Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Keeping Notebooks and Portfolios

Many homeschooling parents, especially those influenced by the teaching philosophy of the 19th century educator Charlotte Mason, are encouraging their children to narrate what they have learned in educational notebooks in order to encourage their children to synthesize and reflect upon their learning. Many regular classroom teachers also use this method to encourage higher level learning skills.

Although starting and maintaining a portfolio can be overwhelming at first, most learners find it to be very rewarding as they are able to see their progress over time. While some students create their own journals free-form, many students need some structure especially when they are young or if they have difficulty organizing their thoughts. Notebooking Pages is a wonderful site with many inexpensive notebooking templates, designed by a homeschooling mom, to help young learners create their own educational journals. You'll find templates for purchase that focus on Ancient Greece and Rome as well as Greek and Latin derivative word study. Pages include clip art and ample space for recording narrations. You can view the templates before ordering a CD or downloading to your home computer.

There are many free sample pages -- including a set of Greek alphabet strips in both upper and lower case, some timeline charts and grammar pages. You'll need to have the free Adobe Acrobat software in order to print out and use the pages.