What is a Homeschool Memory Book?

There are two main types of memory books for school. One that you do for your student throughout the year. You include pictures, work, answer questions, etc. These types of memory books are often more involved and require some organizational skills.

The other type of memory book most often used is for your child’s entire school experience: K-12. Usually this type of school memory book is just to document your child’s growth each year and remember some essential memories. These require less work and planning.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.

How Can I Create a School Memory Book?

Are you looking for a fun and easy way to create a school memory book? Download this free Printable by subscribing to my blog. This can be used for homeschool or traditional school.

Simply sign up for my newsletter, download the Memory Book Printable, and Print. Simple and easy, just fill in the blanks and add your child’s picture as they go through each grade level!

Your FREE printable memory book template is yours to keep and use as much as you would like for your children.

HP Paper Printer | 8.5 x 11 Paper | Premium 32 lb | 1 Ream – 500 Sheets | 100 Bright | Made in USA – FSC Certified | 113100R

Melissa & Doug Sticker Collection Book: 1,000+ Stickers Seasons and Celebrations

Scotch TL902VP Thermal Laminator, 1 Laminating Machine, White, Laminate Photos, Holiday Decor and Gift Tags, For Holiday, Office and School Supplies, 9 in.

Rayson TD-130 Wire Binding Machine (Square Holes) Punch 12 Sheets/Bind 120 Sheets with Sturdy Metal Construction

Ticonderoga Wood-Cased Pencils, Pre-Sharpened, 2 HB Soft, Neon Colors, 18 Count

Homeschool Memory Book Template

Using a K-12 School Memory Book Template Printable makes following through with your child’s memory book easy.

Before I created this, I tried to make one by hand each year, not only did I struggle to remember to do it (I am not sure I have one for my daughter’s second year), I also struggled to remember where I put each page.

Now all of their pages are printed up and in a bound book. I simply bring it out around school picture time and voila, the page is finished.

Now I also keep a yearly memory book for my kids. This one is way more involved and I am working on a template for that one, so that it is easier as the school year gets under way.

When you are homeschooling, you just don’t have the time to be creating things midyear (At least I don’t :-).

How to Make a School Memory Book?

The key to making a school memory book is ease of use. The simpler the process is, the more likely you will finish. If it is too involved and overwhelming, chances are that you may not follow through.

I know for me, as long as I don’t have to add to much to my homeschooling day in order to complete the memory book, then I can do it.

My hope is that this FREE prek-12 school memory book printable will make it easy for my fellow moms and teachers to put together an amazing keepsake for the child.

Your FREE Printable Homeschool Memory Book PDF

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Let me know how your Homeschool Memory book turns out! Is there anything else that you added to it? How do you remember to complete the yearly page? Do you set a timer?

Please let me know if you enjoyed using this free homeschool memory book printable? I look forward to hearing from you.

Looking for a Yearly School Memory Book?

If you are looking for a yearly school memory book, I have created a 70+ page yearbook for each school year that is for sale in my TeachersPayTeachers store. This printable memory book can be used to record memories for one year of school and is great for the lower grades: Preschool to 3rd grade. It can be used every year of school. This is a simple way to keep a homeschool yearbook for the BUSY mom!

See the article: Make Your Own Homeschool Memory Book This Year.

Thanks for visiting. Don’t forget to leave a comment below and subscribe for more freebies and amazing content!

Looking for more creative Homeschooling ideas? Check out these posts: Creating Your Own Card Game to Learn or How to Plan the Perfect Unit Study!

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Checklist and tips for the end of the homeschool Year clean out. When it’s time to clean up your homeschool room/area before you can enjoy summer break, follow the checklist and tips.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

End of the School Year

It is almost that time of year. Your reaching the end of that math book. You and your kids are feeling the end is drawing near to your homeschool year. For those of us that follow a traditional school schedule, May represents the drawing near of school ending and the beginning of summer. I am all ready to start getting rid of things that I will no longer need.

