It's simple. It's effective. It's even enjoyable.
The Backstory
Over twenty years ago, I was a public school teacher turned new homeschool mom, eager to give my kids an enjoyable, individualized education.
The Problem
After six years of experimenting with different methods, schedules, and curricula—with seven kids in tow—I was exhausted.
We checked all the right boxes, moved kids from one grade to the next, and even impressed the skeptics with memorized timelines and Latin declensions.
But whole days were lost to a flurry of curricula, worksheets, comprehension questions, and tests—powered by the famous “study and forget” method of learning.
No one was excited. No one was inspired. It was busywork that bred boredom and led straight to burnout.
Debra Reed
Mom of 10
Homeschooling since 2000
Founder and publisher of NotebookingPages.com
The Solution
Desperate to fix our homeschool, I started searching. That’s when a veteran homeschool mom introduced me to a method that felt too simple, too flexible—almost too good to be true. But it turned out to be the perfect solution—notebooking.
The Transformation
Notebooking changed everything. I could combine multiple kids for subjects like Bible, History, and Science—using engaging books—while each child responded at their own level.
Notebooking wove language arts into the rest of our learning, giving my kids meaningful ways to read, write, and think as they worked. And because we weren’t drowning in separate subjects and busywork, we finally had time to follow the things that sparked their curiosity.
Notebooking gave us a “read to learn, write to learn” rhythm that stuck—and finally made homeschooling more engaging, effective, and even enjoyable.
The Mission
I created NotebookingPages.com to share what I was learning and building as notebooking became the #1 tool in our large-family homeschool.
What started as a handful of resources grew into our lifetime membership. It’s your ready-to-go notebooking toolkit. Inside, you’ll find our step-by-step guide, thousands of notebooking pages, and two notebooking apps.
My mission is to help you kick the busywork, boredom, and burnout out of your homeschool and replace it with meaningful, memorable, life-giving learning.
Notebooking captures the knowledge he's gained and puts it into his words, with his imagery, and with his personality.
Instead of filling in blanks or answering comprehension questions to prove what he knows, he gets to show and tell what he’s learned—using his own words, images, and insights.
Notebooking strengthens key learning skills:
Notebooking develops priceless skills your child will use for life.
Notebooking can be a lifeline for kids who hate writing.
Start with something they love. One of my sons was obsessed with dinosaurs. A daughter couldn’t get enough of frogs. Older kids? Try a favorite book series, hobby, or a slice of history that grabs their attention.
Let them dive into books, then tell you what they learned. You’ll be surprised how much they’re willing to say when the topic lights them up.
Ask a few simple questions:
Then have them write (and/or draw) and start small—whatever feels easy to them. Over time, one sentence turns into two. Two sentences grows to a paragraph. One day at a time, one page at a time—they build their first notebook.
And with it—CONFIDENCE.
Notebooking develops confident writers—naturally, and at their own pace.
Notebooking is AWESOME for high school students!
Now, I know the pressure that comes with high school—transcripts, box-checking, making sure everything “counts”. You may not have a lot of choice in every curriculum decision. Maybe you’re stuck with a less-than-inspiring textbook or course.
We’ve been there too.
But here’s what I have figured out…
When we use traditional textbooks, my teens do just fine with the chapter reviews and tests. But a week or two later—even after acing a test—they often don’t remember much of what they “learned”.
Sound familiar?
That’s why we continue to notebook through high school… especially through high school.
So when we do use textbooks, we skip the end-of-chapter worksheets and any busywork. They notebook the chapters instead. We still take the tests for the transcript, but we don’t trade real learning for a grade. And by the end of the course, they have something meaningful to show for it: a personal reference notebook filled with their own thoughts, insights, and work.
Notebooking in high school isn’t limited to narrations and summaries. In the middle years and especially in high school, they can explore other writing structures, styles, and genres.
It’s not all formal, either. Their notebooks should be filled with notes, sketches, mind maps, rough drafts, and bits of research. It’s a portfolio of real learning—their learning.
