Ok - think back to when you were in grade school.... I know - its a distant memory for some of us... 

Can you remember your favorite project?  

For me, it was a huge research project about the French Revolution.  It took me weeks of my homework time.  I decorated each page of a giant notebook that I painstakingly put together, complete with as much information as I could accumulate, all organized by topic and subtopic.  It was beautiful. I was so proud.  And you know what else?  It's one of the only projects I remember.

To learn - to truly learn - you have to make connections.  To make the information your own.  And one way to do that is to spend the time and effort it takes to organize and understand it. That's the stuff we remember.

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As I delve into the world of homeschooling, it is this concept of collecting, organizing and connecting information that makes all the creative lightbulbs start flashing in my head.  The possibilities are limitless!  Enter the lapbook.

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You have probably heard of a lapbook, but I started thinking... how can we really put all the things of an in-depth study into a regular notebook or lapbook?  I mean - the handouts, posters, drawings, writings, and pictures.... It's all gotta go in there.  So why not go big?!

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Posterboard? check!

Giant sketch paper? check!

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You should have seen the kids' eyes light up when they saw what they got to make!  "We're going to fill this thing?!?" Yes!

 

I could see their wheels turning and their interest growing as they realized that their own work would become a permanent part of this jumbo project.  I hope that this is one of those projects that they will remember 30 years from now as one of those special things from their school years.  It's THAT cool.