New-notebook pages?

[Patty_Momof3]

Hi,
Am I missing something? Are there notebook pages for purchase that go with the Preparing guide? Thanks!

[StephanieU]

In Bigger and Preparing, there aren't notebooking pages to purchase. Carrie recommends that you have your children do them on plain white paper. Here is the text of an HOD FB post by Carrie about it:
Teaching Tip:
My tip today if for those kiddos who are new to notebooking in Bigger Hearts and Preparing Hearts. One of the reasons that we use blank white paper for our notebooking assignments during a student's early years of notebooking is that it is an important skill to learn to utilize space well when given a blank page. Most students begin by making very small drawings/sketches in the middle or bottom of a blank page, leaving blank space abounding! Students need to be encouraged to plan their composition and fully utilize the page, which is a skill that takes time to develop. It is a leap in creativity to use a blank space well, because planning and foresight are needed. It also requires a child to fully visualize the entire assignment before beginning, which is another great skill! So, don't be too quick to provide your child with a beautiful template you've created for him/her that takes away the work the child is meant to be doing at this stage. Instead, spend your time training your child in the skills needed to visualize the directions and create a pleasing composition that uses blank space well. These are higher level skills that will be needed as they progress through the guides.
Blessings,
Carrie

[mrsrandolph]

No, but there are some WONDERFUL ones available of the HOD yahoo group.

Don't know if I'm allowed to post that.

[Gwenny]

I had my daughter do it on blank paper in Bigger and I totally see what Carrie is talking about. She wrote and drew everything so tiny. The picture was about an inch in the center of the page! It was a challenge for her to follow directions to make the column headings and draw the pictures in the correct size, etc. It was amazing the transformation as the year went on-there is a lot more to it than just filling in the blanks. I think as moms we can worry about it looking great instead of it being for the building of the children's skills--not for our sake.

That said, I printed some note booking pages for Bigger for my son that is doing it now. I did that because he had too many skills to build at once that I thought he would be too overwhelmed. He was still focusing on making some of his letters the correct way and he couldn't spell anything. He thought that he was allergic to the pencil--as soon as one got in his hand, all energy drained and he knew he would die. So I wanted the help of some of the things done already. Now that he is about halfway in, he has improved so much. I'm going to stop using the preprinted pages and give him blank ones now. I think I might still give him lines at the top for the verses though, not sure.

Just my 2 cents.

[Rice]

I'm looking forward to moving more toward the blank pages that Carrie speaks of. This, our first year of HOD, running 4 guides, we all needed the structure and organization of pre-printed sheets just to know where we were at! This coming year, though, although one or two will use some of the notebooking pages, I'm really moving away from them, but needing some structure still, I'm pre-printing pages with "Student's Name, R2R Science, Unit # Day #" (etc. as needed per guide & subject) on them so I can still see at a glance what is/is not done and to know where to put a page that is found on the floor!

I'm not sure why but my 13yo son needed an extra lab sheet yesterday and was horrified when I suggest he use a blank page, lol. Looks like he went and erased his previous attempt rather than try to strike out on his own. After a bit of practice, hopefully he won't think it such a scary proposition!

I'm really looking forward to watching my 7yo develop these skills on his own as he moves through HOD following Carrie's suggestions starting with LHFHG this last year.
Blessings,

[Gwenny]

That's a good idea about the name, date and unit on the page. I tell my daughter to do that but doesn't always get done. It is helpful to see that to easily check.

[Tabitha]

My oldest two did their pages as Carrie recommends. I found those yahoo group pages for Bigger with my youngest and started using them. It was fun, but then I did get sad looking at her binder compared to her sisters. I felt I was cheating my youngest. The other two had such a 'handmade' feel to them. So, I filtered out using those pre-made pages for the younger guides. Once I re-read why Carrie has us doing things with blank pages, I could've smacked myself from straying for the time that we did. I didn't use all the pages as there were some that I wanted dd's work to look like her sisters did. So, that was a good thing. I am just glad I came to my senses when I did.

[Nealewill]

I also recommend not using the pages from Facebook. Two years ago when I started HOD I used the pages. But then I read the post on Facebook that Carrie wrote and I decided to ditch the pages. I am glad I did. I love the home made pages so much more. Plus, I have found many a time that the premade pages don't always line up with the notebooking activities very well or they highly cheat my child out of completing the activity fully. So for me, I am using blank pages and really prefer it.