thepoteetteam Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Is it really worth spending the $ on the Notebook/Spiral Bound Journals? I would need to buy 2 of them, but I really want them to be worth the $$. I forgot to look at them at the Homeschool Convention a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for any advice! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcurry Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I did the Apologia Astronomy with my boys last year (ages 8, 6, & 4) and we got one notebook to share between them. It's not really necessary, but had some fun cut & fold books in there (but unless they are great at sharing, they will each want to do their own), a vocabulary crossword, and scripture copywork for each 2-week unit. We liked it, but was glad I only purchased one. My oldest did the writing in the notebook, my 6 year old made his own notebook by just drawing pictures and gluing some of the books (we split them between the boys) onto paper, and my 4 year old mostly just watched and sometimes helped cut out the books. Some of the written activities we also had him do on plain paper and put in his notebook. While we enjoyed it, and we love having a book of what we learned throughout the year, I'm not sure whether to tell you it's worth the money or not. Another thing I liked was that it included a schedule in the front. But mostly, it was reading one week, and then activities the next, so even that wasn't really necessary. The only things that really enforced what we learned that wasn't included in the main book were the vocabulary crossword and the mini-books. The rest was something that is easy to do on your own (even for the non-creative). There were many "blank" pages with just a title, or a place to draw pictures or write "fascinating facts" about what you learned. So, if you have a writer, or someone who loves extra material, or loves to draw pictures & write in notebooks, it might be worth it. If your children are good at sharing, they could share one notebook and do the activities together. Or if you want them both to do the activity, one could do it in the notebook and another on paper and then switch the following week. I hope that was helpful. If you're really short on funds, it might be better spent somewhere else. If you have money coming out your ears, it's a fun thing to add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Personally I like getting the lapbooks on CD instead and them printing them myself. It costs only slightly more than an Apologia notebook to purchase the CD and then you can print as many copies as you like. Plus they are in color (or you can print in B&W if you want), which I dont think the notebook is, at least not the samples I have seen. I prefer the Live and Learn Press lapbooks and then sell them at rainbow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipling Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I have not used the notebooking journals - so I can't tell you if they're worth the money or not. Here's what we're doing instead: I wanted my kids to keep some kind of science notebook (but I didn't want to buy two journals), so I purchased 2 folders and printed the free notebooking pages off of the Jeannie Fulbright website. For each chapter, we'll read the book, do the notebooking pages, and add any of our own pages (like pictures or experiment/project summaries). We lose the fun activities like the crosswords and wordsearches and such, but I think this will work better for us since I like the freedom to add our own things. Plus, I did an internet search and found a few free crosswords that I will add when they fit in. Also , I made a Word document for experiments with the following questions: What did I use? What did I do? What happened? What did I learn? The kids can draw or write their answers and then add those pages to their notebook. I've had some people say that the cost of printing the free pages outweighs the "free" aspect, but really, I don't think it's that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepoteetteam Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Kristen, I had totally forgotten about that site! I was so excited to see those journal pages! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconnolley Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 This year for Astronomy I bought 1 journal for my 9 yds. I printed the free lapbook off of hslaunch.com for my 7 ydd and a few parts of it for my 5 dd. I made up my own vocabulary crosswords puzzles for the girls (there are free crossword makers online) and printed the free notebooking pages to fill in here and there. I made up nice cover pages by using pictures online and using Word. We have only finished one chapter so far, but I think that it is going to work out well. My son is happy with the journal. I knew that my more artsy daughter would enjoy making her own. I spent hours cutting out the lapbook for her. She is adding the mini books into her notebook. I was really grateful to find it for free, and it is VERY nice. Jessica also made a Zoology 1 Lapbook, but I am not sure if it is on hslaunch. You might need to join her Yahoo group to get access to that one. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Notebooking2Learn/ Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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