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

Homeschooling mom of 10…
for over 20 years and still counting!

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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 ...
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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 ...
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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! ...
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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?" ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Testimonials

They are so proud of what they’ve produced and take pride in their work.

We first began using these materials last year, as we notebooked our way through the Old Testament. My children absolutely LOVE their notebooks. They are so proud of what they’ve produced and take pride in their work. I have 6 kids and we are homeschooling all of them. Many curriculum’s have add-on worksheet sets to purchase – but none are as high quality as those on your site. For a lifetime membership I will have materials ready to go FOR.THE.REST.OF.OUR.HOMESCHOOLING.YEARS!!!! X 6 KIDS!!!!

I love the materials. I love that we will have lasting evidence of what they’ve learned. I already love the idea that someday I will be able to show my GRANDCHILDREN what their parents accomplished in school.

Caryn Block

…it has completely changed our school for the better.

We are loving notebooking! Let me just say it has completely changed our school for the better. Now the girls are really excited to “do school”. I was about to give up even though I knew it was what God wanted us to do. School was just drudgery. This has breathed new life into our home and days. How could something so simple provide such relief? If you can’t enjoy what you are doing, then, what is the point? We are so happy to be notebooking.

Amanda R in MS

Busywork was destroying our homeschool.

Notebooking has been a true Godsend for our family. Busywork was destroying our homeschool. My daughter is so excited. She woke up and did all her chores and completed her notebooking all by herself. She was hovering around the family table as we were preparing the notebooks asking,”When do we get to start this?” She could hardly wait. They have eleven notebooks a piece so far. They are all nearly crammed full. Listen to this please, when we went to Wal-Mart last for supplies, she got herself a new notebook and things to go in it and came right home and made herself a new notebook, not candy, not Barbie, but a beautiful notebook that she designed on her own. Thank you, thank you, thank you…

Stephanie M. in Oklahoma

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.

Notebooking has become an integral part of our schooling this year; we use them with our Sonlight history (to capture narration and related artwork), for our copywork/handwriting, and for science.

We first came across notebooking via an online homeschool newsletter that led us to YOU! We used a variety of your free pages to try out this new idea. In past years, we have primarily used oral narration to reinforce learning, but I wanted to capture some of that on paper this year, for record keeping. Enter your site. I took you up on your offer of the lifetime membership. When I opened up the file, I couldn’t believe how many great options there were, always something available to tie in with what we are learning, and new great pages coming along throughout the year. Notebooking has become an integral part of our schooling this year; we use them with our Sonlight history (to capture narration and related artwork), for our copywork/handwriting, and for science. The kids are always excited to see what page is coming next, and we look forward to binding the pages at the end of the year into books! My kids have normally been rather averse to having to WRITE, much preferring the oral narration, but the wonderful pages, and the knowledge they are creating a book, make it more fun for them. And I feel more confident in my homeschooling than ever, because I have wonderful records of all we have accomplished- wonderful peace of mind! I have never been to any other notebooking-pages site, because I have always found everything and exactly what I needed HERE! Thanks for such a fabulous resource!

Spring G.

…it can be used for so many different subjects and presentation formats.

I am a former public school teacher of 13 years. When I began homeschooling my children 2 years ago, I desperately wanted to find something that could help me create the kind of notebooks and folder books that I used with my public school children. I didn’t have to look far. When I found your site, I knew that it would be a perfect fit for our family! My children and I have absolutely loved using all aspects of the program. Their notebooks and folder books are filled with interesting and detailed information that they are proud to show to others and want to keep for future reference. I highly recommend it for all homeschoolers because it can be used for so many different subjects and presentation formats. I am very excited about being able to save information in the new teacher and student accounts! This takes Notebooking Pages to a whole new level!!

Brandi

It allows for their creativity to flow … Notebooking has been such a success for our homeschool!

I recently bought a membership and the way I homeschool has changed for the BEST! I am a four year homeschool mom who struggled trying to find a way to make learning come alive for my children (ages 4, 14, 17, 18). They are enjoying putting together notebooks. It allows for their creativity to flow and they can write down what they find interesting about a subject instead of someone forcing an interest on them. They also get to draw if they want or find pictures to place in the notebook. A lot of kids love to doodle! The membership saves me time by providing such nice pages. Notebooking has been such a success for our homeschool!

Susan in Ohio

She is retaining more information than ever, and is even working above grade level.

This is our go to site for all our notebooking needs. My daughter especially loves the Publisher. This site motivates her to want to create and learn. She is retaining more information than ever, and is even working above grade level. We discovered Notebooking within months of beginning our homeschool journey, I couldn’t imagine educating any other way. My daughter wouldn’t want to learn in any other way.

Though my daughter has always been a good student, she wasn’t an independent thinker when it came to learning, unlike her older siblings. She just read what she was told, answered questions at the end of a chapter, and took a test. Then we began homeschooling in 6th grade, now approaching the end of 7th grade, my daughter actually makes out her own schedule of what she wants to read and Notebook on, she has taken initiative in her own education. She now has an interest in History, Classical Music, Art, Literature, and chooses topics most kids wouldn’t.

Like you, I had preconceived notions of the “perfect” homeschool education. I spent a great deal of money our first year on material she never even used. Then when I discovered notebooking, we invested in paper, art supplies, a comb binder, laminator and a library card. She is a happier student, I am a happier mom.

I think Notebooking should be an educational law. I apologize for my lengthy reply, but I have become not only passionate about Notebooking, but a huge advocate. Your site is easy to navigate, and offers a wide variety of subjects and topics. Though we follow a Charlotte Mason style curriculum, Notebooking truly will work with any style or methods of teaching.

Kimberly Hogan

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

…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.