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Reasons to Skip Traditional Interactive Notebooks

The traditional interactive notebooks are a lot of work for teachers and homeschool moms. Which is why there are a lot of reasons to simply skip them altogether for more modern options. Here are some of the reasons we have decided to skip traditional interactive notebooks now.

child layng back on sofa with tablet, text overlay

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Reasons to Skip Traditional Interactive Notebooks

Traditional interactive notebooks are based on composition or spiral-bound notebooks but go beyond simple note-taking. This tool helps children manipulate information and organize it in a way that makes sense to them. Interactive notebooks are not workbooks, and they are not scrapbooks.

*I say traditional because now there are digital interactive notebooks, which can be a game-changer with interactive notebooks.*

Can waste too much learning time.

In homeschooling, we have as much time as we want to work on subjects, on different topics, etc. But do you really want to spend an hour or more just setting up an interactive notebook? Or would you rather be doing something hands-on, like a science experiment?

Require too much prep time.

I much prefer materials ready for me. I have three kids, so prepping for all three can be a lot of work. I have moved away from a number of curriculums for that reason. You can get your kids to do all the cutting but then that is taking away from “learning time” and after a while, I think they’ll probably get tired of it too.

Can be a bit of a mess.

Can you say paper.everywhere.? When my kids cut paper, there ends up being pieces of paper everywhere in my house. Tiny little pieces everywhere and nowhere near the recycling bin.

And a bit wasteful. We have been working on becoming more minimalist, using fewer materials in our home, and wasting less.

Can dumb down content instruction.

They can seem to feel like you aren’t learning as much so as in as much detail as you might wish for your child. This is something that you can feel around, add to as you go through, you are in charge of the content.

boy cutting paper with scissors with text overlay

Focus on teacher-directed instruction.

I am a trained early childhood educator. I do not like teacher-directed instruction. I hate cookie-cutter instructions that each child is spitting out the same thing. I much prefer child-led, using their imagination, allowing them to connect the dots in ways that make sense to them.

The instruction is supplemental and reductive.

You can use interactive notebooks as a great supplemental tool. Something for them to use to look back over, to “study” later on.

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