Yes, we check the boxes when we need to. We use the curriculum when we have to. But we don’t sacrifice meaningful learning in the process, and that’s what my kids carry with them.
Notebooking teaches them to be lifelong learners. The diploma is secondary.
Notebooking captures the knowledge he's gained and puts it into his words, with his imagery, and with his personality.
Instead of filling in blanks or answering comprehension questions to prove what he knows, he gets to show and tell what he’s learned—using his own words, images, and insights.
Notebooking strengthens key learning skills:
Notebooking develops priceless skills your child will use for life.
Notebooking can be a lifeline for kids who hate writing.
Start with something they love. One of my sons was obsessed with dinosaurs. A daughter couldn’t get enough of frogs. Older kids? Try a favorite book series, hobby, or a slice of history that grabs their attention.
Let them dive into books, then tell you what they learned. You’ll be surprised how much they’re willing to say when the topic lights them up.
Ask a few simple questions:
Then have them write (and/or draw) and start small—whatever feels easy to them. Over time, one sentence turns into two. Two sentences grows to a paragraph. One day at a time, one page at a time—they build their first notebook.
And with it—CONFIDENCE.
Notebooking develops confident writers—naturally, and at their own pace.
Notebooking is AWESOME for high school students!
Now, I know the pressure that comes with high school—transcripts, box-checking, making sure everything “counts”. You may not have a lot of choice in every curriculum decision. Maybe you’re stuck with a less-than-inspiring textbook or course.
We’ve been there too.
But here’s what I have figured out…
When we use traditional textbooks, my teens do just fine with the chapter reviews and tests. But a week or two later—even after acing a test—they often don’t remember much of what they “learned”.
Sound familiar?
That’s why we continue to notebook through high school… especially through high school.
So when we do use textbooks, we skip the end-of-chapter worksheets and any busywork. They notebook the chapters instead. We still take the tests for the transcript, but we don’t trade real learning for a grade. And by the end of the course, they have something meaningful to show for it: a personal reference notebook filled with their own thoughts, insights, and work.
Notebooking in high school isn’t limited to narrations and summaries. In the middle years and especially in high school, they can explore other writing structures, styles, and genres.
It’s not all formal, either. Their notebooks should be filled with notes, sketches, mind maps, rough drafts, and bits of research. It’s a portfolio of real learning—their learning.
Yes, we check the boxes when we need to. We use the curriculum when we have to. But we don’t sacrifice meaningful learning in the process, and that’s what my kids carry with them.
Notebooking teaches them to be lifelong learners. The diploma is secondary.
Introducing the . . .
The Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Membership is your ready-to-go notebooking toolkit with 1000s of notebooking pages covering 100s of specific topics and 100s of all-purpose designs. Use the powerful search and filtering tools to find the perfect pages in seconds.
Inside the member library, you'll find our Homeschool with Notebooking Quick Start Guide and tutorials. They provide the step-by-step practical advice you need to ditch the busywork and make learning meaningful again—one notebook at a time.
You get lifetime access to all current notebooking pages, planning tools, and guides—plus all future updates. NO RENEWAL FEES EVER.
Includes our Productive Planner, the classic Mom’s Household Planner, and all future updates! These printable planners offer lots of editable sections, clean designs, and just enough color to make planning simple and productive.
You'll unlock over $270 in bonus homeschool gifts from our incredible sponsors—that's more than the cost of your membership! SWEET!
Create ready-to-go themed notebooking pages in less than a minute with a simple form—just type, click, and print.
Design custom notebooking pages, generate lined copywork, and type narrations directly to the page—perfect for moms who scribe for their younger students or older kids who prefer to type their narrations and use design tools.
Inviting, open-ended, and flexible. No more staring down a blank page.
Our All-Purpose notebooking pages are your go-to notebooking pages for ANY topic your child wants to study.
These sets include over 100 page layouts, 150 border styles, and varying line options to accommodate all students.
