A Journey Through Learning ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks are an enjoyable introduction to many topics.  If you have crafty, hands on type kids and your family appreciates unit studies, like we do, they will love the variety of components in these lapbook units.  I received a download version of The Greatest Inventors.  I chose that study because the punks are very interested in learning about inventors.  The best part was that some of the inventors covered in this study are people they had never heard of and I may not have even thought to mention to them under other circumstances.


The 66 page The Greatest Inventors lapbook is for children in grades 2-8.  A study guide is included and provides all of the information needed to complete the lessons.  It's available both as a PDF ($8) or a printed color copy mailed to you ($18).

The unit requires basic lapbooking supplies; mainly file folders, glue, scissors, writing utensils, and a stapler.  Of course, for the PDF version, you'll need a computer and printer.

Once I downloaded the lapbook, all I needed to do to get started was prepare the file folders and print the components.  Inventors is a rather large lapbook set, requiring *three* file folders.  For small lapbooks, I generally don't do the refolding of the file folders and just rearrange a couple of components.  This time, though, not refolding the file folders would have meant making myself more work.  I don't like more work.  It was easy to teach the bigger punks how to make the 3 folder booklets.  Even Merrick (K/1st) learned to fold the folders and glue them together to make this giant lapbook.

All of the instructions for assembling the file folders and making, folding, and placing the minibooks are easy to follow.  Once the folders were prepared and the components were printed, the punks got to do their favorite part.  They each created and drew an invention of their own to add to the covers.

The included study guide has a page or two of information to help the students complete the components that follow it.  While I think it is "enough" information for the early elementary grades, I thought the older punks needed supplemental information.  One of the pages included at the end of the lapbook is a booklist for recording other books that are being read to complement the study guide.  We have loads of books that could be connected to The Greatest Inventors lapbook, so that was simple enough and didn't even require a trip to the library.

Along with that reading record, I found some notebooking and enrichment pages, a book report template, narration pages for the littles, and an outline form.  We didn't use the outline form at all yet, but I can see it is going to be invaluable in helping the boys learn how to organize information they want to write about.  I love it!

There are 21 minibook components in this lapbooking unit, seven for each folder.  The inventors run the gamut - across the centuries (1400s-1900s) and from the obvious choices (Ben Franklin and Leonardo DaVinci) to lesser known, but important inventors through history that I might not have even thought of on my own (George Eastman and John Deere).  George Stephenson was probably the favorite in this house!

All the inventors featured in this study are

• Johannes Gutenberg
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Deere
• Wilber and Orville Wright
• Guglielmo Marconi
• George Eastman
• Louis Braille
• Eli Whitney
• Leonardo daVinci
•  Robert Fulton
• Thomas Jefferson
• Galileo Galilei
• George Stephenson
• Thomas Edison
• Jonas Salk
• George Washington Carver
• Henry Ford
• Alexander Graham Bell

The minibooks can be a simple, single fold, a tri-fold, or accordion fold.  Some are pages of various widths or heights that can be stacked and act as tabs for the recorded information.  

I like how easy, A Journey Through Learning has made placing the minibooks in the file folders.  There is a handy guide in the upper corner of each component page which shows placement and explains exactly how to assemble the minibook and what to record in the spaces of each book.  Either there are questions to answer, something to draw, or something to restate in your own words.

Oops!  That one page did confuse me for a minute.  Ben Franklin had that placement in folder #1!

This video that explains What is a Lapbook.  In it, they walk you step by step through building the Light lapbook.  Check it out.

This is a great little inventor study!  The rest of The Crew reviewed this lapbook as well as a few others.  Are you and your family taking part in Classical Conversations?  How about Apologia's science curriculum?  A Journey Through Learning has lapbooks to accompany your studies.  But the great thing about their lapbooks is this - you don't even *have* to be studying something already.  You can choose from, literally, hundreds of titles that can stand on their own!  AJTL has single folder ("express") lapbooks to as many as three folders, like our Greatest Inventors lapbook.  Click the banner below to read about some of the other options.

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Lamplighter Ministries' Book Bindery ~ Field Trip Friday

I know!  I haven't even told you about our Steamtown trip yet!  But I really want to share this wonderful unplanned guided tour we experienced in Mount Morris, NY.  I didn't even know this was a thing until I saw this post on The Facebook.

