- in How-tos by Jimmie Quick
Top Ten Reasons My Daughter Loves Notebooking (see disclaimers)
For this week’s top ten topic, I had to enlist the help of my daughter, Sprite, who is now thirteen years old and finishing up seventh grade. When I told her the topic was Ten Reasons You Love Notebooking, she questioned the word “love.”
I modified it to like. She still was not satisfied.
She claims this post should be title Ten Reasons I Tolerate Notebooking. So that is her first disclaimer — tolerate, not love. (Another one is at the end of the post.)
What can I say? She’s a teen. She doesn’t get too excited about homeschool any more. It’s not cool to love notebooking. But deep down, I know she enjoys it. At least I know she enjoys it more than more traditional methods. Here are her reasons. I hope you enjoy them.
1. I Can Draw Pictures
Top of the list was the opportunity to draw. Sprite has always loved adding simple figures to her notebooking pages, and it is her most favorite thing about this teaching method.
2. I Can Create Pages on the Computer
A close second to drawing is using the computer to design her own pages. I normally set her loose with Publisher and let her fashion her own very unique pages.
3. Notebooking Helps me Remember
What a relief to hear this reason! Yes, notebooking helps children remember what they learn, and Sprite admitted that it’s true in her case.
4. Notebooking Gives me a Sense of Accomplishment
By reason #4 I was prompting reasons from Sprite. She claims the best part of notebooking is when it’s done. Hmmmm… I reworded that to sound a bit nicer. And she agreed that there is a sense of accomplishment from looking back on a year’s worth of notebooking pages here at the end of a school year.
5. I Can Document Field Trips
Of course, the field trip itself is more fun than the documenting, but Sprite cited this as a reason that she likes tolerates notebooking.
6. Notebooking is Easier Than a Test
For a creative child like my daughter, notebooking is an open ended assignment that she thrives on, unlike the rigidity of a test where each question has one correct answer.
7. I Improve My Note taking Skills
Here was a great reason that I hadn’t considered at all. (I’m glad I asked her!) She said that when she knows she has to make a notebooking page about something before hand, she pays attention to taking detailed notes. So in that way, notebooking helps her take notes.
8. I Can Use Lots of Crafty Supplies
Our home is full of markers, crayons, scissors, adhesives, and paper. Sprite can never seem to have enough art supplies. With notebooking, she has a chance to color code words, illustrate narratives, and diagram facts.
9. I Can Look Up Facts When I Forget
This was a reason that I offered Sprite, and she agreed that looking up something in her notebook is easier than looking through a book we read. And even though notebooking helps her remember, she does forget things. So the written record is handy to refer to.
10. Notebooking Gives My Mom Something to Blog
And there you have it. The honesty of a teenager. Yes, I do blog about notebooking, and Sprite normally obliges me with plenty of great pages to photograph and discuss.
And Sprite’s final disclosure: My mom made me do this. I am sorry to all the other children whose mothers print out my mom’s notebooking pages to have you fill out.
Thank you, Sprite for giving me so many good ideas for this blog post of 10 reasons you tolerate notebooking. I feel sure that moms of children who complain over their homeschool now feel relieved to know that you, too, are not always happy about your school work.