Titles include:
Titles include:
Study more than 50 of the most popular stories of the Old and New Testament with our Bible notebooking pages.
Use our Character Study pages to record personal reflections and information about habits, attitude, and character traits.
Titles include
Titles include:
Start your youngest off with Alphabet Copywork Pages. For older kids, we have a variety of themed copywork sets organized by stanzas. These are great for poems, Bible passages, favorite quotes, and more.
Copywork titles include:
Titles include:
Study the famous men and women of our past and present world… from artists and composers to statesmen, world explorers, scientists, and more!
Titles include:
We have 50 individual USA state study sets (plus Washington, D.C.), 13 individual Canadian province study sets, and almost 200 individual country study notebooking sets. In addition to the state, province, and country maps included in these sets, we also have black-line continental maps and a variety of world maps.
Titles include:
Titles include:
Our history notebooking pages sets have LOTS and LOTS of topics plus a variety of blank history notebooking pages for each time period, cover pages, and timeline options in our timeline / book of centuries notebooking set.
Titles include:
Titles include (so far):
Titles included (so far):
Titles include:
Titles include:
Create notebooks on a variety of science topics! Explore our growing collection of earth and physical science topics like astronomy, electricity, magnetism, and the periodic table of elements. Create notebooks on the studies of human anatomy, plants, flowers & weeds, trees, amphibians, birds, dinosaurs, fish, mammals, marine invertebrates, reptiles, and topics like mitosis with our life science notebooking pages. Get out into nature and create your own nature notebooking journal with our Nature Study Journal notebooking pages. Our blank science notebooking pages and science lab/experiment pages are perfect for ANY topic of science study or experimentation.
Titles include (so far):
Titles include (so far):
All Lifetime Members receive all current notebooking pages, planning tools, and guides—plus all future updates.
Whether you’re a new homeschooler or a 20-year veteran, our Homeschool with Notebooking Quick Start Guide provides you with 3 steps to simplify and transform your homeschool into an engaging, effective, and enjoyable experience.
Say goodbye to busywork, boredom, and overwhelm. Watch your children become enthusiastic, confident lifelong learners.
How to identify and cut busywork out of your day for good.
Use narration to effectively develop thinking and writing skills.
Give your child the freedom to show what he’s learned and tell what interests him most without mind-numbing worksheets.
All Lifetime Members receive all current notebooking pages, planning tools, and guides—plus all future updates.
Included with Plus-level Membership
The Notebooking Page Generator was created to quickly add a title and image to our available templates. The huge benefit here is you can quickly create a set of notebooking pages for any topic … choose a template, add a title, add an image, and in less than a minute you have a whole set of customized notebooking pages.
Included with Plus-level Membership
The Notebooking Publisher is a versatile design and publishing tool for teachers and students. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to add text, images, and clip art to your projects.
Lifetime PLUS Members receive all current and future notebooking pages, planning tools, guides, and updates PLUS our 2 notebooking apps and their future updates.
The Productive Planner is a full-size (8.5″ x 11″) editable and printable planner. It has a minimal design with lots of white space and small touches of color.
Mom’s Household Planner is a large collection of planner printables from one of Debra’s previous sites.
Below is a sample of pages from the Homeschool Planning section.
Our amazing homeschool sponsors have gifted the following products (over $270 value) to our lifetime members! All gifts are downloadable or virtually-delivered products. They are made immediately available via your lifetime membership dashboard.
...my non-writer is doing written narration for the first time without complaining!
The pages have really inspired my kids to do well and be proud of their work. Even my non-writer is doing written narration for the first time without complaining! I’ve also found the maps to be a great resource, the timeline . . . It has all saved me so much time!
...it has saved me from struggling with worksheets, various curriculum and overworked kidlets.