The book bindery is smack dab in the middle between two sets of grandparents.  The folks at Lamplighter very graciously arranged to give us the guided tour within just a couple hours of contacting them.  We headed to the guild house and were met by Oscar, a very kind and patient young man, which is a huge plus with these three punks.  I don't know if you remember, but The Crew reviewed The Secret Bridge earlier this year.  As we walked in the front door, we saw a shelf of hundreds of Lamplighter volumes, and there was The Secret Bridge.  Merrick heard me mention it to Oscar and he shouted, "I didn't know you had a secret bridge!"  Well, there wasn't a real secret bridge, but little did we know, we were going to find out about another "secret."

{Click on any of these pictures to enlarge them!}

We headed toward the back of the lovely old "home" and passed an office where President Mark Hamby sat chatting with a couple of other employees.  Everyone was all smiles and so kind to greet us!  Back a bit farther, we met Peter, the marketing guy.  He and I had a nice chat about The Crew, The Secret Bridge, it's sister book (The Secret Cove), and reading books because our kids want to hear them.  :)  The punks were very curious, but were able to keep their bodies under control.

Next we headed back into shipping where Sarah was busy packaging up books.  Here were more books on shelves.

Then, just as it started to rain, we headed to the old church across the yard.  This is where all the action was.  I admit, I was surprised how small the room was, but it held so much!  Several large pieces of equipment, a few books in various stages of completion, and three lovely, friendly girls working busily.

I'm afraid I've forgotten the name of the girl who walked us through each phase of the book binding process.  First, she showed us the uncut book pages.  Four copies of the same page on each sheet and each book was separated by a yellow sheet of paper.  It was a HUGE stack.  The book title was actually *not* in the catalog we picked up while we were there.  Hmmm....
(ETA: It *is* on the website, though.)

Next we looked at the guillotine which chopped those stacks into four individual books.

We saw how the pages are glued together after being cut.  The machine that applied the glue was so fast I couldn't get a clear picture!

The empty covers were neat to see.  We folded one to see how it would work and noticed it was blank!  There were blue, red, and purple covers in the bindery that day.

The books are stamped for each color, so this was stamped once for black and once for the gold foil.  The spine and the front are done separately.

then the books are laid over the vertical piece in the photo below, coated with a glue, and placed inside the covers.

That's basically it, but it was quite fascinating to watch.  Especially since about half a dozen books in various stages of completion were in the room.

Now we know how the books are made with love and care, but there was more.  We stepped into a hallway and Oscar tried to ask a few questions, but the fans were pretty loud.  I wish we could have finished the conversation there, because once we moved on, it was a lot harder to keep their attention!

First, we walk in and see this amazing sanctuary.  "With books.  Scads of books!  Mountains of books!  Forests of books!  Cascades!"  So beautiful and wonderful.  While I'm agog at all the books, Merrick was quizzing Oscar about the pew kneelers!  We chatted with Oscar some more and I pointed out the gorgeous pipe organ.

That's when he showed us the secret.

Inside this organ, there is a recording studio!  Podcasts are recorded there.  Oscar "interviewed" the punks about their breakfast and told them, if they had been recording a podcast right then, there would be notes on the center table telling them important things like the nutritional information about their cereal and any other things they might need during the show.

Then we got to shop the sanctuary!  It really was overwhelming.  I'd heard of some of the stories available, but there were so many that were unfamiliar.  I was sure a couple of boys would choose Trusty the Train books, and they did!  I selected Teddy's Button on audio so we could listen in the car on the way back to Vermont.  Then I made the wise decision that I needed more help making the rest of my decisions!  Oscar asked some great questions to get a feel for what I was looking for and made some excellent suggestions.  Then it was just Xavier who hadn't chosen a book yet.  He told Oscar he wanted a book for BOYS, that was exciting, and in which no one died.

So, we made our selections and brought them back to Sarah in shipping who rang us up and sent us on our way.  It was a wonderful way to spend part of an afternoon.

Thank you so much, Lamplighter Ministries, Oscar, and everyone else at the book bindery.  You may have an intern from this house in your house someday!

"Scads of books!  Mountains of books!  Forests of books!  Cascades!"

