There is certainly no shortage of smart and fun ways to reinforce the material that your child is learning. Two popular ways are notebooking and lapbooking. Both enable your child to take what he has learned and apply it using a creative method, both give you something to treasure for years to come, and both can be altered to suit your child’s learning style.  You will also find that they provide a very appealing way to record your child’s progress.  In addition, both forms of booking are easy to implement alongside your current curriculum or to use as a stand alone method.

Although definitions may vary depending on who it is that you’re asking, in short, notebooking (also called portfolios and scrapbooks) is the gathering of thematic information that the child learned and placing it into one 3-ring-binder or altered notebook.

Lapbooking (also called flapbooks) is similar, except that the information is placed into a multi-fold portfolio made from file folders, cardstock, or posterboard.

Both require basic materials:

• pen, pencil,
• colored pencils or crayons
• cardstock
• copy paper
• adhesive – glue sticks, glue dots, etc
• staples, paperclips
• fasteners

Both can be used to compliment the child’s education by:

• providing instant review material once complete
• allowing the child to creatively express the information he has retained
• giving the child a place to journal or record their thoughts on what they were learning at the time

Both can be used to store the following information:

• notes
• essays
• timelines
• maps
• worksheets
• photos
• art
• scientific research
• vocabulary
• child’s thoughts
• & anything else you or child deem to be important to the study.

So then which method should you choose?

Well, I say why choose one? I prefer a combination of the methods. Sometimes I put notebooking pages in my lapbooks using the middle portion of three prong folders, and sometimes I have them make a version of a lapbook using the divider pages in the 3-ring-binder. After all, both of these methods are just variations of a scrapbook and anything goes in a scrapbook, right? It all depends on how you want to store the things you desire to remember.

I wholeheartedly believe that neither method is greater than the other in any way and I prefer for my children to just decide as we go which method, or combination thereof, that they would like to create to document whatever we may be studying at that time. Both have significant benefits and both have equally strong likability factors.

Notebooking and lapbooking also lend themselves to a break in the monotony of the average school day. When we pull out the lapbooking supplies and begin to document what we have learned for the week, my children begin to gleam with joy. I also love that my children are so proud of these books that they created and that they enjoy showing them to guests and friends.

Each book not only contains historical facts, documented travels, and drawings of places visited through the pages of literature, but they also contain precious memories of the time my children and I created them. I also reserve a special section of book to give them a place to reflect on what God has revealed to their heart through the lessons and learning. They record the character traits of the persons studied that they would like to mimic and those they would hope to never reproduce. We discuss scriptures that pertain to the lessons and why.  We take the bible very seriously and I want my children to understand that no matter what we do or don’t do, God is most concerned with the condition of our heart.

We allow God to take what we learn and use it  to transform us.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”

1 Samuel 16:7

This is what we call “heartbooking©.

No matter what creative outlet we choose we keep God’s precepts in the forefront of our lessons. Everything does revolve around the “Son” and our lessons and methods should be no exception.

Here are some great places to find additional information on the Notebooking and Lapbooking.

Recommended reading:

• The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach: Bible Based Homeschooling
• The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook
• The Big Book of Books and Activities: An Illustrated Guide for Teacher, Parents, and Anyone Who Works With Kids

Websites to visit:

• Homeschool Share
• Lapbook Lessons
• Notebook Learning
• Jeannie Fulbright
• Scrapbook To Learn

Companies to visit:

• Curr-Click
• Hands of A Child
• Notebooking Pages
• Notebooking Nook
• Steward Ship

In the coming months, Heart of the Matter Online will introduce more specific instructions and implementation for creating heartbooks©. Until then, check out some of the suggested resources and enjoy some creative time with your children!

Check out my article on page 8 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.

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.