Lapbooking Review – A Journey Through Learning

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We just love A Journey Through Learning. We have had the pleasure of doing some of their lapbooks in the past and I can tell you this set that I was given the opportunity to review was no exception.

Are you familiar with lapbooks? If not, check out A Journey Through Learning’s tutorial on lapbooking and how-to videos. They do a great job. And now they have several mini-lapbooks (“quick” lapbooks) available if you want to try them out for yourself without the commitment of a large lapbooking project.

Review – The Earth (Grades 2-6)

For this review, I was given the opportunity to review the Earth lapbook and the Letters, Numbers and Shapes lapbook.  We were not disappointed.

Since we are studying earth science this year as part of our science, we thought the Earth lapbook was an excellent fit. Additionally, they are paired with Classical Conversations science (as well as other Classical Conversations subjects) so this lapbook coincided with the science statements we have been working on this year. However, if you aren’t in Classical Conversations, they are completely self-sufficient and you do not have to be in Classical Conversations to enjoy them and benefit from them.

What I love about these elementary (and up) age lapbooks is that most come with a study guide. This means that we can use them independently for science (or whichever topic we choose) and do not need additional text to complete them.  You just read the student guide materials and do the corresponding page to put into your lapbook.

Another thing we love about lapbooking is that you can personalize them, use them for a review helper, and make them as fun and colorful as you want. My daughter loves to add glitter glue, markers, and other fun stuff to make them fun for her.

I like that we can then refer to them later to use for review. I keep them all in one binder so we can refer to them whenever we want.

Review – Letters, Number, and Shapes (Preschool)

The Letters, Numbers and Shapes lapbook was the first preschool lapbook we have ever done. Obviously it was mostly me doing the lapbook but it provides a fun way for my 3 year old to work on his letters, numbers and shapes and it is all in one place. We took it with us in the car and my son could go through it and point to letters and shapes. We use it with other review items.

As my son isn’t ready for writing, we didn’t do the writing portion of the lapbook and only completed the parts we are working on at this point. That is one of the advantages of lapbooks, in my opinion, that you can tailor them to your needs, which is what we did. We just have one folder at this point and plan to do the other later when we are ready for it.

Lapbooking in General

If you have never tried a lapbook, you might be surprised at how easy they are to use. Purchasing a lapbook from A Journey Through Learning is a great way to get started because then you are able to have the step-by-step instructions and not worry about how to put it together.

Each lapbook comes with a diagram on how to fold the folders to make the lapbooks, step-by-step instruction on how to make common lapbook folds, as well as a diagram on how to place the pieces into your lapbook so you don’t have to worry about not having room for everything.

Basically all you need is the study guide/lapbook from A Journey Through Learning, scissors, glue, a pencil, and the correct number of file folders (in any color you wish – the lapbook guide will tell you how many folders you need and the website always tells you in the description). Of course, if you have a creative child, he or she may want to jazz it up with more color, glitter, and stickers or something. It’s really up to them.

Personally, when recommending a lapbook to a beginner, I suggest a 1 or 2 file folder lapbook and a professionally made lapbook like those available at A Journey Through Learning so that all the ease is associated. Of course, you can elaborate or change it up once you are more comfortable. Many people make their own but I love the ease of A Journey Through Learning products.

Summary

The Earth lapbook was very thorough and I’m certain we will use it in the future for review. I look forward to seeing what lapbooks they have to correlate with Cycle 2 of Classical Conversations for next year. You can get the instant download version of the Earth Lapbook for $13.00 or the printed version for $21.00 on A Journey through Learning’s website.

We enjoyed doing the Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook for my preschooler and I look forward to him being able to enjoy using them as well. You can purchase the instant download version of the Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook for $13.00, the CD version for $14.00, the printed version for $20.00, or the assembled version for $26.00 on the A Journey Through Learning website.