The Product
Vendor: A Journey through Learning.
Products used:
Knights and Castles
Astronomy and Outer Space
A Journey Through Learning provided me with four different lapbooks – Letters, Numbers and Shapes (ages 3-5), The Earth (grades 1-4), Knights and Castles (grades 2-7), and Astronomy and Space (grades 2-7). All are available for $13.00 as an instant download, there are other ways to order them as well).
Products used:
Knights and Castles
Astronomy and Outer Space
A Journey Through Learning provided me with four different lapbooks – Letters, Numbers and Shapes (ages 3-5), The Earth (grades 1-4), Knights and Castles (grades 2-7), and Astronomy and Space (grades 2-7). All are available for $13.00 as an instant download, there are other ways to order them as well).
This is one of those cases where a company makes lapbooks and one goes over well and the other is a complete and total bust.
in our case, my son chose to do knights and castles and it very much was NOT a good fit. He needed to take a break from doing it, before he was up to choosing a different one. We did manage to complete some of it, and may give it a go when he's a bit older...
in our case, my son chose to do knights and castles and it very much was NOT a good fit. He needed to take a break from doing it, before he was up to choosing a different one. We did manage to complete some of it, and may give it a go when he's a bit older...
So...we took a break from lapbooking and then relooked at the options. He didn't remember them so I, over the course of a week, let him look them over carefully, talking about the pros and cons of each.
This is where it was SO NICE to have at hand each of the lapbooks so we could give them a thorough going over.
It took five days of thinking and of looking them over, but he decided that Astronomy and Space was where it was at.
This is where it was SO NICE to have at hand each of the lapbooks so we could give them a thorough going over.
It took five days of thinking and of looking them over, but he decided that Astronomy and Space was where it was at.
And this most definitely was where it was at. The lad REALLY likes this study. Have to admit, we are still working through it, but he LIKES this study. We are having fun with it. Check out the diorama he made. :)
And some of the pages we've accomplished
we have accomplished more, but you don't need to see it all. :)
I have to admit, we are playing around with this lapbook a bit. We are finding we want to explore some of the concepts a bit more in-depth, so we're borrowing from here and there to supplement, looking at lots of websites, searching out images and just enjoying our learning time.
I am appreciating how my son is asking questions and wanting to know more, and THAT is what I most appreciate about this particular lapbook. Does the lad do the drawing asked of him? No. He's a realist when it comes to drawing REAL things...and he asked "Mom, how can I draw the universe when it's bigger than anything, so you can't even take a picture of it?" He had a point...so when he told me "I can't draw it", I believed him. I'm not into asking for the impossible. :)
Now you might wonder...just how DOES one do a lapbook? AJTL actually has a page devoted to teaching you how to do a lapbook. You can find that here. You can do the filefolder method, I don't.
I've done ONE lapbook using filefolders taped/glued/folded and said this simply isn't for me. What I do is put lapbook materials onto cardstock and simply three hole punch them and place them into a binder. By doing this, we can add to the study later if we want. Most lapbook have a topic per page, so adding additional information over time is quite easy.
I am appreciating how my son is asking questions and wanting to know more, and THAT is what I most appreciate about this particular lapbook. Does the lad do the drawing asked of him? No. He's a realist when it comes to drawing REAL things...and he asked "Mom, how can I draw the universe when it's bigger than anything, so you can't even take a picture of it?" He had a point...so when he told me "I can't draw it", I believed him. I'm not into asking for the impossible. :)
Now you might wonder...just how DOES one do a lapbook? AJTL actually has a page devoted to teaching you how to do a lapbook. You can find that here. You can do the filefolder method, I don't.
I've done ONE lapbook using filefolders taped/glued/folded and said this simply isn't for me. What I do is put lapbook materials onto cardstock and simply three hole punch them and place them into a binder. By doing this, we can add to the study later if we want. Most lapbook have a topic per page, so adding additional information over time is quite easy.
this from the Knights and Castles that we attempted
And that's the beauty of homeschooling... you can take a product and modify it to suit YOUR particular needs. And my boy doesn't mind lapbooking, last year we did a big one on spiders. Using cardstock means we can add to areas and modify them as we study on them more. :) Cool eh?
My Concerns
When doing Knights I was discouraged by the author's flavour being added. Even the lad said "Mom, doesn't she like weapons? Why is she saying they are so bad or that she doesn't want to talk about them?" This of course led to a discussion on the fact that weapons can cause massive damage to people, that's what they are made to do, and the sometimes people find it difficult to talk about that. It was a bit disconcerting to have to have that conversation. I suspect this was part of the reason the lad disliked this study.
What I would LOVE to see, or have as an option, was right in the pages of the study was some links to good sites so I wouldn't have to spend time searching for links to Stars and comets and questions people ask about the universe and such like. :) I recognize the nature of the internet is that sites disappear, links get broken so doing that might be a challenge, but it would add to the bounty that is in the Astronomy and Space unit.
What I would LOVE to see, or have as an option, was right in the pages of the study was some links to good sites so I wouldn't have to spend time searching for links to Stars and comets and questions people ask about the universe and such like. :) I recognize the nature of the internet is that sites disappear, links get broken so doing that might be a challenge, but it would add to the bounty that is in the Astronomy and Space unit.
Recommend?
Personally, I will recommend the Astronomy and Space unit. It's a well done study that my lad is very much enjoying. The lad said "mom, we should do more studies just like this one!" If all studies were like this one I suspect they would be a good to place for lapbooks. :)
If you want to know what others think of the A Journey Through Learning products please click here or on the graphic below.
If you want to know what others think of the A Journey Through Learning products please click here or on the graphic below.
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