Block Upon Block

We try to lapbook different topics once or twice a year and this year our subject was the Underground Railroad.

The topic was the same for all of the kids but the required work for a lapbook ranges according to the kids’ ages. Each of the kids worked very hard and their finished lapbooks have a place on our “history shelf”–after all, they are beautiful to look at and full of great information! Here is a glimpse of the kids work.

This was Peter’s first lapbook and he enjoyed making it. He enjoys looking at the finished product more.

Rianna has done quite a few lapbooks now and they get better each time! She puts a lot of detail in each one.

Heidi is a very creative person and her lapbooks showcase that.

I’m in the midst of lesson planning for next year’s history right now and I’m quite excited about what we are doing. I love history, so every time period we study becomes my favourite for a while and then I gladly move to the next. We are doing ancient civilizations next year and between Egypt, Persia, Assyria, Babylon and Greece there is enough scope for the imagination for anyone. I got a few resources on modern Iran, too, to compare a bit.

Rianna, my oldest, will be in Gr. 6 and will have a heavier workload than the others. There is such a thing as exasperating, though, and I’m trying to be careful to balance things. I don’t want to overload her, but neither do I want to keep absolutely all reading/writing assignments history focused because I think that will kill some of the joy for her. My compromise for Rianna’s schoolwork is that I’m dropping some of her extra language arts because I’d like her to be able to focus on some fun things like re-writing Greek myths and also because I’m introducing her to a more in-depth style of outlining in her history reading. She will still have more then enough language arts with defining words from various periods and writing about some of our historical discoveries. I’m still keeping some of the more “fun” language arts like Wednesday’s journal activity and our Tuesday focus on letter writing. Learning new skills is hard work, but keeping the topics as interesting as possible and trying to keep fun where I can is important to me. It seems that often homeschooling parents can be very concerned about school work being enjoyable when kids are younger but when we start to “buckle down” with older kids we think that all fun has to disappear. I don’t think that has to be true. I think you can enjoy learning all of your life.

Heidi (Gr. 4 next year) is going to re-write some Aesop’s fables this year for a combination of language arts and history. She has a great sense of humour and I think that she will be able to showcase it in her fables.

Humour, like fun :), is important not to leave out of your school day. History lends itself to a lot of great read alouds and I try to read aloud a history title every day but I’m careful not to have it the only book we read. A book like James and the Giant Peach, Charlotte’s Web or at least some nonsensical poems adds a much needed touch of laughter to the day, too.

I’m not finished dreaming and scheming about next year’s lessons yet, but I’m feeling good about what I know so far.

Yesterday our co-op group made hardcover book covers out of old wallpaper samples and cardboard. Next week we’ll sew the paper inside of them with dental floss. I love doing crafts with the kids that teach them to make something of value out of things people throw out.

I learned about making hardcover books from The Ultimate Lapbook Handbook by Cyndy Regeling. Besides doing things that teach meaningful recycling, I think that we do a good thing when we help our kids make something they are proud of to display what they have learned. I really enjoy the various ideas Mrs. Regeling gives to present the kids’ work. I know that our kids love to pull out the lapbooks they’ve made to look at them. We definately plan to keep utilizing lapbooks and all of their variations in our schooling.

I’m not sure what the kids will do with the books that they make, but I know that there is something inspiring to my bigger girls about writing in a nice notebook (that and a good pen go a long way in inspiring me, too). I’m sure that using a book that they made themselves (whether for their own stories, drawings or musings) will be even more satisfying.