A few years ago I was introduced to a (new to me) homeschooling mama via Instagram. As most new Instagram relationships go, I suppose I clicked on one hashtag and then clicked on another……and found I was pulled into Jodi Mockabee’s beautiful homeschooling life through the little square photographs she shared. At this point in my homeschooling journey, I was desperate to not get dragged into the homeschool humdrum of workbooks and piles of curriculum manuals. I yearned for something different, and was immediately drawn into Jodi’s passion for Notebooking.
Jodi used Notebooking with her five children as a way to capture and record what they were learning during their school day. I loved how organic the process was and how the kids’ artistic and writing abilities shown through their finished pieces. I knew that I had thrown away one too many finished workbooks at the end of the school year and longed for another, more lasting way to remind my children (and myself!) what they had learned. Enter the process of Notebooking.
I’ve gotten many questions as to how I have time to have my children create such intricate Notebooking pages. As Jodi teaches, Notebooking covers so many subjects at once (art, grammar, spelling, writing, etc.) that it’s easy to substitute it in for other things. I simply started by getting rid of “extra” busy work that was unnecessary. Practically for us that looked like me pushing aside a spelling curriculum that both my kids and I disliked. I took away Explode the Code from my two older children, knowing that they didn’t need this busy work and that Notebooking would allow us time to discuss these same concepts one-on-one.
I’m not going to explain in this blog post how we go about doing Notebooking, because Jodi so eloquently explains it in detail in her Notebooking Manual that is available on her website. If this type of homeschooling discipline appeals to you at all, I’d encourage you to get a hold of her manual and read through the process yourself. See if this is something you can add to your schooling even this week! Or perhaps it’s something you can consider as you plan for next year.
Just to clarify, though…these beautiful pictures posted weren’t produced without some tears, arguing and perseverance. My children don’t joyfully skip to the table, painting brush in hand, eagerly waiting to produce their next Notebooking piece. Quite contrary, they often complain about having to write (again) and don’t like the time it takes to put the final details on their picture. But they are proud of their final work and have notebooks full of these pieces to flip back through and remember what they learned. When they take the time to make a piece that is truly worth saving, they can see that their hard work pays off. And, while I can’t see them being excited about flipping back through a completed workbook, they DO become excited about flipping through their completed binders of Notebooking pages.
Charlotte Mason said, “What a child digs for becomes his own possession.” As my children “dig” for knew knowledge and understanding in the books that we read and experiences that we have, and then bring that new knowledge to life through their own Notebooking page, they are truly creating a new possession that can be kept for years to come.
As an added bonus for my readers, Jodi is graciously giving 20% off anything in her shop! Use the coupon code “RENEE” until May 31, 2019.
I can’t wait to grab her new Art Study that she just released. These are the titles that she currently has for sale: Art Study, Africa Study (with verses to song), Biomes and Ecosystems Study, Verses to Song, Getting Started Manual (great for new homeschooling moms!), Notebooking Manual, Life Cycle Study, and (if nothing else) grab her FREE picture book list. She also offers various bundles. Check out her Schoolhouse Curiosities site for more inspiration.