~ Cogsworth and Lumiere ~

Day 4 Outside the Home ~ Back to Homeschool 2017

Do you school all by your onesies?  Did you know you don't have to?  Certainly, you *can* but if you'd rather not, there are so many options "out there."  Right now, on a local homeschooling facebook group there are applications for new co-ops, listings for art, open gym, nature, just about anything you could want.  It's pretty amazing and I'm so glad we're schooling in the here and now and not back in the "olden days" of homeschooling.

Today, I'm sharing some of the things we like to do outside of our homeschool.  This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities, just what we manage to fit in.

1. Co-op.  This is our ninth year in our co-op, we started when Mal was four and Xav was two.  Our little group has been around for over 25 years, so it's pretty established and there is a waiting list.  We keep it between 20-25 families or so.  Parents teach the classes that last the full year (16-18 meeting days).  The off weeks, we usually have a field trip, ski lessons, or skating.  Classes range from academic to fun (although, they can be both!).  I guess what I really mean is core or electives.  The students are aged three to seniors in high school.  Babies and toddlers stay in the nursery or with Mom.  I've taught such courses as Stop-Motion animation, Walk Like the Animals (where the kiddos did, literally, learn how to walk like a different animal every week, as well as lots of other fun things about the animal), and Magic School Bus classes.  This year, I'll be teaching classes about native Americans, spies, and helping in a train class.
2. Sports.  Some schools (depending on your state or district) allow homeschoolers to participate in sports.  Recreation departments, the Y, and private instructors are all options, too.  Xav has attended PE classes at the local elementary school.  Mal receives private instruction in Tae Kwon Do at another nearby school.  They've had swimming instruction through a rec department and a private instructor.  Xav and Merrick have also attended gymnastics camps.  We've even gotten archery and ski lessons through our co-op.
3. Libraries.  We have no fewer than four library cards.  I see at least one more in our near future.  Libraries off so many fun opportunities and neat programs.  We often attend a nature class.  They have reading clubs, crafts, and story hours.  
4. Field trips!  I love field trips.  (And I'm laughing now, because I typed fiend trips.)   We've been to zoos, corn mazes, cider mills, water parks, historical sites, state parks, fire departments, police departments, a castle, the Moving Wall (Vietnam Memorial), a granite quarry, a goat dairy, museums, planetariums, aquariums, science centers...  Are you getting some good ideas?

There are so many other places to school "outside the home" (including nature!), but that's the bulk of the not-at-home education my punks receive.  I hope you're feeling inspired and find something fun to do outside *your* home next time a funky school day gets you all down.

ETA:  We haven't done *all* of these things at once, or even on any given year!  Do what fits your lifestyle and personalities.  Happy Homeschooling!

Day 3 Planning/Record Keeping ~ Back to Homeschool 2017

I used to plan everything.  I like knowing *exactly* what to expect.  While I still like knowing ahead of time {When are we going?  What are we doing?  Who will be there?}, I often am more of a "wing it" kind of person.  If someone else wants to involve me in something, I still like to know all about it, but when it's my deal, I'm more willing to wing it.  I have at least one kiddo who is just like me, though.  He needs to know all the details ahead of time if I want him to do something or go somewhere.

I guess I'm somewhere in between when it comes to homeschool planning.  Things change around here pretty regularly because of The Crew.  My commitments to that keep me planning and help me stay on track on everything else, too.  I mentioned yesterday that one of my must haves is my planner.  I won a Well-Planned Day planner one winter.  I spent the next few months with it and realized how very much I liked it.  Ever since then, I've purchased one during the pre-sale in the spring.  Well, except this year because the only shipping option was $10 priority for an item which wouldn't even be ready for weeks, *ahem*  but I did get it again this year.  And I'm pretty sure I will next year.

While I make sure to add my Crew commitments ahead of time, I'm a little more loosey-goosey with other plans.  Usually, I'll write things down for up to two weeks out, but end up drawing a red line through one or two things each day.  As in, I just didn't get to it.  Usually, that's because I added in other things.  Sometimes, we meet friends for a walk, go to the pool or an event at a nearby resort.  Those things get added in place of all those redlined lessons.  We're much less likely to abandon school during the traditional year than during the summer.  It such a short season here, we have to jump at any chance we get to go play!

