Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

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Teena6
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Location: GA
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Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

Post by Teena6 » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:26 am

We started today. Do your students write in pen or pencil. For the past couple years it is so hard to see it in pencil. They are doing MTMM this year and want to write in pen.


Any words? TIA
grace & peace,
Teena
mom to 1/2 doz & DIL
using BHFHG & MTMM (in the fall 2012)

LynnH
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Re: Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

Post by LynnH » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:35 am

My son often uses the Pilot erasable Frixion pen. They work well, the only issue I have heard of with them is if you leave the notebook in a hot car the ink disappears. My son mostly types his work, but in cases where he uses a pen he uses these.
Mom to:
dd 22 college graduate and employed as an Intervention Specialist
ds 18 US2, Loved Preparing, CTC , RTR , Rev to Rev, MTMM ,WG, WH and US1
http://www.graceandfur.blogspot.com/

MelInKansas
Posts: 1700
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:32 pm

Re: Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

Post by MelInKansas » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:11 pm

Whatever she uses, I find nothing really erases all that well. Right now colored pencils are popular (those work well for the drawing portions). For narrations she has to write it on notebook paper first, I go over it with her and correct mistakes, or she does, and then she copies it neatly into the notebook - or actually sometimes on paper since hers are often too long to fit into the box in the notebooking pages.
Melissa
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end"

DD12 - Rev to Rev + DITHOR 6/7/8
DD10 - CTC + DITHOR 2/3
DD7 - Bigger + ERs
DS5 - LHFHG
DD2 - ABC123
2 babies in heaven

Nealewill
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Re: Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

Post by Nealewill » Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:36 pm

We have always used pencils. We have never had any trouble at all. I agree that erasing doesn't go well in the notebook. But my dd has always just written straight on the pages. I think she would probably have a cardiac if I made her write it first for me to inspect it and then copy it over. Truth be told, because it is such personal experience, I rarely make her change much of this writing. I only make her change stuff when she completely blows off the directions (like writing 3 sentences instead of 10 or something like that). Other than that, once she writes in on the notebooking page, it is a permanent fixture.
Daneale

DD 13 WG
DS 12 R2R
DD 10 R2R

Enjoyed DITHOR, Little Hearts, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, R2R, RevtoRev, MtMM

my3sons
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Re: Student Notebooks... pen or pencil? HELP!

Post by my3sons » Sat Aug 27, 2016 7:09 am

We've always used good old Ticonderoga pencils! :D They are sturdy and don't break like clicky pencils; they also erase easily. We've done this from CTC through US1 with our oldest, and from CTC through RevtoRev with our middle son. You can see the ample pics of their note booking on the HOD Weekly Check-In. :) We pull out our old portfolios of notebooking pages and the rest of the logged work now and then to celebrate all the years we've completed HOD, as well as enjoy the 'visual' journey of progress we can see. The notebooks are lovely, but they need not be perfect, as they are a reflection of what a student can do at the given time. So, the 'imperfections' can be fixed as best as they can be within the notebook, but if we have color erased, smudges, or not so perfect writing - that is just a candid look at what they can do at a given time. I've learned to be ok with that, as long as they are meeting the requirements set out in the daily plans (i.e. sentence length, type of narration, editing completed with Appendix helps, etc.). Charlotte Mason was a fan of getting ideas down on paper in written narration format, and then simply editing the best one could quite quickly thereafter. There is not one perfect written narration, summary, oral narration, etc. - just the student's best at the time. This is different from the intent of the creative writing process that is taught in formal writing programs (i.e. WWTB, IEW, EIW, etc.), where the intent is to do prewriting, a first draft, editing, a second draft, proofreading and then a final writing product, which is largely different from the student's first draft. With Charlotte Mason, the first draft edited to the best of one's ability is the only 'draft' intended. We've run with that, and our kids have done well with expressing their thoughts in writing, and with still (as much as boys can) enjoying writing! :D HTH!

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

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