A Journey Through Learning: The Earth Lapbook {Crew Review}

 I do not consider myself to be an artsy craftsy type of home school mom, but I love the idea of notebooking. I discovered the idea of lap booking years ago and we realized that lap booking was a great way to be “hands-on” and create a project without having to get too messy or complicated. We used some lapbooks as supplements to our literature based studies.

Supergirl is very different from her sisters. She requires more of a hands on type of learning in order to “own” a concept. For her, lapbooks are the spine to which I add books rather than the supplement that I add to books. I had heard about A Journey Through Learning but had never tried one of their lapbooks before.  The Earth Lapbook is a great introduction to geology, meteorology, and oceanography! I confess I was thrilled with the opportunity to introduce Supergirl to the study of rocks and she already has a love affair with the ocean! 

Using the Lapbook with Supergirl:

Before actually starting the lapbook with Supergirl, I printed out the study guide pages and the mini-books. Usually, when I use a lapbook, I only print out the mini-books as I need them but for this review I wanted them for a picture <grin>.  I asked Supergirl if she wanted to do a traditional lapbook, made out of file folders, or if she would prefer to do it “notebook style” where we glue the mini-books to cardstock, three hole punch it and create a notebook.  She said she wanted to do a notebook because her sisters have notebooks.  She picked out two shades of green, her favorite color, for the notebook pages.

I checked over the list of suggested additional reading and was thrilled to see The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth. I own that one! So we officially started our Earth study by reading the book over two days. A Journey Through Learning suggests a pace of one mini-book a day.  I found this to be a great pace for us.  I found a library book that was the perfect level for Supergirl’s development.  And I read that to her while she colored her lapbook/notebook cover page. 

After having some general exposure to the topics, it was time to actually start working on the mini-books! It is not necessary to add additional information to this complete lap book, but it is easy to go deeper if your child is interested, wants to learn more, or is on the older side of the suggested age range (grades 1-4). I choose to add some additional information as we completed each mini-book.  We would read a section from an Usborne book, look at the picture, and then I would read the included study guide page.

We used a combination of dictating to mom and copy work to complete each mini book.  For example with the How Mountains are Formed mini-book, she and I discussed the concepts and we came up with some sentences for mom to record.  Then I wrote four words on the whiteboard and she copied them into the mini-book. We’re still working on fine motor skills so she did some of the easier cutting and I did the more difficult cutting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I am loving about The Earth Lapbook:

• The Organization: I love how this lapbook is organized. There is a study guide for each topic and the mini-books for that study guide appear immediately after the guide page. This is so convenient. I don’t have to try scrolling through the whole PDF to find the mini-books, or be forced to print everything all at once. I took a peek at the other products we were given and I am thrilled that they are organized the same way!
• Topics are Clear: I also love that the topics are very clear. The title of the study guide is the topic! This makes it easy to find books to read aloud to Supergirl that line up with each mini-book. For example, the guide suggests a specific Usborne book but I don’t have that one. I can use the topics to check the index or table of contents of the Usborne books I do have to find more information.
• Clear Directions: The directions for each mini-book are clear and printed right on the page with mini-book! The directions even include a graphic of where to put the mini-book inside the file folder lapbook!

Details Summary:

• Vendor: A Journey Through Learning
• Product: The Earth Lapbook
• Price: $13 for the download version
• Recommend Age Range: grades 1-4

Each Crew member assigned to this review received 4 download only products, though we only had to review one. Be sure to check out the Crew reviews to see reviews about Knights and Castles (lapbook), Astronomy and Space (unit study), Letters, Numbers and Shapes (learning lapbook), or The Earth (lapbook). 

Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read what others have to say about A Journey Through Learning.

All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.
You can read my other Schoolhouse Review Crew Reviews by clicking here.

 

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