TOG lapbooks: Worth it or not?

[SewLittleTime]

I debating about whether or not to purchase the TOG lapbook for Y2U4. It will be our first unit. I have everything else in place ready to go, but I've debated whether or not to fork over another $20 the lapbook. We've haven't done any lapbooks this year, so I thought it might be a fun add-on.

 

What's your opinion? Yea or nay?

[SewLittleTime]

anyone?

[Karenciavo]

They are well done. I don't purchase them because I prefer to make my own.

[johnandtinagilbert]

They are well done. I don't purchase them because I prefer to make my own.

Agreed. They are content supportive, but we like to spruce up our books a bit w/ more focus on games and animals.

 

I prefer to save the $20 option when ordering!

[Omma]

They are worth it when you use them! :D My problem is that I bought too many units worth of them. I think it is better to purchase them selectively, if possible.

 

Brenda

[unity]

My kids didn't think they were fun at all. A lapbook, after all, is about writing stuff down on little bits of paper and then glueing it in a folder. Mine looked as if I'd gone crazy when I acted as if that was supposed to be a fun reinforcement of the material. If they liked writing more it may have been more of a hit. The one child I actually got to do it without a fit ultimately balked by the end of the lapbook and just begged to do something truely hands-on.

[melmichigan]

I think it is varies greatly by age and by child. My DD8's and my DD11 voted on if they would do lapbooks for Y2U2, they are finishing up Y2U1 lapbooks as we speak, and they unanimously voted to continue with them for the next unit (I even gave them the option of some others and they chose TOG). It may make a difference that we use a lot of clip art, P-touch labeling and computer print so that they don't write themselves in about 50% of the booklets, since two of the three have dysgraphia and struggle to write that small. They voted against the color paper and do a lot of coloring and decorating. We also used this first lapbook as a review rather than doing it as we went through the weeks. YMMV. :)

 

Oh, and like anything else, I tweak. ;)

Edited December 31, 2010 by melmichigan

[Guest]

Hey Sherry :)!

 

We are enjoying them here. With everything we have on the menu this year I don't have the time to come up with my own. I love that these are ready for me :). I purchased the Year 1 lapbooks on CD (you can get them in DE format also, that's what I will be doing from now on) and then printed everything ahead of time on construction colored paper. There are suggestions on what colors to use. Anyway, to cut back on drawing (we have so much of that since I follow the "Draw and Caption" assignments and plus we have so much to do with everything else) I often download images from google images and then Adrian just cuts and pastes. He does write in them of course also, but I speed up things by downloading and printing stuff also. Anyway, here as some pics of ours so far:

 

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In this one you can see Adrian writing in one of the booklets. To his left you can see the "Draw and Caption" notebook page I made for him:

 

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[SewLittleTime]

Hey Sherry :)!

 

We are enjoying them here. With everything we have on the menu this year I don't have the time to come up with my own. I love that these are ready for me :). I purchased the Year 1 lapbooks on CD (you can get them in DE format also, that's what I will be doing from now on) and then printed everything ahead of time on construction colored paper. There are suggestions on what colors to use. Anyway, to cut back on drawing (we have so much of that since I follow the "Draw and Caption" assignments and plus we have so much to do with everything else) I often download images from google images and then Adrian just cuts and pastes. He does write in them of course also, but I speed up things by downloading and printing stuff also. Anyway, here as some pics of ours so far:

 

[ATTACH]4142[/ATTACH]

 

 

In this one you can see Adrian writing in one of the booklets. To his left you can see the "Draw and Caption" notebook page I made for him:

 

[ATTACH]4143[/ATTACH]

Thanks, Marie for attaching the photos. That helps some. I really wish TOG would put better pictures on their site about the lapbooks. Even some samples that could be opened would help me. Maybe they are there, and I just haven't found it yet.

[Susan in TN]

I use the TOG lapbooks w/ my 2nd grader - she really struggles with writing, though, so it's something that I do with her (sometimes her older sister works on it too, or helps 2nd grader.)

 

I like them because they provide a fairly concrete way to review content. I once did a couple weeks worth of lapbook topics myself, and while I liked them better ;) I simply can't keep up with making all the components myself.

