How much time do you and your dc spend when creating a lapbook?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Valerie on February 12, 2008 at 10:45pm

lol, any excuse works right!

We usually do ours over a week, we work a little bit on it each day. So like if there is a math activity for the lapbook, we won't do a math lesson, and then next day if there is lots of copywork, we won't use her main handwriting practice.

The Little House one did take us a while though, we read different sections each day, so it depends on your topic really. If you're doing a "book report" style kind, it depends on the size of the book. You can spend anywhere from an afternoon, to a month, just based on that.

I'm interested to hear how much time others usually spend on their lapbooks too.....sometimes we cut them short for lack of interest......if she doesn't like the topic as much we will keep it small.

In Christ,

Valerie

Permalink Reply by Sheila on February 12, 2008 at 11:11pm

For us it depends also. It depends how much is involved if there is alot of cutting, or writing information in, or not sure where to place something sometimes it takes us longer. For my 4yo daughter I try to keep hers more simple and basic like the ones from here. Some I have started with my daughter I lost her and my 7yo or 9yo helped me finish up the lapbook and if there is alot of writing (information to add in the templates) my older kids will occasionally step in. Sometimes I (mom) get stuck finishing the lapbook for them). So some of our lapbooks have taken anywhere from a about a hour to a month or better. (adding when we felt like it). I guess it just depends. There has been times I have lost everyone and finished it up adding the information but, then our older kids came back and looked at it and read while our daughter did the handwriting or mazes or whatever was included.
I have to agree that it all depends on what kind of lapbook your doing. How simple or how difficult.
For the Little House lapbook they will all be adding information, cutting, pasting and helping it's a group lapbook effort. :)

Permalink Reply by Tasha on February 13, 2008 at 5:25am

That helps me out a lot. I followed the link for some of Joann's free lapbooks and I must say that the instructions contain a lot of information. She has many books and resources listed on the PDF file. It seems a bit overwhelming for a new kid (me).

Does your time (hour, week, month, etc) include studying or going over the resources/books? Do you ever do a topic on a whim because it looks cute and skip the resources? Meaning, you kinda "explain as you go" based on the cutouts? Or do you pull all of the book resources and study first.

