Making Books to Learn
When Children create something they feel ownership! Making books is a great way to help children learn and enjoy any content area. This can be applied to any subject: History, writing, phonics, Spanish, reading, math, science, etc. (you get the idea :-).
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Which Subject Are You Working On?
Each child made their own book when we were learning about art history. The book took the whole semester to complete, but we slowly added pages to it and at the end we had a beautifully illustrated art history book that the children could reference back to. It is also such an amazing keepsake. Rather than a bunch of art projects strewn about the house, keeping them organized in this book project is quite nice.
“A child needs to feel ownership of their learning. By creating something special, such as a book, a child can truly own and love what they have learned.”
Make your Child the Star of their Own Learning Book
Children love it when their pictures are featured in their books too. Adding in a funny picture of your child to a informational books about sharks creates a humorous learning connection. This is such a fun keepsake as well. Your child will continue to refer back to their homemade books and have fond memories of their learning time.
Creating Books is Creative!
When you are teaching your child, it is important that you encourage creativity in your child. Creating is so essential to learning. Check out my article on simple ways to encourage creativity in your child. While sometimes we feel overwhelmed with what our homeschooling plans are, making time for creativity needs to be a priority.
Some Book Making Tips
- Keep your phone handy for quick pictures.
- DON’T be a perfectionist, let your child do the drawings, come up with picture ideas, write the words, etc. I can remember my daughter having some of the best ideas and being so thrilled with her finished product. (If there is a lot of writing, you can help your child out by completing parts of the writing so they don’t feel overwhelmed, depending on your child’s age).
- Look for learning opportunities as you go. If your child is learning their letters, insert some lined writing paper and let them write all the “Ff’s”. If your child is working on Idioms, make your book about idioms, if your child is working on punctuation, choose a book that is filled with Punctuation
- Buy an economical printer and have cheap photo paper available. I use the Epson ET-2720 Ecotank printer. I can print hundreds, maybe even thousands of high quality pictures on a single ink bottle. It’s a total money saver!!
- Use other books that your kids enjoy as an example of how to create one. We used, “No David” by David Shannon to learn to read and write some basic sight words and punctuation. My kids had a blast reenacting the pictures of David from the book
- Other book recommendations: “This is how we do it” by Matt Lamothe
What book do you plan to make with your child? How will you integrate what they are learning?
Share your ideas, can’t wait to hear them!!!
