Notebooking & a GIVE-AWAY!! {my inspiring discovery}

Until very recently, I had never heard of notebooking.

I am a home-schooling mother, of 8 years, and I had never found out what it was.

Yes, it's true.

A whole eight years not knowing about notebooking.

I had HEARD about the concept, and recently found out it involves printing off pre-prepared sheets of paper, to fill out information on a topic you are studying. I had found blank templates, that you simply print and fill in whatever information was pertinent to your current studies. You could use it for ANY topic, really! It's a great idea, and you could use it throughout all of your areas of study. Personally, I like a bit of variation in how you record what you have learnt, so I don't think I would use it exclusively.

Then, the other day I was asking, on the Tapestry of Grace Facebook group that I am on, about putting together a workbook. (That will be a whole other post!) However, I was pointed in the direction of a resource that I just had to share with you. I have been sitting browsing through it, to print off some of the pages to add to my workbook.

Let me tell you a little about it.

The company is called Scribe System. This is what they say about themselves

"Children learn by rewriting and drawing what they have learned in their own words and images.

There are programs out there that offer historical colouring books with the writing and pictures done for them,

but what are they really learning but how to colour?

With History Scribe books,

your children are the authors!

They work well in conjunction with all history programs and cover the key points of various time periods.

Each page offers a brief outline of the topic and some include timeline dates if you are also working with a timeline book.

And the rest is your children's effort.

Children learn by rewriting and drawing what 

they have learned in their own words and images.

History Scribe books are not just fancy colouring book worksheets.
Each page offers a starting point for your studies
as well as room for your children to be creative and
enjoy drawing what THEY learned...
not just a picture to colour and write about.

This is the best part about History Scribe...
your children create their own books
based on their grasp and understanding of the lesson you taught. 

They learn to put their studies into a book...

not just how to colour someone else's drawings."

I have purchased their History Scribe selection, but they also cover Bible and geography, too. An additional set it their "boys selection". These are topics particularly suited to boys, who have a notorious name for being reluctant to put pen to paper. These topics will inspire them to draw and write about subjects that will fascinate them.    The history selection covers many eras of history. I am about to start back on Year One of Tapestry of Grace. It begins with studies in Egypt, and History Scribe offers many, many notebooking pages which will supplement the curriculum I use. I am sure it would tie in with many more history curricula.  For all the eras covered,  there are several different "levels" of pages available. More basic ones have a little information on a sub-topic, such as "mummies", and then space to draw a picture, and some lines provided to write in some information of your own. The "older" levels have a couple of pages per topic. It has space for "key topic points", an area for a "personality summary", a mini timeline and an essay question, as well as other things. An example essay question, for an upper level is "If you were a wealthy Egyptian, what sort of festivities would you plan for your guests based on your knowledge of the times?".  They also provide maps and blank notebooking pages, for students to add their own information, as well as the prompted ones they provide. 
It truly is a great resource, particularly if you have children of different ages, all studying the same topic together. I am able to print off notebooking pages appropriate for all my 4 oldest children. 
I plan to add mine into my workbooks, as I mentioned, but you could collate them into a bound book of their own, or file them away in a ring binder. I haven't even begun to look at the other eras of history covered, but if they are anything like the Egyptian pages, they will be equally valuable! 
Pop over to the Scribe System page, to find more in depth descriptions of their products, and some sample pages to peruse.
The great news is, I have not one, not two, but FIVE people who can win a download of their choice, from this great company!!  Yes, five people can each choose one of the titles to download, and use with their children. Whether you home educate, or you have a child who attends school, but who loves to read and learn at home, this resource is a wonderful addition to your home.  So, have a look below, and find several easy ways to enter the give-away. The give-away begins at midnight tonight, and ends at midnight next Friday - winners to be announced next Saturday. So, have a go, and see if you are one of the winners! If not, then this resource is well worth the money you would spend to purchase it. Additionally, as ever, being a downloadable item, it makes me a HUGE fan!  a Rafflecopter giveaway