Homeschool Blog, Tips, & Stories

I was the worn-out, stressed and busy homeschooler.

Homeschooling wasn’t working out as I envisioned. I felt like a slave to the curriculum. Each day, I pushed myself and the kids through the lessons but ended up feeling like a failure whether we finished or not.

After 6 years of suffering schooling this way, I found new tools that helped me shift my mindset, cut the busywork from our day, and take the reigns of our homeschool, with confidence. Learning became more engaging, more effective, more enjoyable, and easier.

At ProductiveHomeschooling.com, I come alongside you, not as an expert, but as an experienced friend and homeschooler of over 20 years, to share what I’ve learned and the tools I’ve created to help you become a more confident, relaxed, and productive homeschooler.

Debra Reed

Homeschooling mom of 10

ProductiveHomeschooling.com

Our Story… Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Video

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OUR HOMESCHOOLING TIPS & STORIES

How much notebooking do you do each day in your homeschool?

We use notebooking to capture what we are learning and to practice our writing skills. Notebooking begins with engaging books, oral narration, and open-ended Socratic discussion. After all, you must have something to write before you can put pen (or ...
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What Do We Write and How Much?

Does writing have this effect on any of your children? As soon as you tell them to open their notebook, it begins. Their eyes bounce around like the ball in a pinball machine. It's impossible to focus on the paper ...
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Your First Notebooking Experience

Please do not wait until you think you have everything figured out and you think you have all the right supplies to start implementing notebooking. Make the time and dig in with your kids! ...
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Our Language Arts Notebook

Notebooking topical studies like history, science, Bible, & even literature are easy to do. I get asked many times, "How do you notebook language arts?" ...
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Notebooking with a Structured Writing Plan

It is less stressful for most kids to talk about a topic than to write about it. When beginning notebooking, I ask the kids for immediate oral narrations rather than a written summary or report ...
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Homeschooling with Copywork

What is Copywork? Copywork is copying a piece of well-written work, from any variety of sources, onto paper or into a notebook ...
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How to do notebooking with younger children?

I do not start formal notebooking until my children are proficient with 3 skills. By "formal notebooking" I mean creating notebooks for specific subjects/studies that include written narrations, reports, summaries, etc ...
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Bind your own notebooking with the ProClick Binding Machine

How to use the ProClick Binding Machine to bind your own notebooks

You can create your own sketchbook, planner, journal, or other type of notebook. You can also snip the spines to make smaller size notebooks like my kids' quiet time journals pictured below ...
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Testimonials

…we started using Mystery of History and Apologia Science and found that notebooking worked great with both of them.

We started out with just doing notebooking for small projects and for the occasional handwriting exercise. I used to think it was one of those areas that our family didn’t have time for or could afford. Then we started using Mystery of History and Apologia Science and found that notebooking worked great with both of them. I truly believe that my children have enjoyed both of those subjects more and have learned more than they ever would have if we had only followed the “traditional” textbook approach. Thank you for making the learning experience fun!

Lori S.

Notebooking is great for him, they aid with recall, memory and he really enjoys them.

Thank you for the Lifetime Membership offer it is very affordable. Our son had a stroke, causing long and short term memory. Notebooking is great for him, they aid with recall, memory and he really enjoys them. They are easy to adapt to his level yet are still challenging enough for him. Education has not been easy but with the help of your site he is interested, and it frees up a lot of my time. Again Thank you and God bless

Michelle Ice

The notebooking journey has awakened something fresh and exciting in our school time.

The notebooking journey has awakened something fresh and exciting in our school time. I was struggling to ‘organize’ what the kids were learning in history and science and truthfully, just wanted to inject some FUN into those two subjects with minimal prep time.

I have found the templates from the membership collection to be outstanding help for each my 7 students–from my really creative children to my reluctant writers–and well worth the money we invested in it.

My children are pleased to see their history and science notebooks taking shape. With notebooking pages by their sides, they have created something to be really proud of!

Kristen Fagala in Texas

These pages have saved me so much time over the years…

I’m a homeschooling mom of 4 children who are various ages. One child has moderate/severe ADHD. We’ve tried various ways of learning and found that notebooking and lapbooking was the most successful and the best received. We’ve been using these wonderful notebooking pages for years! Each time we begin a new unit, I simply log in to print the needed pages and we are on our way to another great learning adventure. These pages have saved me so much time over the years and I am truly grateful for all of your efforts. I always recommend these pages to friends and family!