Tasha

Permalink Reply by Sheila on February 13, 2008 at 11:11am

Hi Tasha,
Yes, some lapbooks out there are overwhelming to me as well. Sometimes I will chicken out because I am like wow that's a little more information than I am going for right now. Even with my 12yo. Sometimes I guess I am just trying to put some information in the most basic terms of understanding and nothing more and it may appear to be younger but, actually my 12yo actually gets more out of it and then is able to explore further on his own. Kind of like a start.
Our time usually in putting the lapbooks goes like this for our family.
I will print up a lapbook say from here lapbook lessons or homeschoolshare for my daughter, I get it printed and get the folders and supplies together.
Then I will sit with my daughter at the table and tell her were going to make a lapbook. She gets really excited. (We started making them in Sept of 2007).
Then I will tell her what we are making the lapbook on for example Penguins. I show her what penguins are and I tell her a little about them and show her the templates. She asks questions and I answer. IF I don't know I tell her we will look that up and add that to our lapbook. (making a note on paper to myself).
Then we cut things out together, talking about what we are cutting out, or information that I know from my own research.
Sometimes the cutting takes a couple days if she is helping cut things out. (So we put away and take back out).
Once it's all cut out then her and I talk more about the topic. Then she will help fold the lapbook and help place things on the lapbook (she likes for me to tell her where things go). Her words are "Mom, where does this go? Can I glue this here?
Once we have the folders and things glued in (which again can take from a hour to a couple days putting away and bringing back out). --depending on how fast we need the lapbook also meaning are we using it for the main tool or review etc.
Then her and I will add in our information (usually I either have read her books through this time or have researched enough online to put information in her lapbook with her and teach her about the topic and what to add into her book). If it's alot of writing I will help her because she is 4yo or her brothers will help.
Now she doesn't do all the coloring, mini books and activities in one day she will do a couple. Then later that day or the next or in a couple days she will go get that lapbook again and we will do more or read more or review if she doesn't remember something she learned. Sometimes we will put a lapbook aside and read a couple books about the topic and then a couple days later go back to the lapbook to either add or refresh her memory or even the boys. We learn while we are cutting and pasting, we learn while we add items, then we learn again when it's done and then we use it for review and then she will play with them or ask me or her dad to read them again. (we use them to teach).
Yes, we have done topics on awhim. Example last week while my daughter was learning about Short A and Long A I wanted lapbooks to go with these short and long A sounds so out of no where I found items to piece a Long A Ape-Oranguatan lapbook together with my daughter, I wrote in the information but she helped cut out and add items to it and we watched Oranguatan island on animal planet. She has a hard time remembering the name Oranguatan but, she has learned alot about this ape. I also made with her a short A -Ant lapbook and again she helped cut out but, I added alot of the information but, she wasn't to crazy about that one she said "I don't like ants." So, that one was put aside for now the boys read it while she uses her Adam and Eve lapbook instead.
Yes, we have done a lapbook and I guess you could say we have skipped the resources such as the Adam and Eve lapbook she knows they were the first man and woman on earth and she is good with that she doesn't want any further information so we left it more as a coloring lapbook and didn't go into further resources or reading on that.
Yes, I have explained as I went for example the Daniel lapbook that is here, I have printed it up and had my daughter help me cut out the items. She really isn't into the story of Daniel so while we were cutting I told her the story of Daniel in a shortened version for a 4yo she was good with that. She knows the basics about Daniel and she loves it. The simplier the lapbook for her at this age the better. For my 12yo I can add more information or even for our 7yo but, it cannot be overwhelming or even look difficult or I lose them. To many flaps or templates and I lose them. To much information written in handwriting and I lose them. (lots of worksheets or activities and they are okay).
We don't always pull out the book first or resources first.
Sometimes I like a lapbook or the kids like one that we see for example the I Stink lapbook.
So the kids and I have been talking about recycling what is it, how do we do it etc.
Then I print it up and we cut it out and talk about it while we are cutting and deciding where things should go.
Then we will take a break and then sometimes read the book or research about the topic.
Then we go back and add information or whatever.
There have been times like our Halloween lapbook we created where we printed up the lapbook cut and placed, talked about halloween traditions and things they did elsewhere and put all the typed up information in the lapbook and then sat down and used it as the resource itself or textbook itself we used the lapbook to teach it was great. The kids loved halloween just because we learned with the lapbook itself and it made understanding halloween easy.
I think lapbooks can be used anyway you like however is easiest for your child and yourself.
I was inspired to make the Ape lapbook for Long A by watching the show Oranguatan island and then I pieced things together (researched online) and then I allowed my daughter to help cut and paste and I taught her from what I had printed out and the show. She loved it.
I feel that you can put together a lapbook anyway your child and you want too.
If you chose to read resources first that's great or just use the templates first, or both.
For us I usually find a lapbook I think my daughter would like (sometimes I am wrong) but, I try to go with her interest or a topic she is learning, then I tell her we are going to make a lapbook on...whatever the topic is...she gets excited....then I print it and we cut out together talking about the topic....then when it's cut out we usually go to resources if we don't know the answers already, then once the lapbook is complete we will expand on it and learn with it. (Most of our lapbooks that I make with or for the kids are usually between preschool-4th or 5th grade level). My 4th grader gets really overwhelmed if there's to much information in one place. (Some chunks with important facts is best for him).
If you would like to see any of our lapbooks check them out here (alot of them are in the Jan. Archive)
http://sheilasjourney-sheila.blogspot.com/

Hugs,
Sheila

Permalink Reply by mommy to 3 duckies on February 13, 2008 at 2:53pm

Just thought I'd chime in too. For my kids, it varies on how much time we spend on a lapbook. If it's something easy we can finish in a couple of days. For a major theme like the penguin one or George Washington, we slow it down and take a couple of weeks just doing a little bit at a time.

For the Bible lapbooks on Valeries site here, we do them as a side project for ur Bible time. Right now, I'm taking my children through the Bible from Genesis through the life of Christ, so when we get to a story that has a lapbook, we do it over a couple of days.

If you've ever done Five in a Row, we use a style similar to that when we do a longer lapbook,: we read our books or online resources a little bit each day and then do a project for the lapbook each day. One day we'll focus on a math skill, another day copy-work, another a craft or mini-book, etc...

We do them just for fun too. For our Fairy lapbook, I just made one for my dd (6)because she lost her first tooth and was all into the tooth fairy and Tinkerbell, so we made one just for fun in just a few days.

My ds (4) is into construction trucks, so he'll color some truck pictures and do a little" T for Truck" page, and call it good. We read his favorite Tonka books or other books on trucks, but it was just a fun one, not 'school'. kwim? His attention span is much shorter than dd, so I just go with each child's pace and level of interest.

I schedule our lapbook time for afternoons. We get the bulk of our 3r's done during the am, and after lunch it's story and lapbook time. There has been times when the kids are just done with the topic before we've done all the projects, so I save it for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and we cut and paste the odds and ends to finish up. They usually like this because Daddy is home and helps out and they get to WOW him with all their newfound knowledge on that subject.

HTH,

Jasmine

Permalink Reply by Tasha on February 14, 2008 at 5:24am

Thank you so much Sheila and Jasmine. That helps me out a lot. I agree with going with what is easiest for us. I have been making sample mini books so the kids can just pick out which books they want to use as we go along with lapbooking. My 7yo keeps on commenting "Mommy, these are so nice, these are so nice." It's been a week and he has not mentioned our Exploring America lapbook. Everytime he hears Valerie's video from the school room, he comes into the office (talking loud as usual, LOL), "Mommy, are you doing my lapbooking?"

I'll try to get us back on track with it this week.

Tasha