All of you notebookers out there, I’m looking for suggestions. I have tons of notebooking supplies, pages, pens, glue, and the kids each have a notebook. I love how notebooks turn out, even by the youngest kids, because they are invested in the end result. They remember what they learn when they produce something for their notebook with it. The trouble we have is that both of my sons really struggle with writing.
D2′s difficulties are the more “average”. He’s got a weak grip and so his writing isn’t the best. It IS improving, slowly week by week, and for a second grader I think he’s doing okay now. FINALLY. But it is not his favorite thing, and therefore it can be a struggle to get him to write for notebook pages. Drawings aren’t much more productive either. He will take a half-sheet drawing area and draw three TINY stick figures in the center of it, and that’s it. Hmm.
D1 has more pronounced difficulties. At 9, with a developmental delay and a very big language delay, writing is an almost impossible chore. He can dictate what ever he wants. THAT isn’t a problem. It’s the going from brain to pencil to paper that is the issue. When he isn’t dealing with the writing process it’s a little easier. He does his handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears Cursive) and can produce usually 2 or 3 lines of handwriting in a 15 minute period. This includes tracing over the models.
The writing process is just so difficult for him! He can make the brain come out the mouth MUCH easier. For those of you who have followed D1 and his story, you know this in itself is a big, HUGE step forward for him!! With his history of apraxia and developmental dyspraxia, just TALKING was a really big deal for several years. Now we are dealing with the writing aspect of it. He tends to do a little better using a keyboard for things like spelling, but I think it will be a while before he can use a keyboard in place of a pencil for writing. For the time being, we just deal with it.
I need some suggestions. How to notebook when the students don’t WRITE? Or don’t write much? D1 can copy a sentence he has dictated, but it can take him an hour. (Again, he is NINE.) He can’t draw very much, although he does enjoy it, he has a low endurance for writing in general. So what do we do? I have thought about getting both boys started using a sort of Scrapbooking to Learn method. I enjoy digital scrapbooking, and I’ve considered just getting them started, using clipart or images from Google Images, to produce notebook pages that way. (The issue comes in with expense here, as each page will run me 99 cents to have Costco print them.) The results would probably be really great though, right?
So what do you notebookers suggest? How about you special needs homeschoolers, what would you suggest? I know what I want to have things look like eventually. I also know that right now, this is where we’re at. I’m open to suggestions!
Enjoyed your post! How does notebooking compare/contrast to lapbooking? Are they completely two different things?
Thanks!
–Doug
Lapbooks are also called shutterbooks, and they are created using file folders folded inward like window shutters. Then they can be used for projects, similar to scrapbooking, where chunks of information are compiled into mini books or lift-the-flap pages, etc., and all are included in the lapbook. I love the way those turn out but I just don’t have the time/desire to devote to creating them. Notebooking is done with paper & notebooks, pretty simply. I do have free and paid for notebooking page sets that we use, and since most have a nice border around them, we trim them down and mount them on colored cardstock, so the notebooks are colorful and the pages are sturdy. We put them in plastic sheet protectors, and into 3-ring binders. Of course, that’s assuming something is actually WRITTEN on the page.
My 8yo sounds exactly like your 8yo son.
Can you act as his scribe? He is still writing even if YOU act as his scribe. Let him be free and creative and narrate all the interesting things he has learned. Then, you act as his scribe. You can then ask him to illustrate what you just wrote, or illustrate his favorite thing he learned.
With my son…it’s like putting a pencil in his hand BLOCKS all creativity.
Comic Strips is another thing he likes. He draws, and then I write out the dialogue. You could use this sort of comic strip format to sequence the events in a story even.
I found a timeline over at at freeology.com that you can illustrate and then write in the dates.
http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/pdf/timeline1.pdf
I would love for you to share any and all things you try, because I am always looking for ways to help my son as well.
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I can, but I prefer not to. For longer narration type things I will write for him while he dictates, but for his regular notebooking pages it just isn’t feasable. He can’t really do much in the way of drawing either, at least not on topic. We have a century book (timeline book) that I created, with laminated covers and a timeline across the top. We use it for history and Bible, and I use images from GoogleImages for it. It is an ongoing project, so we continue to add to it each year. Both of my boys LOVE that, and we use it for history review as well.
Not drawing on topic…my son does the SAME thing. I will give him a simple task of drawing a Viking ship for instance. Before you know it, the Viking ship is covered up with all sorts of drawings. The pictures make no sense to me until he starts describing them to me. I look more closely and I can see what he sees…lol
What exactly are you wanting him to write for his notebook pages? Are you wanting one sentence or an entire paragraph? Would a fill-in-the blank format work better? Maybe something like this?
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Aabds2d7haRfZGNnYnc0NmRfMzVja2N0ZDZuMg&hl=en
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He can’t take the idea of a Viking ship and draw anything that comes close, usually. Fill in the blank helps, but then it’s not his narration any more, and won’t mean as much to him. For those pages it ends up being his dictation and my writing or it doesn’t get done at all. It’s okay, I think we are going to just try using some lapbooking projects for a while. The writing will come in time, I know.
I totally agree about the fill in the blank things. I just thought it might be a good way to transition. It sounds like you are doing a great job w/ your little man.
I still am struggling and trying to find what works for my ds.
It’s been nice chatting w/ you about our sons who do seem to be very similar:)
.-= Nikki´s last blog ..Apple Cards =-.