The Magic of Notebooking

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I love a new notebook, any kind of new notebook is just so inviting! From journals to binders, they call to me, they invite me in, they tug at the creative strings of my heart. Notebooking is half creativity, half academic. Let’s look into Notebooking with our children, what has worked and what hasn’t and why use notebooks.

What is Notebooking?

Notebooking is this beautiful and versatile blend of creativity and academics. It is a storage place that is so inviting that you want to revisit it again and again. This is where we store our narrations, where we illustrate them. You can always add the map of the zoo or the state park you have visited on the last field trip. Or a copy of the masterpiece studied this week. You can add and subtract at will. It is your yearly keepsake.
Our notebooks are the bounty of our year, it is the rich result of our learning.

Why do we use notebooks?

They are literally a blank page. They allow each of us to express ourselves freely through creativity, such as drawing, doodling, writing stories and thoughts. While more structured learning is also present: narrations, copied poems and notes. They are versatile while being very personal. They encourage a sense of responsibility and pride in each of us as it is my own notebook, personalized to fit me. Writing what we have learned anchors it in our minds, without writing an element of memorization and retention is missing.

Why I love Notebooking

Notebooks, no matter the format, invite creativity. Each of us is free to decorate the cover of our notebook as we see fit, drawing us in each time we see it. Each is free to enter their narration and notes in any way they want from simple, standard notetaking to junk journaling. We have the freedom to be as creative as we want. I prefer binders and disc bound notebooks as they offer the best options for customization. It is easier to add anything anywhere into as well as use different papers and mediums. Adding pockets, foldable timelines and maps becomes a breeze with these formats. You can have a subject-specific notebook or a fit-it-all-in notebook. Organization is also customized as what works for the brain of each of us. My organization is different from the one for my son or daughter. Versatility and customization are the essence of Notebooking.

Caution

Truly let your child make her notebook her own. That’s the hardest part for me, but since I have let go of a more academic structure for my children’s notebooks, they have been able to take full ownership and thrive. I am very structured, with tabs and highlights but my daughters are more creative and “messier”, lol. But that is what works for them! Notebooking gives them the freedom to be themselves and to learn the way their brains work, not the way my brain works. I am so structured because I went to school, and I am still recovering. I am not joking. School teaches us to fit into a box and to format things a certain way, because it is easier for THE TEACHER to review work that is all done the same way, but that does not mean that it is the right way for the student to learn. So let’s let go of perfection, and let’s give our children freedom of creativity and of learning in the way that makes sense to them.

Guidelines

Freedom of creativity does not mean sloppy and dirty notebooking. We have a set of presentation guidelines that allow for creativity with legibility. I require that each entry in the notebook be done to the best of my child’s ability and with the utmost care. 

• Your work should always look nice.
• Always write with a pen, not a pencil (it smudges).
• Always use a new piece of paper for a new project.
• Your paper should be clean on both sides, lined if you are going to write (unless you can write in straight lines without them), not ripped anywhere and no stains. 
• Use the proper paper for the proper activity: drawing paper for drawing, watercolor paper for watercoloring, lined paper for writing, etc…
• Any drawing or illustrated work should also be nicely presented on proper paper and to the best of your ability.
• It should be legible.
• If you make a mistake, nicely cross it out: wrong words and write the right word either above or next to it neatly. 
• Go to the line instead of cutting up words that are too long. 
• Follow all rules of punctuation, grammar and formatting. 
• Check your spelling.
• Check your punctuation. 
• Titles should be centered at the top of the page and can always be decorated nicely: use a colored pen, a ruler to underline it, etc…
• Use a ruler to underline.
• When making multiple points with numbers put the numbers on the edge of the margin, with a period after the number then use a space and go finger before starting writing. 
• Do not scribble on your school work, use a scrap of paper if you need to scribble, but not on your school work. 
• Use post-it notes to communicate with me on your work but keep your work clean.

Here is a free download printable of these guidelines and space for you to add your own.

Notebooks

We can we use a notebook for? Pretty much anything! We have a few subject-specific notebooks:
– Nature Journals are subject-specific as they need to fit easily into a backpack or purse and be light. We usually use these watercolor paper notebooks.
– Book of Centuries: due to the timeline format, these are also subject-specific. But any addition and history narration go into our fit-it-all-in notebook. Here is my favorite timeline notebook. 
– The fit-it-all-in notebook is usually either a binder or a disc-bound notebook with both blank and lined pages, depending on our fancy. I love beautiful binders, but I found that the versatility of the disc-bound notebooks opens the door to creativity even wider as it is easier to fit different formats of notes. We invested into a mushroom hole puncher and it has been the best! It has really helped me as I try really hard to be more creative and less structured, still deschooling, 18 years later…

Opening the door to notebooking success

Keep it simple! Always keep it simple. Spend some time researching what format would work best for you and for your family, bounce around ideas all together. Then shop together! Allowing your child to choose her notebook helps foster ownership, before the notebook is even in her hands! And anticipation.
Model the practice. I have my own notebook and I work either alongside my children or I show them my entries later. This can be very challenging for me, but making sure that I model it demonstrates the importance of it. I usually only last a few weeks, but long enough to ignite the habit.
Consistency! Just as important is setting aside a specific time for myself and my children to notebook, otherwise it will fall to the wayside very quickly.
Accountability, another essential. I spend some time before dinner to review each notebook and make sure that the presentation guidelines are followed. This is key! Don’t expect what you don’t inspect… That goes for housework too, lol, but that’s another post altogether. 
Praise work well done, but do not hesitate to demand a re-do of something sloppy and shoddy. Good habits come with time and repetition. Re-doing the work also helps retention, so it’s a win-win (except for the whining that comes along with it). Respect the standard established by the presentation guidelines and reinforce it. They will thank you for it later (much later, but it does happen).

Enjoy it!

Notebooking bridges the gap between traditional academics and creative exploration. It is both a versatile and rewarding practice that allows us to instill good habits in our children and allows our children to learn the right way for their brains. Notebooking is simple yet effective. It inspires our children, and ourselves, to engage deeply with their learning. Often igniting a desire to find out more, even if it is just a picture online to copy or reproduce. Notebooking ignites in our children a love of learning.
Love,
Mattie