Rabbit Lapbook Update

Boy, I don't know about this. I can see why some AmblesideOnline people would say this is "twaddly." What a lot of work for a relatively small amount of end result! I've spent HOURS putting together these little minibooks, designing some by hand and hunting for others on Homeschoolshare.com.

For example, I was inspired by another mom's rabbit lapbbok her 2 daughters had made which included some math facts. Well, seeing as how we're talking RABBITS what could be more obvious than MULITPLICATION facts?? MeiWei is doing "pre-multiplication" with skip-counting by 2's, 5's and 10's as Math-U-See instructs. So I planned for nine little "matchbooks" that when closed displayed the fact and when opened revealed the answer. A template on HomeschoolShare showed a nifty book that would hold eight of the matchbooks inside. I could paste the ninth on the cover. Then I would cleverly entitle it "Multiplying Like Rabbits!"

So a couple of hours later, after downloading the PDF, copying to various papers, cutting, labeling and pasting the matchbooks into the cover, I place it on the lapbook. The "mini"book is too BIG for the lapbook. Wonderful! And this minibook was designed for lapbooking.

I had to cut the whole thing apart into little matchbook facts and redesign the cover (into thirds, mind you) to make it work. I don't like to gripe but I feel I've gotta go onto their Community Board and say a thing or two. Homeschool moms don't have time like this to waste.

Background to Homeschool

MeiWei went to PS for 2 years. The most she learned was how to count to three. As in the number of DOTS it would take to get a nasty-gram sent home from the teacher....As in "3 dots, you're sunk."
     Apparently the teacher's job, along with guiding 20+ little faces through readers and number lines, was also to walk around with a Magic Marker poised to strike a special "report card" on each child's desk. Of course, most kids probably never even knew of the system, they were THAT kind of kid. But MeiWei got to know it all too soon.
     This of course was supposed to be an effective Pavlovian tool to shape behaviors. The child would certainly NOT want to get dots, so she would be shamed into altering her actions. That was their plan, anyway.
    But they hadn't encountered Mei. She was non-plussed about dots. Dots, shmots. You could turn her into a dalmatian and she'd smile brightly.
    The problem was, she was much too interested in what was going on around her. Naughty girl. No looking at your classmate--even if we butt his desk next to yours. And two other kids. No dropping your pencil, breaking your crayon, needing too much help. (?) No being distracted by the open-plan classrooms that allow teachers and students from other classes to drift in and out of your line of sight all day while announcements interrrupt the already-established din.
     Naughty, naughty girl. There's something wrong with you. You just don't pay attention.