Lapbooking

Lapbooking

I have been going back and forth with homeschooling since last year and have been doing a lot of research on which approach would be best to start with.  One item I kept coming across was lapbooks, http://www.rosettastone.com/homeschool/articles/what-is-lapbooking .  At first I wasn't sure about these but the more I researched the more I came to like them.  We are currently "playing" around with three different lapbooks.  Two are Olympic themed and one is a multiplication reference.  Lawrence really likes the idea.  He is having fun while learning Olympic facts.  He likes all the foldables they have, its like a surprise behind each fact.  They have gotten him talking about what he is learning which is something he rarely does when he gets home from school.  I think because we slow down the process and spend time putting together the book this is staying with him, sticking in his brain.  We have not completely built our own lapbook, we have been working off templates that I have come across.  Once I get this under my belt, we should be able to make and design our own based on the subject we are trying to tackle.  They also make a great resource to go back to.  With the Olympic ones we are researching sports, athletes, Russia and how the Olympics got it's start.  I am building on his interests and he gets to do it at his pace.  Learning should be fun and he is really having fun putting these together.

These are our three lapbooks

This is the multiplication lapbook.  We found the layout for this one here:  http://theresasmultiplication.weebly.com/multiplication-lapbook.html

What is nice about this one was it was a free template. 

This is one of the Olympics lapbooks.  I found the layout here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Games-Lapbook-Sochi-2014-1037760

This one is designed by a teacher and the layout I had to purchase but it was perfect for starting out with these ideas. 

This is our other Olympic lapbook.  I found the layout here:  http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/wiol20lawist1.html

This lapbook goes into more details about the Olympic games.  

First order of Business is tackling writing (fine motor skills) and setting up the curriculum around it.  

Lawrence was evaluated for fine motor skills and started receiving OT in first grade and is still receiving it today.  The problem is OT has him writing on special paper with guidelines, his processing disorder has an impact on his fine motor skills, but OT guidelines are not brought over to the class room or to his class work.  I am finding that if OT and class room activities are not working together  Lawrence is not getting the practice he needs to make progress with his fine motor skill issues.  He is typically still on bigger lined paper but as the grades progress he is expected to write on smaller lines in a smaller space.  He hasn't mastered writing but is expected to move on because that is the pace of the classroom.   

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This is Lawrence's hand writing in Kindergarten

This is Lawrence's hand writing in Second Grade

I have found this great writing program Handwriting Without Tears, http://www.hwtears.com/hwt .  

It is a different approach to writing and lined paper.  I am ordering the Second grade workbook for Lawrence to do at home and I will be using the paper layout and writing workbook for all of Lawrence's writing assignments for our home school 3rd grade setting.  I am setting up the curriculum so his therapies carry over to his school setting so everything is working together.  Hoping that having everything working together and being able to provide him with more one-on-one interaction we can start to make some positive changes in his life.  Keep following as the curriculum comes together for our adventure into education at Lawrence's pace.  

When you have several children but you have one child who challenges you and struggles with the simple stuff in school and life you as a parent try to get to the bottom of what is going on.  This is the start of a new chapter on finding out how my son ticks.  This is about having a gut feeling, which hasn't failed me in the past, and doing a lot of research into the process disorder that my son has.  With the changing of school policies, new common core standards and therapy differences, I believe my son is getting lost in the mix.  This will be a journey, an adventure and a challenge with bumps in the road but I know a smaller setting will allow him to focus on the tougher subjects and work at a slower pace while moving forward with the subject he masters easily. Also, his therapies will not interfere with learning time and we can start to address some social issues in a smaller setting so that a larger setting will no longer be a problem.  There is a lot of research to still be done, curriculum's to be set up and schedules to be laid out.  I am starting the blog out as I tackle his reading level (which is below grade level), math level (which he is amazing at) and what is expected of Third Grade.  Let the research begin.