FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

The Old Schoolhouse® Product & Curriculum Reviews

With so many products available we often need a little help in making our curriculum choices. The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine family understands because we are in the same boat! Do you need more information on a product before you buy? With over 5,500 products listed in 52 easy-to-use categories, much of the information you need to know is only a click away! Let our reviewer-families help yours.
Do you want to get the word out about your product or service to the homeschool community? Email Jenny Higgins and share a little about what you´d like showcased, and we can help with that!

The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook Review by Kate Kessler

Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling
Meggie Dee Press
P.O. Box 725
Culpeper, VA 22701
http://www.tobinslab.com/

Before setting my eyes on this soft-cover book I really didn't understand what all the hoopla regarding lap books was all about. I mean at most homeschooling meetings I went to they were talking about it. Sure, you can make a book shaped like a ladybug, so what? Isn't that all there is? I could not have been more wrong!

The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook is way more than just a Lap Book "how to." It starts at the beginning of the "why", progresses to the "how", and moves on to completely different types of books by the end of it! There are many different types of lap books and this book shows you how to do them all. How to construct, cut, fold, glue, layout, put it together, and even how to extend and raise them up off the paper are all included here. The limit to the creative aspect is really your imagination. If you have a child that learns well with hands-on projects, you will really be excited by lap books. If you do not have this kind of child, it will be a great experience producing something worthy of presenting.

Included in the Handbook is a great section entitled, Beyond Lap Books. This section shows you how to make really creative books on a single subject like bees, whales, snow flakes, or anything that suits your fancy. Then it moves to showing you how to make a book with sticks or tabbed pages, pizza slice shaped books, how to make hardcover books yourself, accordion style books, and even the peek-a-boo style books that little ones really enjoy. Included are black and white illustrations as well as photographs of finished books and lap books for inspiration. Book Blueprints is a section that shows you how to incorporate lap books and book making into your school life. How you can use them to help with any concept from math to Bible study. They also include a helpful Words of Wisdom section that answers some good questions like: "How do you encourage a reluctant writer?" "How do you get children to write?" "How strict should I be about penmanship and spelling?" "Where can I find the materials for book-making?" and many more like this.

The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook went well beyond my expectations. Only if you and your children really dislike hands-on projects would I consider not recommending this to you. (But I would encourage you to try it out!) Having never done a lap book I was motivated to try it myself. Now I do not feel like these are impossible for this not-very-creative mom!



-- Product Review by: Kate Kessler, Product Reviews Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2005

TOP