It’s time to pack up the curriculum and move onto summer. It is a much welcomed time for our family. We homeschool with a lot of pizazz and go full force, but there is something about May that makes us ready to “ring the school bell” one last time. We are ready for summer. Trips to the mountains, beaches, museums, parks, friends houses…. Anything but the routines of the school year.

Here Comes Summer!

One of my favorite aspects of the school year ending is purging and cleaning out our homeschool goodies. Piled in our home is nine months of art projects, math worksheets, manipulatives, books that are now too simple, dioramas, “inventions”, old dried out glue, finished curriculum, broken crayons, dried out markers, scraps of papers, oh my crazy list of too much school stuff could go on and on.

These things need to get out of my house and into the donation bag, the trash can, or up for resell on Ebay. I welcome the feelings of joy that come from the clear out! Sometimes it is not easy to know where to start

I put together this summer homeschool cleaning list for those of you who like a little bit of direction and that oh so good feeling of checking off a list. Print it up, put it on a clipboard, and begin the summer clean-out of your homeschool room (or cabinet).

Get your Free Homeschool Summer Cleaning Checklist Here

I don’t know about you, but cleaning seems much more rewarding when I can check items off a list! It just feels good, doesn’t it? Having a checklist for some reason makes me feel more productive

Yearbooks, Memory Books, Portfolios, OH MY!

Keeping a memory book has been my favorite addition to our homeschooling. We work on it throughout the year. We add pictures and collect our favorite work samples. My children always enjoy looking through them and sharing them with grandparents and friends. I wish I would have started sooner. But I guess it is better late than never.

In regards to portfolios, I have never kept an official one. What I do is have a file folder for each child where I place additional work that they are proud of. For Science and History, I have always kept art notebooks where we place all of our corresponding projects (that is for another post however).

Here is a link to the article on memory books that you mind find helpful.

Materials and Supplies List

What Do I Do With School Materials That I No Longer Need?

There are so many options when it comes to leftover curriculum and books. Below is a list of options for you:

Give the curriculum away!

Are there any other homeschooling families that may be in need of the curriculum that you used with your children? Some families struggle to afford curriculum, so passing it on to them can be a true blessing.

Sell your USED curriculum

I often sell my used curriculum on Ebay.com. Listing it during the summer months is best because that is when other homeschool families are looking to get their curriculum for the next year. Your buyers are saving money by purchasing used curriculum and you are able to make money to purchase your new curriculum (or used :-))

Anther great place to sell your used curriculum is a yard sale or to a group of other homeschool families. You can organize a used curriculum sale and trade with one another.

Donate Your Used Books and Curriculum to Your Local Thrift Store

Get a tax deduction by itemizing your donations to your local thrift store.

Recycle Your Used Curriculum

If the curriculum is consumable, then it may be best to recycle it.

The Difficulty in Cleaning

One area where we continue to struggle is parting with art projects. My daughter who is super artistic gives special attention to the art she creates. Tossing any of them is not easy for her. I do encourage her to only keep her favorites, but I am allowing for slow growth in this area. Taking pictures of her creations does help. I do forget to put the pictures in her memory books, however.

Let me know of tips or tricks you have to cleaning up your homeschooling year and getting ready for the summer.

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If you are anything like me, planning for school (or anything really) is a highlight! Nothing brings me more satisfaction than filling in boxes and writing in my plans for school and for our year. I LOVE PLANNING!

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

Simple Homeschool Planner

I just love the simplicity of this planner. I created this to include the basics of what a homeschooling mama would need to keep organized as she homeschools her children. Print it up and organize it in a way that suits you.

