Cut Out the Busywork . . . try Notebooking! Before notebooking, our school days were chocked full of a variety of learning activities and curriculums, but the learning was so dry and dull. By the end of the day, and I mean the-END-of-the-day, the kids were wiped out and so was I. Do you have days like these? Notebooking will refresh and rejuvenate your homeschooling. It opens the door for meaningful learning while saving you time, money, and those precious hours you currently spend (if you’re like most homeschooling moms) trying to tweak everything that you currently do to make your day better. Today, I want to help you get started. Notebooking is a very simple tool. Basically, we just want to help our children get what’s in their brain onto paper using both what they can “see” and what they can verbalize. I have been amazed out how effective this has worked with my children. Over the past few years, we have been able to completely eliminate the worksheet/test method from our schooling. We now use notebooking for just about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! We have saved time, money, and SO much frustration by using this tool. Now, instead of a trashcan (or tote that gets tucked away in the back of the closet) full of oodles of paperwork that we’ll never look at again, we have beautifully crafted and individualized notebooks full of their best work–their OWN work–their very OWN homemade books! You will pull these notebooks out time and time again throughout the years, just like your old photo albums, to treasure over and over again.
Terms of Use Statement Terms of Use Updated July 2017 I make all of the printables you see on this site unless otherwise specified. Therefore, the downloads on this blog and its contents are copyright of Rebekah Sayler @ A Better Way to Homeschool. All rights reserved. While I provide the materials on this site to you free of charge, or for purchase, there are a few things that I ask from you in regards to the resources found here. Personal Use Only: My downloads are provided to you for your own personal use. Accordingly, you agree that you will not copy, reproduce, alter, modify, create derivative works, or publicly display any content from my downloads, except for your own personal, non‐commercial use. You may post pictures of your family using my downloads on your personal blog provided that A Better Way to Homeschool is properly attributed in the post. You may print a copy of the materials provided on my website for use with your own family only. No Redistribution. You may not reproduce, repackage, or redistribute the contents of A Better Way to Homeschool downloads, in whole or in part, for any reason. No Commercial Use. My downloads may not be used for commercial purposes. For example, you may not do any of the following: use the downloads to sell a product or service; use the download to increase traffic to your Web site for commercial reasons, such as advertising sales. Any use of the downloads that infringes upon the intellectual property rights of A Better Way to Homeschool or that is for commercial purposes will be investigated, and the owner shall have the right to take appropriate civil and criminal legal action. Modifications of Terms. I shall have the right to modify the terms of this Agreement at any time, which modification shall be effective immediately and shall replace all prior Agreements. You are more than welcome to: Save the files on your computer and print off copies for yourself {or classroom} whenever you would like. Link directly to my site {or blog} to share my files with others. Post blogs using my files as long as proper credit to A Better Way to Homeschool is given. YOU MAY NOT: Host any of my files on your own or other sites. Alter or sell any of my files. Sell files to make a profit: All files are for personal use only. You may NOT make items for sale or profit. ~ i.e. print them off, laminate them and sell them to others. Transmit or store any resources on any other website or another form of electronic retrieval system. All downloads are copyright protected. Not to be distributed, transferred, or shared in any form. If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly. I will do my best to respond promptly. I do host an sell my printables on additional sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers, Educents, TES, Teacher’s Notebook. All terms apply to all of my created materials. Thank you! Bekki
Acorns and Perspective A Blast from the Past We live in the central mountains of California and are surrounded by beautiful Oak Trees. This year the kids and I are busily learning about how to sprout acorns in the spring and have been harvesting the newly fallen acorns during our daily 2-mile morning walk. We have a neat little park near our home that we share with our little community. As Homeschoolers, my kids are the only munchkins on the trail each day. We pass the same walkers every morning, quite a few of them are elderly. This year we are all excited about the acorns that have been landing on the path each day. We gather a few handfuls and bring them home to test them and store them for the spring. I learned a valuable lesson this week. Actually relearned. While we all look at the same world, everyone looks at life from their own perspective. photo by Aaron Burden While the kids and I were looking at the acorns on the ground as our own oak tree store, the elderly walkers we meet every day on the path were seeing them as stumbling blocks. You see, apparently one of our friends had slipped on an acorn just a few days ago. Praise the Lord, she’s OK, but I cannot see the path the same way. Yesterday, Peanut and I took action. We pulled up some mustard sticks and created our own broom and cleared part of the path. He was so excited to help our friends out that we decided to bring an actual broom and do a good job. Today we walked 1/2 a mile before reaching the villainous part of the trail and he happily brushed away most of the “safety hazard”. Actually, all the boys helped, he is the only one that made it on film. The walkers we so appreciative. Perspective is everything. I was surprised that I had only seen the fun little nuts on the ground, rather than the danger to others. It was a good lesson. My challenge to you is to find something in your life to point out perspective to your own children today. I’d love to hear about it when you do!
Successful Homeschooling: What if… What if by the time you finish teaching your kids… They are kind. They are confident. They look people in the eye when spoken to. They befriend the new kids. What if: They put down their phone when others are in the room. They are strong and hard working. They know how to cook, chop wood and change the oil on a car. They are compassionate and caring. They LOVE to read and devour the written word. They never text and drive … Read More »