of making mini-books, we glue them into notebooks. Storage is easier too. I love the habitat series for an idea of what materials and when to cover the topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina in WA Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) I personally prefer Homeschool Share...and they are FREE! :D TONS of free lapbooks for free here. :) In the world of lapbooking, the opinions are wide and varied...so this is obviously just my opinion, but the HOAC lapbooks all begin to look the same to me. The graphics aren't very creative, no color...I like the more creative and colorful mini-books. I totally agree, you are going to find many opinons on different companies, etc. There are some really neat free ones too. :-) Personally, I don't care for the color versions. I don't have a colored printer and have a hard time paying for colored lapbooks (or even using the free one). Edited June 9, 2010 by Tina in WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina in WA Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) We have actually done several lapbooks and love them. The problem that I ran into was that I was putting them all together myself. Thinking of questions to ask about the topic, goggle searching everything, gathering and putting all the information together, figuring out, finding and printing what type of template to use, etc. After about 6 or 7 weeks of that, I got totally burned out!! I just can't take the time or energy to keep putting it all together anymore so I was looking for a different option for having all the lapbooking information on each topic put together for me. :) I LOVE HOAC!!! I have used KBC, L&L, and HITW. HITW is a very close second, but really they are in a league of their own. They are lapbooks, but do have more to them. They are way more project orientated and do take more time than a typical "lapbook". With HOAC, you can get many different versions of the lapbooks. My Jr High dd loves the type-it-in feature. This also gives her keyboard practice. I like that all the answers are right there in the guide, but for mom's that want to hand and go (for older kids), it is great to get the answer key. One thing to remember about lapbooking though is that the answers is supposed to be the child's interpretation. For me, the AK is a just key to make sure my children understood the questions/topic. Something else I do for my older children is that we just cardstock and binders, or cardstock and those 3 pronged folders, instead of file folders. I am sure that is more information than you wanted, but all in all, we LOVE HOAC and we find the ones they have offered for the past few years to be very complete (yes, the older versions that required a second research guides were... well... cumbersome to use). They have made great improvements and thought of all different options for parents, and kids, different learning styles. Edited June 9, 2010 by Tina in WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arstephia Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We have done several. Some we loved, others were just okay. The older kids now do them independently, which is great. I use them to supplement things they are doing in their BJU history books that we use as spines. My son's favorite is the Titanic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I LOVE HOAC!!! I have used KBC, L&L, and HITW. HITW is a very close second. Could someone share what HITW and L&L are? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I have done many lapbooks and I think HOAC are the best ones out there. If you go to http://www.currclick.com you can see samples, reviews. I started doing them in 2nd grade with my son (unit study King!) and now that we are hitting 5th grade I think we are almost done doing them. I think we have done about 25 of them. The research books are very complete and he is quite pleased with the finished product. He likes to look back at ones he finished years ago. They also have a yahoo group you might want to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We like theirs, but I use Homeschool Share more simply because of the cost involved. I get some of the HOAC when they are on sale at Currclick though! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina in WA Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 KBC= Knowledge Box Central L&L= Live and Learn Press HITW= HOmeschooling in the Woods I wouldn't recommend KBC, but is my own personal preference... L&L is good, but it is all color and since I don't have a color printer, I don't purchase theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina in WA Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 HOAC's Website has many samples too. And they have $5 e-book lapbook special each week. This week it is a literature based lapbook called Blueberry Sale, a pk-3 grade lapbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpsings Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I've used it for ideas...and I do like it, I just don't like spending money. I got the book 'Dinah Zikes Big Book of Folds' and that's been fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Love their Type It lap books!! BTW if you become a Super Member (while membership is on sale) you can save quite a bit. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 KBC= Knowledge Box CentralL&L= Live and Learn Press HITW= HOmeschooling in the Woods I wouldn't recommend KBC, but is my own personal preference... L&L is good, but it is all color and since I don't have a color printer, I don't purchase theirs. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazilsara Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 :iagree: We have done several HOAC lapbooks, and while I definitley have my concerns about their books, we have really enjoyed them. In our cons-list is that they aren't always very well written, including reduncancy, gramatical errors, run-on or fragmented sentences, and general typos. They do not always give very good details, but then, sometimes give too much detail to what I consider less than important facts. On our Pros-list is the wide range of topics, including science and history topics. My son enjoys getting the Lesson, with a touch of art, and something other than a worksheet to review what he learned. We started with Ecology, then moved to the Habitats themes. We have just added more info in the form of DK Eyewitness books, and some others to suppliment the information. We enjoy that we can keep all of them together in a binder. Anyway....sounds like it's definitley a case by case basis for who likes or doesn't like these!!! Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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