There are a multitude of reasons to build a homeschool history notebook. For one, it is frugal. Why buy what you can make? A second good reason to create a notebook is to retain memories. Do you save your notebooks and look back on them after a few years? I do. I save all of my planners and commonplace notebooks. It intrigues me to see what I was thinking and working on. They are more of a journal into a space of history for those in the future.
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Instead of store-bought curriculum this homeschool history notebook will become a time capsule that may last for generations. Many years ago moms’ who were the managers of their household’s used to save all of their letters, ledgers’, and written managing tasks. It was a way for them to look over what they had done in the past year. Also, they handed these notebooks down to their children, and this was sort of a dowry. My mom did not hand me down any of her managing tasks on paper, and she managed a good schedule. So, let me encourage you to allow your homeschooler to create a history notebook this year. Not full of facts and dates, but art, quotes, thoughts, drawings and more.
3 Reasons to Start a Homeschool History Notebook
Creating this notebook will make history stick. This tool will be one of the most used notebooks. In addition to being a memory of the year, it can also be used to create the same notebook for next year. Include new information for the content. Use the same wheel and don’t reinvent.
Encourage critical thinking with a homeschool history notebook. Ask candid questions that require thought. For something extra, add a question of the day at the top of a page. Next, ask your homeschooler to think about the question. Request a written answer before the next day. Using this method is a great way to get quiet students to open up more through writing.
Homeschool History Notebook Styles
Just like ice cream there is more than one notebook style. Pick one and have fun making it. Think of it like scrapbooking. Add in personality and lots of style. No two homeschool history notebooks should be the same. You can make a classic binder, interactive, Charlotte Mason, timeline, sketchbook, visual, or bullet journal style.
There is no wrong notebook style. As long as the daily lessons, discussions and important events are added it really doesn’t matter how. Some homeschool notebooks will be really neat, while others’ may include more of a creative style with calligraphy and drawings. As long as the homeschoolers walk away with a good understanding of the history lesson, remember that is the goal.
Timelines and Biography Sections
Add all of the sections at the top throughout the notebook. It is important to be able to quickly find what you need. Timeline needs to be in the front because this will be used each week. The next section should be a person or biography from the era. After that the other sections can be what the homeschoolers choose.
Timeline is important because it sets the frame for the history being learned. That way there is no confusing the Civil War material with the Revolutionary War information. Biographies need to be included to connect timeframes and a good understanding that other things are happening in the world at this time. For example, when Beethoven was alive in Europe, Franz Liszt was also alive. More than one event was happening. It took me years’ to realize that because in school you are taught one era at a time.
Sections to Create in the History Notebook
Here are a few of the sections that we add to our homeschool history notebooks’: We have an event summary page, a historical figure sheet, cause/effect organizer, timeline entry, map page, vocab sheet, primary source analysis, question of the day, reflection and discussion page. The final section is a “big” idea page.
All of these sections help us to diagnose history and break it down. We can always learn from the past because the past will repeat itself. I tell my homeschoolers’ that nothing is new, nobody reinvented the wheel. A new spoke was added to the same wheel in a different way to make us think it was new. Look at fashion, go back twenty years’ and you will find something now that was trendy then. History is important and we have to hold on to the truthful facts to retain truth in the future.
In conclusion, let me encourage you to explore history hands on, make this notebook and take lots of field trips. Make connections and memories.
For more tips on how to run a frugal home, live a frugal life, homeschool frugally, and run a frugal suburban homestead sign up for my newsletter. I am also on Instagram and facebook @momsarefrugal.
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