What is included in this freebie:

Front Cover
Page 2: Planning out your Educational Purpose and Mission
Page 4: Growing in your knowledge as a homeschool mom
Page 5: Child Information page. Use this to help your child achieve their educational and
personal goals, encourage habits, etc. Keep track of their curriculums as well.
Page 6: Blank Chore Chart
Page 7: Blank Assignment Chart
Page 8: Blank monthly planner. Print multiple copies of these.
Pages 9-10: These pages are your weekly lesson plans for your homeschooling and I think the
most important. Print up the corresponding number of weeks that you will be homeschooling.
You may want to print these up separately and print them Front and back so that they lay
nicely in your planning book.
Page 11: This is a Monthly planning page for all subjects. Having this on one sheet, allows you
to see how your subjects coincide for the month.
Page 12 : Lesson Planning Page. Use this page when you have your own lessons you want to
plan out and teach your child.
Page 13: Master Read Aloud book list to help you keep track of the books that you are
reading
Page 14: List your favorite websites here
Page 15 : Note taking page

Supplies to Help You Plan For Your Homeschool Year

I love having nice pens and paperclips to help me plan and organize for my year. Here are my amazon choices.

HP Paper Printer | 8.5 x 11 Paper | Premium 32 lb | 1 Ream – 500 Sheets | 100 Bright | Made in USA – FSC Certified | 113100R

SHARPIE Felt Tip Pens, Fine Point (0.4mm), Black, 4 Count

Samsill Earth’s Choice, 1-Inch Durable D-Ring View Binder 4 Pack, USDA Certified Biobased, Eco-Friendly, Boho Assortment

Avery 8-Tab Binder Dividers, Write & Erase White Big Tabs, 1 Set (23078)

Swingline 3 Hole Punch, 20 Sheet Capacity Three Hole Puncher 3 Ring, Paper Punch, SmartTouch Low Effort, Black & Silver (74133)

Some Suggestions for your Minimalist Planner:

I suggest printing up this planner on a high quality paper and binding it or placing it in a 3-ring binder with tabs to separate sections.

The Perfect Minimalist Homeschool Planner was designed with the busy homeschool mom in mind. I know what it is like to worry about all the tasks of home, a small business, and homeschooling. It helps to have a simple way to plan out the curriculum you are using and lessons needed for your child.

Looking for a more detailed planner?

Get the free Charlotte Mason Inspired Planner by subscribing today.

Looking for a Unit Study Planner?

If you are a homeschool mom that enjoys digging deep into subjects with your kiddos, you may find that this Unit Study Planner is just what you need to keep your unit study focused planned and organized. This Homeschool Unit Study Planner is available for Purchase in my TeachersPayTeachers and Etsy Stores.

NOW…. For your Free Minimalist Homeschool Planner. Simply Subscribe today and receive your FREE PDF Download.

Get the Free Minimalist Homeschool Planner and Get Organized Today!

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It is a new year, try keeping your homeschool year planned with this Perfect minimalist Homeschool Planner.

Why should I use a planner?

Using a planner in your homeschooling helps you to keep focused and on track. While we don’t always complete everything that we write down in our planners, it still helps us meet both short term and long term goals.

Join my mailing list for this limited time offer for the Perfect Minimalist Homeschool Planner.

14 amazing pages to keep you organized in 2023 and it is FREE!

How do you keep organized and ready for teaching at home? Do you have any tips or recommendations for other homeschool families?

Are there any suggestions that you have to make this minimalist planner even better?

Thanks again for stopping by!

IF you are new to homeschooling you may enjoy this post about the best books for homeschool moms!

You may also like:

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With so much going on as a homeschool mom, I need a little extra help keeping every area someone organized. Let me be honest, I do not always feel organized in the kitchen. It is not my strength. I find that when I am not prepared for meals, I end up at the store more times than I should be and I go over budget. Now that I have these meal planning tools, I have found that we are not only feeling prepared for our meals each day, but I have actually been able to save money at the store. Less food is getting wasted and I am making way less trips to the store.

This organization tools lets me spend more time with my kids and less time stressing over what I am preparing for each meal.

While I know that not everyone has this problem, I know that some of you may struggle with keeping organized as I do. I hope that you find this FREE resource helpful.

Teaching Our Kids to be Organized Planners

As a homeschool family, we like to use each opportunity to teach our children important life skills. Organization is one of those life skills that is essential for success in today’s busy world.

I have created a series of planners for each age level. You can print up these forms and use them with your children as well, especially the older ones.