Dorcus

Thank you for saving me time and helping my kids learn in fun ways.

After many times of wanting to take the plunge, today I did just that. I bought the lifetime membership, and I’m so glad I did. I’m truly blown away by the pages and topics offered. It has got me revved up again and ready to dig in with my kids. I’ve already printed off pages and the kids have ran, dug out books and began researching so they can do their fun pages. Thank you for saving me time and helping my kids learn in fun ways. I believe learning that’s enjoyed is learning that stays. Keep up the good work and may God bless you for all your hard work. My kids ages are 15, 13, 9, and 8. They are all as excited as I am. The best part is I can print off the pages we need and take them with us everywhere we go.

Dalena

They are so proud of what they’ve produced and take pride in their work.

We first began using these materials last year, as we notebooked our way through the Old Testament. My children absolutely LOVE their notebooks. They are so proud of what they’ve produced and take pride in their work. I have 6 kids and we are homeschooling all of them. Many curriculum’s have add-on worksheet sets to purchase – but none are as high quality as those on your site. For a lifetime membership I will have materials ready to go FOR.THE.REST.OF.OUR.HOMESCHOOLING.YEARS!!!! X 6 KIDS!!!!

I love the materials. I love that we will have lasting evidence of what they’ve learned. I already love the idea that someday I will be able to show my GRANDCHILDREN what their parents accomplished in school.

Caryn Block

I was so thrilled to find a way to make sure they were retaining information, practicing their writing skills, improving their handwriting, all while having a good time.

I have 4 kids 8,8,4 & 3. When we started homeschooling 2 years ago I was so overwhelmed, trying to figure out how to make sure they retained what we learned. I was so thrilled to find a way to make sure they were retaining information, practicing their writing skills, improving their handwriting, all while having a good time. This was the answer! As I started notebooking I learning that even beyond being great for my 8 year olds, the little ones (4 &3) enjoying coloring, drawing and beginning their writing skills on the notebook pages as well! Now it’s a full family activity, and I am able to give each child a page that is at their level in the same subject! A total homeschool homerun!

Jen S.

These pages make our school day fun exciting and different every day!!!

I am a new homeschooling mom and I wanted to make our homeschool different than anything my kids had ever seen. In school they had busy work and nonsense questions that didn’t challenge them at all. Now, after a year of creating wonderful, engaging notebooks on many subjects, they now create their own pages and ask me to notebook everything from a recent family vacation (complete with pictures and drawings) to a great recipe we created (they are writing their own cookbook). These pages make our school day fun exciting and different every day!!! Thank you Debra!!!

Lisa

Notebooking has become an integral part of our schooling this year; we use them with our Sonlight history (to capture narration and related artwork), for our copywork/handwriting, and for science.

We first came across notebooking via an online homeschool newsletter that led us to YOU! We used a variety of your free pages to try out this new idea. In past years, we have primarily used oral narration to reinforce learning, but I wanted to capture some of that on paper this year, for record keeping. Enter your site. I took you up on your offer of the lifetime membership. When I opened up the file, I couldn’t believe how many great options there were, always something available to tie in with what we are learning, and new great pages coming along throughout the year. Notebooking has become an integral part of our schooling this year; we use them with our Sonlight history (to capture narration and related artwork), for our copywork/handwriting, and for science. The kids are always excited to see what page is coming next, and we look forward to binding the pages at the end of the year into books! My kids have normally been rather averse to having to WRITE, much preferring the oral narration, but the wonderful pages, and the knowledge they are creating a book, make it more fun for them. And I feel more confident in my homeschooling than ever, because I have wonderful records of all we have accomplished- wonderful peace of mind! I have never been to any other notebooking-pages site, because I have always found everything and exactly what I needed HERE! Thanks for such a fabulous resource!

Spring G.

…they can’t wait until the end of the day to share with daddy what they have been learning!

I initially signed up for the freebies to “test the waters” of notebooking. Wow! It has transformed our days!! My kiddos are excited to write (what?!) and seem to really be retaining what they are learning. They are so enthusiastic about their work and to top it off they can’t wait until the end of the day to share with daddy what they have been learning! I’m sold! We are now Lifetime Members! Thank You Debra!!

Amber