 

Because I have so many kids who will be coming along in that age group, I ordered the DE version.

[laurad1125]

I let mine draw pictures in them - even the 12 year old (though I'll make him label it.) Sometimes I'll write for the younger one, also. They just have to show something they've learned. They love it. It's fun to look back and see what all we've covered. We love the lap books here.

[Guest]

Thanks, Marie for attaching the photos. That helps some. I really wish TOG would put better pictures on their site about the lapbooks. Even some samples that could be opened would help me. Maybe they are there, and I just haven't found it yet.

 

Nope, I agree with you. They need to promote the lapbooks a little better. The images are tiny and the Year 1 pics look different to ours. I guess they have made some changes since we got ours at the start of 2009. That, or the pictures are older than that :tongue_smilie:.

 

I just took some pics for you from our plagues booklet. Keep in mind that the booklets are blank inside. They have an image on the cover of each booklet and then you have the instructions for each on how to complete them and fold or put them together (usually the ones that are more than one page get stapled). Each one is designed to open differently, although the ones we have (at least for this year) are the simpler kind. I like the one with the plagues but had not taken a picture of that section since it's the only booklet in there right now. Anyway, I took some pages to show you how we did it. The images came from a couple of websites I found with coloring pages for the plagues. The booklet is set up with tabs up at the top, showing each plague. That should be visible in the pictures.

 

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Hope that helps a little more :).

[TracyP]

Thanks, Marie for attaching the photos. That helps some. I really wish TOG would put better pictures on their site about the lapbooks. Even some samples that could be opened would help me. Maybe they are there, and I just haven't found it yet.

 

Here are some samples. I've never tried them but have wondered if my kids would like them for next year.:bigear:

[Guest]

Here are some samples. I've never tried them but have wondered if my kids would like them for next year.:bigear:

 

Thank you for linking this Tracy, I had not seen those before. The sample pages are like ours but the color images are different. I am guessing then that those are older, perhaps from the Classic edition :confused:?

Edited January 1, 2011 by Guest

[johnandtinagilbert]

I wanted to add, when I say "make my own" I really mean search for free stuff online and use them. HomeSchoolShare is a great place for lapbook materials.

[SewLittleTime]

Nope, I agree with you. They need to promote the lapbooks a little better. The images are tiny and the Year 1 pics look different to ours. I guess they have made some changes since we got ours at the start of 2009. That, or the pictures are older than that :tongue_smilie:.

 

I just took some pics for you from our plagues booklet. Keep in mind that the booklets are blank inside. They have an image on the cover of each booklet and then you have the instructions for each on how to complete them and fold or put them together (usually the ones that are more than one page get stapled). Each one is designed to open differently, although the ones we have (at least for this year) are the simpler kind. I like the one with the plagues but had not taken a picture of that section since it's the only booklet in there right now. Anyway, I took some pages to show you how we did it. The images came from a couple of websites I found with coloring pages for the plagues. The booklet is set up with tabs up at the top, showing each plague. That should be visible in the pictures.

 

[ATTACH]4144[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]4145[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]4146[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]4147[/ATTACH]

 

Hope that helps a little more :).

Once again, thanks! The pictures help so much!

Here are some samples. I've never tried them but have wondered if my kids would like them for next year.:bigear:

I've been all over their site and never seen this! Thank you so much!

I wanted to add, when I say "make my own" I really mean search for free stuff online and use them. HomeSchoolShare is a great place for lapbook materials.

:lol:

[Guest]

I've been all over their site and never seen this!

You're not the only one ;)!

[TracyP]

 

I've been all over their site and never seen this! Thank you so much!

 

:lol:

 

You're not the only one ;)!

 

LOL! I knew I had seen them one day when I spent HOURS browsing the site. It still took me several minutes to figure our how to get back to them. I'm glad that was helpful.

