Our family has become quite accustomed to building our own books. We do a loose combination of all of the popular forms of booking: lapbooking, scrapbooking, notebooking, altered booking, etc. We have actually simply started calling it “heartbooking©” since our style fits none of these exclusively and because we base the foundation of our education on God’s word which teaches us that we must examine the condition of our hearts. Studying history, science, and the especially the bible can give us the opportunity to examine our hearts and motives in certain situations.
Recently while studying about the Vietnam war my son became appalled by the fact that some soldiers were spat at upon their return from overseas. This gave me the opportunity to dig deeper into their hearts and question them as to whether or not if they were in a situation with one of their neighborhood friends and they believed that friend had done something wrong, how would they react to them? That is what heartbooking© is about; using our current studies to build Godly character through self examination.
One of our favorite heartbooking © techniques is done by altering old books. We find old hardback books at thrift stores or library sales and we take them home and refurbish them with new content from whatever we are studying. We build new content on the already existing pages by simply gluing cardstock down and then adding all of our elements. We have absolutely enjoyed adding elements of a personal nature when we can. For example, when we studied the Vietnam war we were able to use some of my grandfather’s photos, paraphernalia, and documents that he had kept from the two tours he did there. We made lots of secret hiding places within the book to hold special things that belonged to my grandfather during the war.
We started the refurbishing with the cover of the book. We used sandpaper to buff off the smooth surface so that the glue would adhere properly. After that we kids filled in each page after a weeks worth of studying we were also careful to chronicle our heart lessons into the documentation. This has served us well and given our boys an amazing piece of history that is very close to their heart!
You can find basic instructions for altering books here: Amy Bayliss’ post and here: Amy Stults’ post.
Here are some photos of our Vietnam War book:
What kinds of creative ideas does your family use when it comes to “booking” of all types? Be sure to leave links to your “booking” posts so we can check them out!
Married to her best friend and “main squeeze”, Amy Bayliss is a 4th year home/co-schooling mom to three boys. She enjoys writing about the eclectic teachings that bring a glimmer of curiosity to the eyes of her sons. In addition to being the co-owner of Heart of the Matter, she writes for Internet Cafe Devotions. Be sure to visit her blog, AmyBayliss.com and her family’s homeschool blog: Integrity Academy.
Oh, Amy! This is so wonderful! I love how you incorporated realia into the project. Destroying books is not my style, but this is a brilliant use of an outdated title with a strong spine. I don’t see many hardbacks in the used book vendor stalls here, but I’ll pay more attention to it.
The tutorial at your blog was very thorough too. (Couldn’t comment for some reason.)
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Amy Bayliss Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Jimmie – we actually don’t have to destroy the books. At our local thrift stores there are so many books that have ripped pages or writing throughout yet the spine is still in excellent condition and there are still plenty of pages for altering.
If you can’t get any of this in China then I would be happy to send you a few! I have a pile of them.
Oh and I guess you couldn’t comment on that page because it was to the right post but on my old blog. I changed the link now!
Amy Bayliss’s last blog post..It is all about the blog design…
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Amy,
I had to go and check out your blog after reading this. What a great hands-on project.
After reading your article here, I am now more interested in your “heart-application” talks with your boys. I love taking what we are learning about and using it to probe their hearts to think and ponder ideas that they would not often consider on their own. How do you incorporate this into their writing/heartbook? Are you asking them a question and then having them respond on paper? I would love to know more.
Thanks, for sharing this. Love it!
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Amy Bayliss Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Beth, what I try to do is ask a lot of questions of my children while we are reading or studying. Jesus asked lots of questions too, not because he didn’t know the answer but so that the person could be made aware of the condition of their heart. “Our of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
For example, recently while reading “Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry” I saw the puzzled looks on my boys’ faces as we read about the cruel things this that were said to or done to this family of another race. So I started by asking them how they felt about that. Of course they said it was wrong and they would never do anything like that so then I asked them if they had ever picked on another child for being different. They all gave different answers but the things they reveal are what is in their heart. Brennan admitted to picking because other kids did and they thought it was funny. Jacob said he saw them picking but thought it was wrong so he didn’t but yet he said nothing to the kids and didn’t try to stop them. Gevan said he wouldn’t pick because he has been picked on so much by others. Each child gave a different answer and different condition of the heart.
Once they give their answers then we can proceed from their to cleanse them of it through prayer, reading scripture, or whatever the situation calls for. Then I have them write or draw something that will remind them of the situation and what they have learned. Then we tuck those away in the secret places of the books.
I’ve just noticed that so many times in my own life, unless I am in a situation or read about it, then I don’t know some of the things that are actually buried deep inside of me. God looks at the heart so it is important to know what is in there. Heartbooking helps us to do that.
Amy Bayliss’s last blog post..It is all about the blog design…
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there is a whole society for this … http://www.alteredbookartists.com/gallery/memberspages/kcampbell.html
I have been altering books for quite a number of years now and have done a few posts about it but am too absorbed to turn it into a homeschool project WITH my kids!
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Amy Bayliss Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Oh girl! You should so share!
Amy Bayliss’s last blog post..It is all about the blog design…
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What a clever idea to refurbish old books to use for new projects! And perfect timing as our local library has a huge used book sale coming up at the end of July. Of course, I will probably need therapy to try this since I’m an avid old fashioned book lover who may have trouble getting beyond the “all books should be treasured and treated with respect” in order to make my first sandings and cuttings! *wink*
Loved both Amies creative notebooks as well! The perfect answer when you can’t find the perfect notebook for yourself
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
Tammy ~@~’s last blog post..thin not squeeze
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Amy Bayliss Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I absolutely thought I would need therapy too, Tammy! But… it really helps if you find a book that you already have that way you don’t feel the need to protect it and save it!
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Amy — Great idea for the book and I’m so glad you covered the bad parts for our soldiers return as well. Our family went to Estes Park Colorado a few years ago and a guy yelled at my hubby that he was a baby killer because Mike was wearing his Iraqi Freedom Veteran hat. He was most upset at the tears he saw fill his dads eyes. The memories are still strong with our Vietnam era vets and it is truly appreciated when people tell them thank you now, even if it is several decades late. I hope your boys have an opportunity to meet a few of those guys and show them their book. I bet it would make them smile
Sallie’s last blog post..For The Birds…
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Amy Bayliss Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Absolutely, Sallie. We learn from all parts of history… especially the mistakes.
I’m so sorry Mike had to go through that. You would think people would learn wouldn’t you?
When we complete the book we plan to visit the museum where my grandpas Vietnam and Korean war memorabilia is located and share the book with the men who work there. Most of them are veterans and I know they will appreciate it!
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Sallie Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Amy — That is absolutely wonderful!! The vets will enjoy it and I know your boys will, too!!
God bless,
Sallie
Sallie’s last blog post..Redecorating and Painting
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This article has been stolen (?):
http://scrapbookingtipsblog.com/3379/creative-homeschooling-lapbookingnotebooking/
Just wanted to let you know. It doesn’t look like you’re getting any credit, and it also doesn’t look like you put it there.
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We have done some lap books before and some notebooking pages, too. But, what we really enjoy doing is journaling. It’s a bit different and focuses less on academics and more on the soul/spirit, but I think it’s valuable for families.
I will share some pieces on my blog -Journey of Discovery- and come back with a link
I love your ideas of heartbooking. I think it can totally be extended to journaling, too.
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Great article Amy. Tweeted it. FYI Here are a few pages from our Vietnam scrapbook http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/my-hero-scrapbook/
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