I started homeschooling this year and last week I purchased a lifetime membership of your Notebooking Pages because they ARE AMAZING! My children love them and so do I. I love how it cuts out the, as you called it, busy work. Being new to homeschooling, I am so glad I found your Notebooking Pages before starting...it has saved me from struggling with worksheets, various curriculum and overworked kidlets. My kids actually ask for their work to be Notebooking Pages because they enjoy the freedom so much, and so do I. I love that they can make up their own mind on what they will write about, and then they feel really proud of what they have done. So, once again, thank you so much!
...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.
My kiddos are excited to write (what?!)...
My kiddos are excited to write (what?!) and seem to really be retaining what they are learning. They are so enthusiastic about their work and to top it off they can’t wait until the end of the day to share with daddy what they have been learning! I’m sold! We are now Lifetime Members! Thank You Debra!!
We love the ease and fun that notebooking has added to our homeschool.
We love the ease and fun that notebooking has added to our homeschool. I was unsure about how to get started but read through the getting started article that was sent to me and it made it so much easier.
...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.
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!
What a blessing it is to have all of these resources at my fingertips...
I have loved having access to all of your notebooking pages as a Lifetime Member. Paying for access to that was really a no-brainer for me. What a blessing it is to have all of these resources at my fingertips to print whenever I need….versus spending hours attempting to either create what I need or search for it on the internet. Your hard work has paid off to serve at least one family (although I know there are many more than just us!). THANK YOU doesn’t seem like an adequate way to express our gratitude!
I am LOVING the page generator!!!!!!!
Hi! I just had to tell you how much I am LOVING the page generator!!!!!!! I do not know why I didn’t do this sooner?! I made an entire custom notebook page set for my son’s Story of the World to go with each chapter. I love it, thank you!!!!!!!!!!! …it really has been a life saver. Instead of searching for the right notebook page I can create my own! It is so easy and it literally only took minutes.
It has been a life saver!
I am so glad to have found your site, especially Publisher. My son has great difficulties with writing. It was a constant battle every day. Now, he can type responses directly on the notebook page I created with the Publisher. Also, he has begun creating his own pages using pictures and text related to given assignment. I personally enjoy the freedom of creating pages from scratch or from pre-designed templates. The Publisher App is simple and easy to use. It has been a life saver!
...adds a whole new element to their learning.
We have been notebooking since we began homeschooling over 8 years ago – so the membership seemed like a natural fit for us. The membership is a ‘treasure’! Easy access to such a variety of pages has taken the work out of this part of our journey. In addition, Publisher allows my children to develop their own pages, which adds a whole new element to their learning.
His papers are much more articulate than what he is able to produce manually.
I’m so thankful I found your notebooking site. I’m homeschooling my 11 year-old grandson, who has ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. We’ve begun using the web-app for writing, helping him more clearly get his thoughts on paper without too much frustration. Before this, I’ve scribed for him when necessary. We’ve just finished a book report, and a state study on Rhode Island utilizing your tools. His papers are much more articulate than what he is able to produce manually. I’ve no doubt that he will continue to progress as we become more accustomed to the process. Again, thank you for sharing all these resources. They truly are an answer to prayer.
My daughter especially loves the Publisher.
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....have learned more than they ever would have if we had only followed the "traditional" textbook approach.
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!
These pages have saved me so much time over the years
I’m a homeschooling mom of 4 children who are various ages. One child has moderate/severe ADHD. We’ve tried various ways of learning and found that notebooking and lapbooking was the most successful and the best received. We’ve been using these wonderful notebooking pages for years! Each time we begin a new unit, I simply log in to print the needed pages and we are on our way to another great learning adventure. These pages have saved me so much time over the years and I am truly grateful for all of your efforts. I always recommend these pages to friends and family!
Pay in full or choose an easy installment plan.
* Add our apps at anytime for $63/year.
More than $1000 in products alone — plus bonuses, apps, and LIFETIME access!
Together, these two apps make it easy to customize, create, and type directly onto your notebooking pages—without starting from scratch every time. Design new pages, tweak existing ones, or have kids type their narrations and copywork right onto the templates—simple and fast!