I have created special PDF printable planners for students from elementary through high school available for purchase by clicking on each link below. Each is formatted for 8.5 x 11 inch paper.

I hope that you find it helpful as you plan out your days, weeks, meals, and goals.

I hope to add on cleaning schedules and other household matters in future printables. I will let you know when those are ready!

Thanks for visiting ACreativeLearner.com

Let me know what types of printables you are looking for to help make teaching your children at home a bit easier

The post FREE Printable Life Planner and Meal Organizer appeared first on .

(actually both moms and dads can benefit greatly from these great homeschooling books :-))

When you choose to homeschool your children, questions race through your mind. LOTS OF QUESTIONS. Where do I start? How can I actually do this? Am I crazy? Will I mess my kids up? These questions are especially strong when you do not have a supportive family or friends and haven’t been raised in a culture where homeschooling is acceptable. Turning to books by respected authors in the homeschool community is helpful when you are trying to find answers to your questions.

I came from a background that didn’t think homeschooling was a good idea. Homeschooling first came onto my radar at church, when for the first time I actually met some homeschoolers and their. They were some of the most kind, confident, smart, and all around amazing kids I had ever met. At the time, I was teaching in a public school. In my mind, public school was the only way to go. Yet, when I started getting to know the homeschool families and talk with them about their “whys” and “hows”, the idea of homeschooling seemed really amazing to me for the first time. These same families recommended a couple of books to me to help answer my many homeschooling questions.

“You’re going to WHAT?!?!”

Fast forward several years… We made the decision to homeschool our children. I heard it all after that announcement and for years after. There were the discouragers, the naysayers, the “know it alls,” that questioned our decision to school our children at home. So, I was thankful for the encouragement I received from friends and I was also thankful for the vast information and encouragement I received from books. I devoured as many homeschooling books that I could get my hands on and many of them are in my list of 8 best homeschooling books for homeschooling moms.

Books are an amazing resource for homeschool families. They inform us, encourage us, and keep us going when we are feeling like giving up. Nothing beats a good book and a cup of coffee! I plan to continue to add to my list of best books for homeschooling as I keep reading more and more from authors that I respect.

While life is busy as a homeschool mom, we need to make sure that we get time to study and prepare not only our minds, but our hearts to teach and lead our children. Great books help us do just that!

While I read less during the school year due to busyness with my children and the fact that we read aloud a lot as a family and let’s face it, I get tired; I find that during breaks and in the summer, I do a lot of reading for myself. I keep a notebook with space for notes for each book that I am reading. I underline and highlight my books as well. My kids know that I am building myself up as their teacher when I am reading books about homeschooling.

I think that it is also a great example to your child when they see you reading to grow in your knowledge of something. Modeling this idea will encourage them to be lifelong learners. It also shows that parents don’t know everything and that we humbly need to seek out information and truth.

Here is my list of the 8 best homeschooling books that I recommend for moms:

The Homeschool Mom Booklist: The 8 BEST Books to Prepare for Homeschooling

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer

Actually ANYTHING by Susan Wise Bauer that I have read has been utterly fantastic! I have many of her books. What fascinates me about her is her intellect. This woman is brilliant! She was homeschooled herself and homeschooled her children as well.The Classical Learner is an amazing reference book for any homeschool family. I do not consider myself a strong intellect. I wasn’t taught classically. I have read very few of the classical pieces that classical education recommends, however the encouragement that Susan gives to someone like me, is that I can learn how to read difficult books such as…

You can find Susan Wise Bauer’s website by clicking here.

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass

Again, anything by Karen Glass is worth your time to learn from. She has a brilliant mind and is great at explaining how classical education and Charlotte Mason are intertwined. While I am not a Charlotte Mason Purist, I tend to take many of my educational philosophies from her ideas. Karen expounds on Charlotte Masons philosophies in a brilliant, yet understandable way. I have read this one twice and refer to it often. I have given copies of this book away to friends because I thought it was so excellent.

You can find Karen Glass’s website by clicking here.

Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of your Child’s Education by Susan Wise Bauer

Rethinking School is a great resource for parents that are homeschooling their children and for parents of public school children as well. It has a plethora of information as to how as a parent you are in control of your child’s schooling and education. She challenges many of the widely accepted ideas about education. Like I mentioned earlier this woman is brilliant and she writes in such a clear and concise way. While she does cover a lot of public school issues, I think that it is important to understand what our rights as parents are in education. Plus it is a great book you can recommend to a friend who is struggling with their child in the traditional public school classroom. Here is a quote from the book cover: “Caught in this system, far too many young learners end up discouraged, disconnected, and unhappy. And when they struggle, school pressures parents, with overwhelming force, into ‘fixing’ their children rather than questioning the system.” WOW!

Living in a state that loathes homeschooling and charter schools (basically anything that challenges the traditional role of public education), I found this book to be quite helpful when discussing why I choose to homeschool rather than send my children away to the institution of school. You can even recommend it to those family members that give you a hard time about homeschooling. (Hmmm. Just a thought!)

Home Learning Year By Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool through High School by Rebecca Rupp

This is a great reference book for the new and veteran homeschool mom. Rebecca Rupp wrote this book as a template to follow as you plan instruction for your children. I like many of her book recommendations and advice on what is appropriate to teach at each grade level. It is written in a very reader friendly way. This is a good resource for a parent who likes to design their own curriculum for their child. It covers Preschool all the way to High School. Each grade level is broken down by subjects such as math, language arts, history, and science. While I use this periodically as a reference, it is not completely what guides my instruction.

Best Homeschool Encouragement Books for Moms

Here are a couple of the books that have encouraged my soul when it comes to homeschooling:

Mere Motherhood: Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes, and my Journey Towards Sanctification by Cindy Rollins

and

A Handbook to Morning Time by Cindy Rollins

So, I am combining the Mere Motherhood book and handbook into one section. What I have pictured below is my handbook to morning time. It is marked up, filled with post-its, and one of my favorite references. (I gave my original book away, so I need to buy another copy, lol)

Mere Motherhood (the original book, not the handbook) is one of the only homeschooling books that has made me cry. And, by the way, I would not say that I am a big crier when it comes to books. Cindy Rollins is an amazing writer and her book was one of the most beautiful, encouraging, and inspirational books that I have ever read about homeschooling. I think it goes down as one of my favorites :-).

I had never heard of “morning time” or its benefits until I read this book. I was at a homeschool convention when I randomly came across this book. I liked the cover and what the first couple of pages had to say, so I purchased it not really knowing what it was about. I am so thankful I did.

Her Morning Time Handbook has helped me to implement a Christ-centered morning time so that we are focused on what is most important to us. This book by far has changed my thinking about how important this consistent morning time is. I highly recommend this amazing homeschooling book by an amazing woman and author.

For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

This is a very gentle and warm book to encourage the mother in why and how she educates her children. This is a Christian book and therefore gives Christian principles that should guide educating our children. The experiences that you give your child should be rich, stable, and filled with joy and their education should be built around that. The principles of this book can be applied to all types of education. The goal of your education should be to provide a pleasant child-centered learning experience in your homeschooling (or any education).

The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education by Ainsley Arment

I checked this out from the Library! I was so excited to see it there. Usually my public library does not have homeschooling resource books, so I end up buying all of them. I will eventually purchase this one for myself at some point, but for now, I am happy to get it from my library.

The philosophy of a Wild and Free is to allow your children to experience the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood without being confined to a rigid system that values who they are. This book is very practical and gives a lot of insight, wisdom, and encouragement to the homeschool family.

This has started an entire movement that I believe has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. They also have their own magazine that you can subscribe too as well as other books in their collection.

You can find the Wild and Free Website by clicking here.

I like to hold on to the books I love. I re-read many of my favorites and eventually I give them away to other mothers or parents who are new to homeschooling.

The 8 Best Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read

I am so thankful for the other homeschool parents that have made it to the other side and for writing in a way that educates gently and encourages greatly. Thank you fellow home educators for paving the way for us newbies and giving us the encouragement we need!

