If You Give a Boy a Lapbook…

…he can do amazing things!

Last week Elijah decided he would like to make a Bear Lapbook.  I told him he was on his own because
1.  It wasn’t what I had planned
and
2.  I know nothing about all these different bears (that he knows so much about).

I told him he was the teacher, boss, and appointed expert.   I gave him my reference lapbook to look at to decide the types of minit books he wanted me to print.  He told me he needed some time to think. LOL! When he was done thinking, he asked me to make a list as he told me some of the things he was going to do. Honestly, he said, "Mom, I need a layer book for eight kinds of bears." I almost fell on the floor when he said, "I need a three flap with cover for brown bears, and I will put three different kinds inside like Kodiak, European Brown Bear, and Himilayan Brown Bear."

He did much by himself, but he did have my help for a few things including the following…

~I printed the templates for him as he told me what to print.   He did make the trifold on his own, though.
~I cut out the petal book, but he did the others.
~I helped a LOT with the bear map.
~I googled the names of the bears as he told me (Google images) so he could choose pictures.
~I gave him a page of information to use as he pleased.
~He explained what he wanted for the "What are Bears" minit book.  He told me, "I want people to guess — birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, or mammals." So I showed him a five flap, and he said, "yes, that’s what I want." He wrote yes/no behind each flap.
~I asked questions once in awhile to get him thinking about different things, but I really tried hard to let him be. He kept reminding me, "You said I’m the boss this week, mom." LOL
~I cut out the panda bear.
~I helped with the final lay-out.  He doesn’t enjoy that part at all.

That’s all, folks.  He did the rest.   He brainstormed, made a list, organized information, created minit books, told me if he needed anything…he DID it!   HOORAY!

I went to a conference last week where Andrew Pudewa told us that, "children want to do what they think they can do." I also heard Jeannie Fullbright speak, and she gently reminded us that we need to be moving toward independence. So, with both of those ideas in mind, I decided to let him try his own thing. He told me his next lapbook will be Big Cats (one file folder) and Little Cats (another file folder). Oh, and after that… Birds of Prey. 😉 So, I’m trying hard to put some of my plans to the side (so, you know, he can *really* learn).