Notebooking Pages for Different Ages and Subject Areas
Let me share with you how effective and fun our homeschool days were with notebooking pages, no matter the subject area or that my guys were 3 grade levels apart.
For a free Ebook about ways to use notebooking pages and examples of how we learned and practiced writing and other subjects, download the ebook here – How to Use Notebooking Pages with Unit Studies Free E-book
Are you looking for a way to easily improve your child’s writing and cut down on tears and the “deer caught in headlights look” when you announce “time to write”? What about a way to learn and study different subject areas together as a family no matter that you have ages spanning from 7 through 17?
First, using these pages in our learning was extremely effective in giving information and a topic for my guys to write about, so we didn’t have that hurdle.
We would read a short book or a chapter from a book about history, science, or a piece of literature and that was our topic to write about.
My guys would then verbally recall what we read together or what they read on their own and allowed them to “recall” this information from their short term memory (thus placing it more into long term memory) and gave them the practice they needed in organizing that information in words before putting them down on paper.
This is a very important skill! It’s the Prewriting Process.
Commonly practicing this developed the skills my guys needed to start writing when they were given a writing assignment when they got older and were taking high school or college classes.
They knew how to recall information and organize it, easing them into writing their thoughts on paper automatically!
And because my guys were different grade levels they were able to do this at their individual levels without me stressing about different curriculums for writing (until they reached high school where we focused on specific forms of writing) and no extra lesson planning for me! Win, win, win!
Video about why Notebooking Pages are Great and Ideas of How to Use them
Notebooking Pages for History
One subject area that we had the most fun using notebooking pages was history.
We usually read a book or a chapter aloud and my guys would write a page about the topic we just read about.
When they were younger, they would write first and then draw a picture of what they wrote about at the top of the page as a reward for finishing their writing assignment.
We put these pages together in a notebook and at the end of the year, they each had an entire looseleaf notebook about the Middle Ages or Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt.
I had a portfolio of their work and they had memories to look back on and a project to show off to their grandparents about their learning!
Here is a picture of one of our notebooks!
As they got older, their writing became more detailed and we could all see the difference in their writing.
Other than putting the pages into a looseleaf notebook, we also created an ABC Book about the Middle Ages, writing about a topic starting with a letter of the alphabet on each page and then we sewed them together with a tapestry needle and thread and illuminated the cover the way they would have done during the Middle Ages.
Here is a picture of one of our sewn Middle Ages books.
For a bundle of notebooking pages that include two historical periods, two science topics, and two holidays visit Make your Own ABC Book Notebooking Pages Bundle Set
We also combined these kinds of pages with lapbook pieces they cut apart, completed, and glued to pieces of cardstock we put into the looseleaf notebooks with the notebooking pages.
This added a little something different instead of just writing on blank pieces of paper.
Here is a picture of notebooking pages/lapbooking elements on cardstock notebook.
To read more about combining notebooking pages with lapbooks and for free resources to use, read Combining Notebooking and Lapbooks.
Notebooking Pages for Science
Along with history, we would use these pages for areas of science study and nature study.
We would include writing about topics in an area of science we read about, experiment/lab sheets using the scientific method complete with drawings, diagrams, observations, written instructions and conclusions, and nature journal pages when we went on nature hikes and wrote about our observations in the field.
Here is a picture of an example of a nature journal page from our Nature Studies, Nature Journals, and Poetry Through the Year.
When there were lapbook components available, we would include some of those as well.
Notebooking Pages for Literature
Using notebooking pages with literature and reading is a natural fit!
After reading a short story or a chapter, we would retell the story we just heard or read ( again recalling details and organizing the retelling in chronological order in our heads and then expressing them aloud) and write it down on notebooking pages.
The thinking skills involved before even using the writing skills are so important for all subject areas and for life.
Here is an example of a notebooking page from Having Fun with Shakespeare for Kids and Teens. 
For a free Ebook about ways to use notebooking pages and examples of how we learned and practiced writing and other subjects, download the ebook here – How to Use Notebooking Pages with Unit Studies Free E-book
For a variety of notebooking pages to try out for free, visit Notebooking Pages (affil) and request a free set of notebooking pages for a variety of subject areas or a general bundle.
For even more ideas, read How we use Notebooking Pages in our Homeschool Days.
And, 3 Reasons Notebooking Has Worked so Effectively for our Homeschool Family.
And, Adventures with Notebooking and Nature Study and Nature Walks
