Have you ever thought about making a lapbook based completely on your child’s interests? I must give my eldest daughter credit for this idea. She is homeschooling her oldest son, who is 5 yrs old. On Friday, she asked me what I would think of the idea. Her son loves anything to do with Fire Trucks. His Daddy is a volunteer fireman here in our area. So, they are going to take a lot of picture of the various trucks, his Daddy in uniform, and maybe even grandson wearing Daddy’s uniform jacket & hat. They are going to incorporate that into a lapbook about firemen & fire trucks.
This gave me the idea to do the same with Little Miss. Her Daddy is a truck driver and she is very animated about that. When she sees a truck on the interstate, she will tell you the type of trailer it is pulling and what type of things that trailer can haul. So, we are collecting pictures of the different types of trucks and trailers to make a scrapbook.
These are hands-on projects stemming from the idea of “career day” that is often celebrated in schools. The idea has merit in that it makes the kids very aware of the job their parents have. Whether it be a career outside the home or a stay-at-home parent, it is the same. The children are able to gain an appreciation for what Dad & Mom do to benefit the family.
In our family, Daddy drives a truck for a week or longer at a time. We can add into her scrapbook a map showing where all her Daddy has traveled for that week. He drives in a regional area of about 6 states on a regular basis. The mapping skills will be fun for her. We already have a large wall map of the country so that we can mark it with a push pin to show where Daddy is each night. He has a camera on his cell phone, so it would be easy to get pictures of his day.
A variation on this theme is to put together a lapbook based on your child’s interests. Do they have a hobby that they like? What about a favorite sport? If your child loves books, what is their favorite one? Do they have a favorite author? The ideas for topics is unlimited.
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