I'll tell you a secret.  I don't keep many grades.  We use so many types of curriculum that don't really lend themselves to grading.  The online math we use (CTCMath) keeps track of math grades for me, but do they really need that many grades in elementary school?  I'm fully aware of what they do and don't know yet, are struggling with, or have completely mastered.  We do lots of units and lapbooking, but not many worksheets.  I do correct those that they do, but I'm not recording grades.  I have a small bin for each boy that I save some papers or projects that show we have fulfilled our requirements for the state, so pulling things together at the end of the year isn't *too* nervewracking.

I admit to being envious of all those mamas who plan out a whole year and keep it all in some sort of folder file system.  There are so few things we actually use that would fit into a system like that, it wouldn't be worth it to set it up.  How do you handle planning and record keeping?  Check out the links below to see what some of my fellow Crew Mates are writing about today.

Day 2 School Supplies ~ Back to Homeschool 2017

The longer I homeschool, the pickier I get about some things.  Don't get me wrong, the opposite is also true.  I'm an enigma.

I do have a few favorite products that I use often.  I'd like to share my list of musts with you, but please know that you might not even need these things.

Arts and Crafts -
I've learned that I'm a crayon snob.  I might like Crayola a little too much.  However, I've also learned that I don't need *everything* just because it comes from Crayola.  The things I absolutely must get from Crayola, though, are regular crayons, colored pencils, and *erasable* colored pencils.  Generally, the erasable pencils are for writing rather than art projects.  But I *bigfatpuffyheart* having erasable pencils in fun colors.  I also like their glass markers and crayons.  The crayon colors are more vibrant than the glass markers, but there are times when each serves a purpose, just like the different colored pencils.

Speaking of pencils, I buy Ticonderoga.  They aren't "cute," but they do the job nicely and sharpen easily.  The punks sometimes get other pencils as gifts or prizes and they love to look at them, but sharpening? forget it.  Recently, I bought some of the black Ticonderoga pencils.  I've heard they are the *best* of all pencils.  They came pre-sharpened, though, so I haven't tested them out.

Mom's Supplies -
I have got to have my paper planner.  I've used a few online, but I haven't quite gotten to the point where I'm ready to give up my planner.  Every year, I buy the Well-Planned Day.  I'll tell you more about planning tomorrow.

I also own a laminator.  I love it.  It's fairly inexpensive anyway, but I bought a Scotch Thermal Laminator for super cheap on Amazon.  It was on sale for under $20.  I've been using it for several years and it has held up nicely.  Now, looking back, I may not have *needed* a laminator (or the spiral binder), but it's a good tool and I've found it worth it to me to have.  it has been great for all those downloadable PDF games and lots of cards.

Funny.  I don't really have a lot of must-haves.  Maybe I'm "low maintenance."  Whether you're low or high maintenance, I advise choosing high quality items for your homeschool.

Day 1 Curriculum ~ Back to Homeschool 2017

The other night in the grocery store, I had an interesting conversation.  See, I was wearing one of my homeschooler T-shirts.  It's funny because I usually don't get any comments, *except from other homeschoolers*!  Kind of a "you too?" kind of reaction.  Although, the kids shirts are pretty funny and they get lots of attention, it's rare for me.  Anyway, I was asked if "they" send me books and tell me how to teach.  I would love to know who "they" are, because I think they owe me a lot of books after all this time.  Maybe "they" is the Homeschool Review Crew.  I do get some books from them...

Anyway, the real scoop is The Dad and I get to choose what and how to teach our punks.  I always thought that would be super easy, but the more *stuff* I know about, the harder the choices become.  I always loved school.  I was a walker and the girl who stayed behind at school to clap erasers and help the teacher clean her room at the end of the year.  One of the perks of these habits was that I often would come home after the cleaning was done (I'm sure it wasn't really done, she was just shipping me home so she could get to the real work!) with a huge stack of her leftover worksheet handouts.  Even weirder was that I would actually do most of them over the summer.

Some of the curriculum that *I* would have loved as a child just does not work for my very active boys.  Desk and workbook school is not for them.  Not that they don't have that, but it can't be the main thing we use or we might all go off our rockers.

There are so many things to think about when determining curriculum picks for the year.