If you are a new homeschooling mom, check out this article, “14 Helpful Tips for the New Homeschool Mom.”

On My Future “Books to Read” List

These are the books I have in my personal reading basket. I look forward to reading them in the near future and gleaning from them! Have any of you read these books? If so, what did you learn from them?

The Lost Tools of Learning: A Symposium on Education by Dorothy Sayers

The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie

The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life by Julie Bogart

The New Read-Aloud Handbook: Including a Giant Treasury of Great Read-Aloud Books by Jim Trelease

In Vital Harmony: Charlotte Mason and the Natural Laws of Education by Karen Glass

Know and Tell: The Art of Narration by Karen Glass

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen

The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusades by Susan Wise Bauer

Do you have any recommendations for the best homeschooling books to read? If so, leave them in the comments below

Watch this YouTube video to see how to find good books at great prices. (I know that I love getting good deals :-))

One more thing about best books…

I am a “write in my books” type of girl. So I wanted to share with you these great pens and highlighters that are erasable, don’t bleed through, and are thin line for beautiful writing. I like taking notes for each book that I read as well, so I use smaller notebooks that I can bring along with me.

Thanks for joining me! Let me know what your reading list looks like!

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Do you ever feel unprepared for your homeschool day when you wake up? Are you flustered in the morning as you start teaching your children? Do you find yourself rushing out the door, irritated, and short with your kids? Here are 6 simple ways to help you have a successful homeschool day by prepping the night before.

Check Your Planner and Schedule

• Look over your planner and check out what you have going on for the next day. Doctors appointments? Co-ops? Stay-at-home day? Prep lunches and snacks if you are going out the next day.

Prepare Your Outfit

• Get your outfit ready. Are you going to workout or are you going somewhere special? Plan accordingly and set your outfit up the night before. This is also great habit to teach your children. Help them to prepare for their day as well by guiding them to pick out their outfit the night before.

Set Up Your Coffee Pot

• Prep your coffee pot!! This one is super important for the coffee fanatic (that’s me). When your coffee is ready for you when you get up in the morning, it is a nice treat for a tired mom.

Get your Homeschool Lessons Ready and Prepped

• Plan out your lessons for the next day and have all of your materials ready to go, that way you aren’t looking around for what you need while your kids are waiting for you to start school.

Tidy Your House Before You Go To Bed

• Leave your house tidied up when you go to bed. About 15 minutes before your kiddos go to bed, have a race to tidy up the house. Kids can put their toys away, load the dishwasher, put odds and ends back in their places all before they lay their sweet heads down for the night. It is so nice to wake up in the morning with a house that hasn’t fallen apart.

Get to Bed Early

• Go to bed at a reasonable time. Although sometimes as moms we like to have our quiet/alone time at night, it is important not to stay up too late. Being cranky and groggy in the morning because we stayed up too late doesn’t set us up for the best day with our children. It is even helpful to get up a bit earlier than your kids in the morning. I enjoy getting up two hours before my children. It is quiet and I am able to gather my thoughts before they get up.
• I spend time reading God’s word, praying for our day, praying for my kids and husband, and working on my small business.

Prepping the Night Before is a great step to Feeling Prepared and Organized for your Homeschooling Day

While we still need to be flexible with our homeschool plans, we can at least be prepared for our exciting day if we take the steps necessary the night before. Before I started following these steps, I found that I struggled with how to go about my day, I was disorganized and often flustered looking for what came next in my homeschooling plans. Now I feel ready when I wake up to take on the day with joy and confidence.

Do you have any tips for prepping for your homeschool day? How do you ensure that your ready for homeschooling your wonderful children?

Check out my Charlotte Mason inspired Planner and other helpful planning printables (lots are free in my store.

The post 6 Simple Ways to Prepare for a Fantastic Homeschool Day (The Night Before) appeared first on .

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

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

1. Keep your phone handy for quick pictures.
2. 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).
3. 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
4. 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!!
5. 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
6. 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!!!

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