What pen is best for notebooking?

[OneFunSon]

Hi Ladies!
We are excited to be using M2MM this year. My son has always used pencil for his notebooking but I thought maybe I would have him use pen this year. I am a little nervous about this as he erases a lot but the pencil is a little hard to read (over the years he has gone from pressing too hard to not pressing hard enough) and I am afraid it will fade over time and become unreadable.

I looked at the frixion erasable pens, but I'm not sure how they will last - will they fade or disappear? (the website says they are okay to 140 deg.) Has anyone used these?

If he uses regular pen and makes mistakes what then? He does need to learn to be more careful in his work and I thought maybe using pen would make him do that, but at what cost to his notebook pages?

Things to consider:
What will write well on the notebook pages which have a slightly slick finish.
He is a lefty so the ink has to be fast drying so it doesn't smear.
Ink that will last on the page.

What have you all used that you like?

Thanks for any input!
Peace & Joy,
Karen

edit: I did a board search and found a little info in a recent CtC thread, but if anyone has anything else to add I'd love any input! I can not find the erasable sharpies that Julie recommended. Has anyone found these anywhere?

[Tansy]

My kids love the Sharpie erasable pen it has liquid graphite. After a few days it is no longer erasable.

[pjdobro]

I can't say what is best, but just thought I would let you know about my experience with the frixion pens. I really do like them. They write smoothly, the ink dries quickly, they look great, and erase well. However, I wrote on the chore chart I made with one of them before laminating it. ( I didn't realize that they were heat sensitive.) So after laminating, my writing was gone. It made me wonder what it would be like long term on a notebook page that was stored in the attic.

Tansy, I didn't realize that the graphite didn't erase after a few days with the Sharpie liquid pencils. That is interesting!

[OneFunSon]

I didn't know that about the liquid pencils either. I read somewhere that someone had left their notes written with the frixion pens in the car and the writing disappeared. I don't think I would want to take that chance with our precious notebooks!

Thanks for your input ladies!

Peace & Joy,
Karen

[8arrows]

We use uniballs.

[my3sons]

We use uniballs.

Hi Melissa - I may give these a whirl - are they hard to find? I have not heard of them before. Probably everyone knows about these except me. Do they erase? I ended up not liking the erasable sharpies I tried last year over time. We've used pencil up until now, but maybe the uniball will be the answer!

In Christ,
Julie

[8arrows]

We buy our Uniballs at Sam's because they are a lot cheaper in the 10 pack, but you can get a 2 pack at Walmart. No, they are not erasable. Each of my children also have their own white-out, but we don't have to use it too much. (Note: I know this is not the standard way to do it, but I have my children write their first draft on regular paper. I check it, and then they recopy it in their best handwriting in the notebook. We have always used this method, so they were used to it.

[my3sons]

Thanks so much! They're on my Walmart shopping list now. Have a good weekend, Melissa!

In Christ,
Julie

[OneFunSon]

I may try to find the uniballs also. I did get some Pilot V5's and I like them because they have a thin line and don't smear, but one of the tips was bent when I took it out of the package so I'm afraid they may not be very sturdy. I did find some White Out in a buff color which I'm hoping will not show up as much on the notebook pages, but I haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for all the responses,
Peace & Joy,
Karen

[my3sons]

... I did find some White Out in a buff color ...

What a great idea! Where did you find this? I'm not sure Wyatt will make the leap from pencil to pen if he can't erase errors or cover them up neatly somehow. I guess he has been fine with pencil anyway, but I thought a switch to pen may be fun to try. He may not agree!

In Christ,
Julie

[OneFunSon]

I found it at Staples in a two pack for $5 and change I think. He just used it and it matched really well in the yellowish box he was writing in!

My son is reluctant to switch to pen also. He wrote a couple entries in pen with no mistakes. Then he made one in some copywork so now he is even more reluctant! Even though the buff white out worked great he is afraid he'll make too many mistakes in his narration so he plans to write those in pencil and then go over them in pen until he feels more at ease with it.
hth,
Peach & Joy,
Karen