Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
If you have researched homeschool education, you may have come across lap-paks, also called lapbooking. Home School in the Woods offers incredible lap-paks. We have tried out their Knights K-2 lap-pak in exchange for our honest opinion.
So what is a Lap book?
I was really excited to get to do this review because we have never done a lap book before. It’s been on my to-do list for over a year now, and I wanted to wait until my boys were old enough. Amy’s blog has an excellent article telling you all about what is lapbooking right here.
A lapbook is a project that is completed over time with something specific you are studying. It is comprised of a fold-out folder and cardstock with different projects, pictures, and text highlighting some of the main points learned.
I was drawn to this because of the age. We are currently still completing our Knights K-2 lap-pak from Home School in the Woods. It is all about knights and medieval history. Since we read a lot in our home I have coordinated some great books that cover knighthood, castles, and the medieval period of history.
Some books we’re reading with our Knights lap-pak:
- Usbourne book of Castles
- A Medieval Feast
- A Minstrel in the Tower
- A Whipping Boy
- A Door in the Wall
- Knights and Armour, Worldwise book
- Sir Cumference and the Great Round Table
- Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess
- Saint George and the Dragon
You can find all sorts of templates for lapbooking online. It’s great because it is a project that can be kept long term on the shelf for your child(ren) to look back on. This helps the information to stick with what they have learned.
Review
Like I said earlier I was really excited to try out this digital lap-pak. It’s been on my to-do list the last year. My boys are K and 2, ages 6 and 8. They are excited for it to be all put together. I told them it’s like their very own pop-up book that they helped make.
Upon receiving the project, it was very simple to download. It is in a zip file. I’d love it in a pdf so I could print in from my phone, but it was simple to get on the computer and go from there.
I want to note, I AM NOT THE CRAFTY MOM. I was able to follow the instructions and print everything out. It is ALOT of pages to print, but the instructions are clear. It would be nice if it was in one simple print it all out in one click. However, I understand why it can’t be. There are different color papers you need to use for different pages.
I wish I would’ve not cared about saving paper, and printed the instructions off, because then when you go through you have to print certain pages on colored paper and others on white. It would’ve sped up the printing process for sure instead of going back and forth.
I did mess up with the direction of the ones that needed to be printed front and back.
When it comes to assembling, everything is clear, but it is handy if you’re craft minded. I was having flashbacks to my own elementary experience and how crafting is more of a challenge for me.
It did feel accomplishing to finally figure things out that were difficult at first. I think it ‘s important in homeschooling to try things out of your scope for the children’s sake. We are all different including our children. My oldest son is more crafty than I am and he took it naturally.
There is a great story to print off or read digitally, while you go through different mini-projects before the big assembly at the end. They also have an audio file with it, if you prefer!
Lapbooking reminds me of a crafty puzzle.
Everything needs to be colored, cut and glued in specific ways to get it to work together.
I am excited about the end completed project. I must note that at this age, it’s more of a mom thing and needs to be supervised. But this would be an excellent thing if you had a crafty adolescent. They could lead the younger kids in what to do and make some great lap-books on their own.
Is lap-booking for you
- You like crafting
- You like having a final project at the end of a study
- Your kids are visual learners
- You want to have a project to do with your children
In all honesty, I don’t know if I will attempt lap-booking again. As I said, I am not crafty. At least, not cut/color/paste kind of crafty. I’m artistic and creative, as are my boys, but craftiness and art are two totally different things. In order for crafts to turn out, there are specific ways of doing them.
Lap-booking with templates is very specific. You can see below all the mini-projects we have done and still are not to the point of assembly. So far, we’re about 3 full hours in just cutting and pasting.
This could go faster if you pre-cut everything and colored everything for your kids, and just let them help in the assembly of lap-book.
For me personally, and the uncrafty type, I would LOVE to see a lap-book that I could buy that’s already colored, precut, printed, and just needs assembling. Maybe a lapbook subscription box essentially. Throwing that idea out there for the crafty moms.
Be sure to check out the Home School in the Woods Blog as well. There are FANTASTIC articles on so many different topics from homeschooling to actual historical facts for help in your homeschool journey.
They have TONS of educational lap-paks available, like their U.S. Elections lap-pak and other educational resources. Check out the other crew reviews to see if it’s something your family would benefit from.