• What kind of learner(s) do I have? ~ Yes, learners.  Because, of course, you will find the perfect curriculum for darling punk #1 only to have darling punk #2 learn completely differently.  I am the lucky mom of three distinctly different learners.  Thankfully, they do share some qualities, which means they can use some of the same products very well, as long as we get in a little reinforcement in each of their languages.
• What kind of teacher am I? ~ Do you need a boxed set and a scripted teacher manual?  That sounds dreamy to me.  (Un)Forunately(?), my punks are all over the place.  A year behind in math? *check*  A year ahead in science?  *check*  Still can't tie a shoe?  *check*  So, no boxed sets here.  Maybe you love living books.  I do, too.  My kids like being read to far more than the reading part, so when I choose readers for the year, I have to be really OK with reading the books aloud.  Certainly, they read (to their ability) on their own also.  Computer learning is a possibility.  In fact, this is one we can agree on for certain topics.  I kind of enjoy using it for the bulk of their math.  There are fewer "emotions" when mom doesn't teach math.
• What can I afford to spend? ~ Determine a realistic budget. Now stick to it.  It's harder than it sounds.  You found the most amazing science course at XYZ.  Then you realize it's 3x more than you allotted for science.  How much do you need it?  What else on your list can you do without to make up for the difference.  Curriculum can be surprisingly expensive when you start shopping for the first time, or the 10th.  
• Does this curriculum fill a need? ~ You'd be surprised how quickly a need becomes a want when you're trying to find a way to buy that science from XYZ!  Sometimes, that science is no longer quite so necessary and sometimes other subjects become lower priorities so you can purchase that science.

So, with lots of consideration and sorting of piles and thinking, thinking, thinking, I've narrowed down *some* of our curriculum choices for the fall.

Math - CTC Math.  I've been using this for a while now and bigfatpuffyheart it.  No matter how much a certain punk whines about it, the teacher never flips out on them.  It's completely worth it to me.  Plus they offer a big discount to homeschoolers and sometimes have sales, buy a year, get X months free.

Language Arts - Merrick is going to be continuing the Learn to R.E.A.D. program and the bigger punks will work some more in The Logic of English.

Science - Punk #1 and Punk #2 are using Science in the Industrial Age.  It's new to us, but I really like it so far.

Social Studies - I do not actually know exactly what we're doing this year, but part of our studies will be about Native Americans and the bulk of that will use a Once-A-Week unit study.  We'll also learn about interesting Vermonters and that will include the Abenaki peoples and Phineas Gage.  I picked up a book about Phineas from Amazon.

Bible - The Bible, of course, and probably Cold Case Christianity for Kids.

Health, PE, and Art - This is the last year Malachi needs to report these three topics to the homestudy office.  Not that we still won't be doing these things, but I don't have to report it anymore for him.  We don't really use curriculum for them in general, though, so I don't have much to list here.

One last thought.  If it doesn't work, try to let it go.  Sometimes, I have pushed us through to the end of a curriculum we *all* hated, just to check it off.  Done!  Other times, I have just let things go.  It doesn't always work out and you might need to decide to cut. it. out. of your homeschool day.  Life is too short for stinky curriculum.

Well, that's where I'm at for now.  I still have more decisions to make.  And then the planning begins.  Prayers, research, and planning make a great foundation when choosing your curriculum.

Come back tomorrow and we'll talk school supplies!

Back to Homeschool 2017

I'm excited to be taking part in another 5 Days of Homeschooling link up with The Homeschool Review Crew.  One thing I *bigfatpuffyheart* about The Crew, is that we are all so supportive of one another.  Behind the Super Secret Crew door, there is a wonderful forum where we can pray together, hash out our home and homeschool ideas and concerns, and compare notes on so many aspects of our lives.

Another thing I love about The Crew is the genuine desire to help *you* make your homeschool decisions, by sharing our real life experiences.  While we do a lot of that with curriculum, after all that's what we do, many of my Crew mates are fantastic bloggers about many different things that affect our school and home lives.  If you read some non-review posts, I bet there is someone on The Crew roll who is exactly the kind of person you *want* to be reading and never before found.  We have some really amusing ladies, some very academic ladies, some road schoolers, some Charlotte Mason moms, homeschoolers in other countries, all kinds of folks (even a dad!  *gasp*).

Check out some posts next week and find your favorite new blogger.  <3 p="">
Day 1 ~ Curriculum
Day 2 ~ School Supplies
Day 3 ~ Planning/Record Keeping
Day 4 ~ Outside the Home
Day 5 ~ Dear Homeschool Mom