Journey Through Learning Lapbooks (TOS Review)

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks and Unit Studies

You want lapbooks, copywork pages, and unit studies?--these folks have them.

(You don't know what a lapbook is? From the website: "So what exactly is a lapbook? Glad you asked! A lapbook is a FUN, HANDS-ON and CREATIVE way for your child to record information that he/she has learned about a certain subject. First, you create the folder part of your lapbook. This part is made from colored folders that are folded in a special way and glued together. Mini-booklets are then cut out, constructed and glued inside of the folders. Kids really like that!")

We chose "Reptiles" for Crayons to try out. "What is a reptile? What defenses do they have in order to survive? What do reptiles eat when they get hungry? Just how strange are chameleons? Do you want to know about venomous and non-venomous snakes, crocs, turtles, lizards? What is the a food chain and where do reptiles fit on the food chain?" The hardest part of getting it going here was getting the colourful pages printed on a colour printer--ours just does black and white, so that's something to keep in mind if you're thinking that a download or CD-Rom version might be cheaper. If you have printing limitations, getting the full-colour version could save you stress.

Not having tried other companies' lapbooks, it's hard for me to make a comparison--I can't really say whether these studies are prettier, easier to use, or more thorough than others out there. The website is easy to navigate, and there are enough product descriptions and sample pages that you can get a pretty good idea of most of the products. The lapbooks come with complete guides--study information for each topic, diagrams of where to place the mini-books in the folders, and everything else you need, though you can improve any of the studies by adding reading material (the "Reptiles" guide suggests a few) or using enrichment pages (also included). (Our biggest problem has been figuring out how to fold the whole thing shut!) "Reptiles" also has an optional copywork companion, as do some of the other lapbooks.

Perhaps it's a matter of homeschooling style or personality more than it is one of educational principle, but these types of projects have never been very successful for our family, whether pre-made or "from scratch." Crayons has been working on this at her own pace for the last three weeks, but so far she has only four "mini books" glued in (she did one other one but has to wait while we hunt for a brad to put it together). She says it's "okay," but she's not overly enthusiastic about the process. She did say that she might like to do a smaller version of a lapbook--maybe only one or two folders, and Journey Through Learning does sell a few studies in that format as well.

If you like teaching with lapbooks, Journey Through Learning is worth checking out. If you have your own ideas for topics, you can buy 60 Easy To Assemble Lapbook Templates ($13, $14, $21). "As a bonus we have included a blank flag, a blank U.S. map, a blank weather chart, a blank thermometer, and a blank calendar.This product contains 60 of the most popular lapbook templates. Lapbooking just got easier!"

And if you don't so much...you still might have a look at their Calendar Templates ($13, $14, $18), School Year Journal Notebooking Pages (48 pages long, $16 pre-printed), Mother's Memories ($20) (Mom's childhood, school and wedding memories), or K-8 Educational Charts, Graphs, and Templates ($13, $14, $21--this one's really packed, and you might like it better as a download so you can print out the planner pages as often as you like).

(U.S.) Prices for regular (3-folder) lapbooks:

Instant Downloads range from $10.00-$13.00
CD versions range from $11.50-$14.00
Print versions range from $17.00-$21.00
Prices on other products vary

For other reviews of this product, see the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew website.

Dewey's Disclaimer: This product was received free for review purposes. No other payment was made.