[keslas]

My ds5 loves creating lapbooks. He not ready to write on his own now, so I do a lot of the writing but he does enjoy drawing pictures and gluing the pictures into the books. I've considered doing my own lapbooks, but honestly, I'm not that creative and my dd14 and ds1 keep me too busy with other tasks. So, the TOG pre-made lapbooks work well for us. My son loves to look through the book and review what he's learned with friends and family. He's very proud of all of his hard work. That alone has made them worth the investment. We do one for every unit. :001_smile:

[SewLittleTime]

My ds5 loves creating lapbooks. He not ready to write on his own now, so I do a lot of the writing but he does enjoy drawing pictures and gluing the pictures into the books. I've considered doing my own lapbooks, but honestly, I'm not that creative and my dd14 and ds1 keep me too busy with other tasks. So, the TOG pre-made lapbooks work well for us. My son loves to look through the book and review what he's learned with friends and family. He's very proud of all of his hard work. That alone has made them worth the investment. We do one for every unit. :001_smile:

Thank you for posting this! It's encouraging.

[shanvan]

Like others have said, I don't have time to come up with my own lapbook, or even search online for alternatives. I used to make my own and it was fun and more reflective of our own interests, but I did less and less lapbooking b/c of issues with time. SO, last year I broke down and bought the TOG lapbooks for my DD (8 in a mix of LG & UG) who likes cutting and pasting and is more of a hands on kid.

 

She loves TOG lapbooks. It doesn't bother her one bit that I didn't make them up, even though I agonized over using something that is already prepared. It has been a huge timesaver for me. I have also noticed that they help her to remember what she is learning better. All those visuals and the organization of the material on the page, plus being able to go back and interact with her lapbooks (because she is proud of her work) helps with retention in a way that just keeping a notebook doesn't. I honestly don't think she would remember as much without them.

 

I often wait and use them at the end of the unit as a review. We spread the work out over several days. Then she shows them to her father at our unit celebration (if we have one). Since I only have one using them, I just buy the kit already printed for me -- that makes it super easy for me!

 

If there is some part of the lapbook that requires a lot of writing I will sometimes print it off the computer for her. I remember in year 1 she had to put her favorite Psalms in a little book. She choose the psalms, but I printed them for her to glue in instead of writing.

 

Now, my DS looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him about doing them. He asked if he could just write a bunch of paragraphs instead. He hates all that cutting and pasting! He also remembers almost anything he reads, so they aren't beneficial to him.

 

So, my long winded answer is, yes they are worth it--if you have a DC who likes lapbooks and you don't have time or don't want to make your own. For me, they are worth every penny I paid for them.

 

Shannon

[SewLittleTime]

Like others have said, I don't have time to come up with my own lapbook, or even search online for alternatives. I used to make my own and it was fun and more reflective of our own interests, but I did less and less lapbooking b/c of issues with time. SO, last year I broke down and bought the TOG lapbooks for my DD (8 in a mix of LG & UG) who likes cutting and pasting and is more of a hands on kid.

 

She loves TOG lapbooks. It doesn't bother her one bit that I didn't make them up, even though I agonized over using something that is already prepared. It has been a huge timesaver for me. I have also noticed that they help her to remember what she is learning better. All those visuals and the organization of the material on the page, plus being able to go back and interact with her lapbooks (because she is proud of her work) helps with retention in a way that just keeping a notebook doesn't. I honestly don't think she would remember as much without them.

 

I often wait and use them at the end of the unit as a review. We spread the work out over several days. Then she shows them to her father at our unit celebration (if we have one). Since I only have one using them, I just buy the kit already printed for me -- that makes it super easy for me!

 

If there is some part of the lapbook that requires a lot of writing I will sometimes print it off the computer for her. I remember in year 1 she had to put her favorite Psalms in a little book. She choose the psalms, but I printed them for her to glue in instead of writing.

 

Now, my DS looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him about doing them. He asked if he could just write a bunch of paragraphs instead. He hates all that cutting and pasting! He also remembers almost anything he reads, so they aren't beneficial to him.

 

So, my long winded answer is, yes they are worth it--if you have a DC who likes lapbooks and you don't have time or don't want to make your own. For me, they are worth every penny I paid for them.

 

Shannon

 

Thank you for your detailed response.