Over the years, I have shared a series with you all about how we use the programs of Elemental Science in our own homeschool. Today, I wanted to put the spotlight on our science lapbooks.
How we use the Elemental Science Lapbooks
We have used the Elemental Science lapbooks as a review over the summer, as a quick way to highlight a topic that one of my kids is interested in, and as a solution for writing phobia.
We have put our science lapbooks in file folders, on cardstock, in notebooks, or on construction paper. The wonderful thing about lapbooks is that they allow for a lot of options!
Lapbooks make it easy for you to tailor your science plans to your students' interests and needs.
If you are not familiar with lapbooks, check out the following articles:
So now that you know a bit more about lapbooks and how we use them for homeschool science, let's look at what it looks like to actually use one.
What a week looks like with the Elemental Science Lapbooks
What a week with one of our science lapbooks looks like will really depend upon how you decide to use the lapbook.
When we have used one of the lapbooks as a review, we have:
- Spent one day a week working on the lapbook, usually on Friday Fun Days. On these days we have completed a lesson or maybe two in a day.
When we have used one of the lapbooks to follow a rabbit trail of interest or as our main science curriculum, our week has looked like the following:
- Day 1 - Read about a topic, add a short narration to a mini-book, and glue that mini-book into the lapbook if it is done.
- Day 2 - Read about another aspect of the topic, add a short narration to a mini-book, and glue that mini-book into the lapbook if it is done.
- Day 3 - Do a related demonstration or science activity. Then, you can choose to read more about the topic from the list of library books.
- Day 4 - Go over the vocabulary words, create cards for each word, and add the cards to the vocabulary pocket. Then, you can choose to read more about the topic from the list of library books.
The great thing about lapbooks is that you can switch things up! You can change what your weekly schedule looks like. You can change where you put the lapbook. You can change subjects often.
Lapbooks open up a world of possibilities for science learning!
Learn more about the Elemental Science Lapbooks
We are adding to our line of science lapbooks all the time as we receive requests or as we create more for our own homeschool Visit the science lapbook main page to learn more about our lapbooks or see our latest lapbooks by subjects using the links below.
Programs in the Series
If you have questions about preschool science, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!