🔥 No app subscriptions or renewals—lifetime access. Saves you $63 every year!
Your notebooking library is waiting . . .
Instant access. Lifetime benefits.
You will add narration and notebooking after you’ve removed busywork from your homeschool. So using these tools doesn’t add extra time to your day. In fact, you’ll probably save time! Remove what’s not working and replace it with narrations and notebooking. Our Quick Start Guide leads you step-by-step through this process.
Notebooking takes less time and makes a longer-lasting impression than your current busywork!
Yes, narration and notebooking works well for all ages, even your teens. I begin oral narration around age 6 and this practice continues through high school. The child’s first notebooking pages are typically copywork and illustrated pages with their narrations copied down for them by a parent or older sibling. As their ability to physically write and spell develop, they will take more and more responsibility for writing down their own narrations. Narrations and notebooking are great tools for all ages (even adults!).
In my experience, yes. I have 10 children with a myriad of biological backgrounds, traits, learning strengths and weaknesses. Narrations and notebooking work very well for a WIDE variety of children.
You may print any and all pages as often as you like for your family or classroom. You may only use it with children you are personally teaching. So, if it’s a classroom/co-op situation, you can use it with the children in your class. You cannot share your access with parents or other teachers.
After checkout, you will receive immediate access to the membership areas of the site. These areas include the member’s Dashboard, Library (tutorials, Quick Start Guide, etc.), and Printables (notebooking pages, planner pages, etc.). Lifetime PLUS Members will receive immediate access to our notebooking apps as well.
The best place to start is with the step-by-step How to Homeschool with Notebooking Quick Start Guide in the Member Library. I recommend the notebooking sets in our All-Purpose section for beginners.
We provide a try-before-you-buy Free Resource Hub. The Free Resource Hub provides printable samples of our most popular notebooking sets as well as our step-by-step tutorials. Due to the digital nature of our membership, we do not offer refunds for memberships.
Lifetime Members receive LIFETIME access to ALL of our downloadable notebooking pages, planner pages, other printables, and ALL future updates. Lifetime PLUS Members also receive lifetime access and updates to our notebooking apps.
You constantly feel like you're falling behind.
Box-checking has replaced true learning.
Lessons aren't engaging, or enjoyable.
Tears roll at the sight of pencil and paper.
Guilt looms over the piles of unfinished books
You're exhausted before the day even begins.
There's little free time, cuddle time, or rest time.
You and/or the kids are bored and burned out
There's never enough of YOU to go around.
Homeschool isn't what you hoped it would be.
If the above statements resonate with you and nothing changes, there may be long-term consequences. Most significantly, your children may come to associate learning with pain, fear, or shame. No one wants this for their children… especially homeschoolers!
Your first thought might be to swap out curriculum. I have lots of experience with this one. More times than not, the bright and shiny, done-for-me, do-all-the-things curriculum ended up on a shelf in my closet. I ended up with more guilt. And my kids wondered if this crazy cycle would ever stop.
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
--Henry Ford
With 20+ years of homeschooling under my belt, the most-trusted, best-performing curriculum in our homeschool has been:
ENGAGING BOOKS + NARRATION + NOTEBOOKING.
This simple, but oh-so-effective, “curriculum” has the all the benefits you need:
The giant library of notebooking pages, the step-by-step quick start guide, and the notebooking apps were created with moms like YOU in mind. Is it time to make a lasting change in your homeschool?
Pay in full or choose an easy installment plan.
* Add our apps at anytime for $63/year.
More than $1000 in products alone — plus bonuses, apps, and LIFETIME access!
Together, these two apps make it easy to customize, create, and type directly onto your notebooking pages—without starting from scratch every time. Design new pages, tweak existing ones, or have kids type their narrations and copywork right onto the templates—simple and fast!
🔥 No app subscriptions or renewals—lifetime access. Saves you $63 every year!
Your notebooking library is waiting . . .
Instant access. Lifetime benefits.