About Me…

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 NotebookingPages.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

Mom of 10,
homeschooling for over 20 years
…and still counting!

DO YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR HOMESCHOOL?

Click below for our free resources and step-by-step Quick Start Guide!

Yes, send me help!

Our Story

Doom & Gloom of Homeschooling

Part 1 // Homeschooling wasn’t working out like I thought it would (or should). Each day was a struggle. It felt more like a to-do list instead of a blessing or privilege.
Our Story

3 Homeschooling MythS

Part 2 // The 3 homeschool traps that kept me from finding the freedom and confidence I desired for our homeschooling. These traps are our own doing and can keep us stuck for years!
Our Story

Victory over Busywork

Part 3 // I was no longer trapped by a method, a curriculum, or an ideal schedule. It was at this turning point that I took the advice of another homeschool mom.
Our Story

HOMESCHOOLING TIPS & FAQs

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 ...
READ MORE

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 ...
READ MORE

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! ...
READ MORE

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?" ...
READ MORE

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 ...
READ MORE

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 ...
READ MORE

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 ...
READ MORE

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 ...
READ MORE

Testimonials

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

It has allowed me to have another area of rest!

Thank you for your program. It has allowed me to have another area of rest! My kiddos are self directed in their written narration but are still so very proud to show me their work!

Jessica Watkins in New York

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

“Mom, are we going back to notebooking?! …great because I remember so much more when we do that”

We have used notebooking in our homeschool for years but this past year my husband took a new job requiring us to move out of state. Moving can require a lot of a mom of five. I decided to trim down our workload and go as simple as possible. One of the things to go was notebooking. Now several months later we are moved in and trying to get back on track. My oldest daughter in her teens saw me looking at my account. She asked “Mom, are we going back to notebooking?!” I said I am planning to. She replied “great because I remember so much more when we do that” She proceeded to tell me about previous studies we had done and how fresh they still are in her mind because we used notebooking. I hope this is an encouragement to moms out there that are either considering notebooking or need to return it to their routine.

Tonya H.

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.

…it is not until he sees their completed notebooks that he understands how hard they work, how much they learn and how much fun they have.

I would like to thank you for your hard work and sharing it with us to save us time. My husband is a very visual person and loves to see the girls (7 and 5) work. However, it is not until he sees their completed notebooks that he understands how hard they work, how much they learn and how much fun they have. Again, thank you for sharing your “treasures” with us.

Stephanie Ibsen in GA

…my children LOVE looking through their notebooks frequently and I LOVE to see concrete evidence that they are learning.

I cannot even begin to say how much your site has changed my life! Sound melodramatic? Perhaps, if anything, it is an understatement! After homeschooling our 2 older children through middle and high school and then starting from the beginning with the three younger ones (9, 6, 3) I was feeling overwhelmed and stagnant. I saw my children getting bored and frankly, so was I. How was I going to keep this up? I began praying for God to inspire me with a way to teach my children that would bring fun back into learning and would, at the same time, give me confidence that they were learning what they needed to. It was within a week that I stumbled upon (through God’s grace and love for his struggling children like me) Debra’s website. Of course, I did my own homework and looked into several other sites offering similar services, but NONE of them offered what Debra does; and to be honest, I don’t know HOW she manages to do it! If I tried to make my own templates I’d be so frustrated! (and I have tried in the past) This site allows me to have access to everything I need for school and print it off quickly without feeling like I wasted my time at my computer…time that could be spent delving into books with my children and having fun. I LOVE the new publisher feature that will allow my children freedom to create their own unique pages as they get older. I have to be honest, when we first started notebooking it was intimidating and scary for me…I wanted to DO it RIGHT…but that’s the magic in this kind of learning: there is no RIGHT way! I just think of it now like a journal of all the things we like to talk about. Pictures, drawing, writing, etc…my children LOVE looking through their notebooks frequently and I LOVE to see concrete evidence that they are learning. THANK YOU, THANK YOU Debra Reed for all your hard work (so we don’t have to!) and your excellent product!

Rene Gilbertson

…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.

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

My son who I couldn’t get to write three consecutive sentences, suddenly wanted to write everything he’d learned..

Last year I hit the wall in my homeschool journey. My children were frustrated and so was I. We were not having the educational experience any of us wanted. I shelved everything for a month and went back to the drawing board. I am incredibly grateful to have found your site while slogging through the difficult ordeal of revamping our homeschool. I looked through the entire site. I watched the intro video. (I suggest everyone else do the same!) I signed up for the Freebies account, because while it all looked very promising, I didn’t want to spend the money until I’d tried this “notebooking thing.” Boy was I glad I did! I started a study of Chopin and Elephants with my children. They loved it! They loved the “neat pages” to write and draw on. My son who I couldn’t get to write three consecutive sentences, suddenly wanted to write everything he’d learned about elephants. They love using the notebooks I learned to make from the terrific “how to” articles that Debra has written. Suddenly, learning was enjoyable again. I have only one regret when it comes to notebooking, I wish I had known about your site sooner. I didn’t try notebooking earlier because it always sounded confusing and difficult. Debra and her wonderful site eliminated that concern. I’m thrilled to have access to pages on every subject I could possibly imagine. Thank you for this wonderful site. It is more than worth the price of subscription!

Rache’l C.