The Botany Junior Notebooking Journal is the newest product in the Young Explorer Series. A companion to Exploring Creation with Botany, this junior journal is much like the regular Botany Notebooking Journal but is designed for younger students or those with limited writing skills. All the lines in the junior journal are primary writing lines (a dashed line between two solid lines), and there are far fewer than in the regular journal. The Botany Junior Notebooking Journal is perfect for:
• Younger students that have not yet mastered handwriting
• Older students that are delayed in handwriting mastery
• Older students with learning disabilities
• Students that are new to written narration
Unique to both the and Junior and Regular Botany Notebooking Journals is the Colder Climate Alternate Schedule and the many additional activities, projects and experiments that can be completed in one day or less.
Each lesson in the junior journal begins with two fun coloring pages for the student to color while he listens to the reading of the text. These pages provide opportunities for active learning while reinforcing the lesson's content. Following are pages with templates designed to encourage creative expression and written narration. The student can illustrate what he's learned and write a sentence or two about the topic.
Next, the student is given the opportunity to work with and learn key vocabulary words presented in the text. Included are puzzle piece cut out and match vocabulary activities, partially filled in crosswords, vocabulary stories, plant identification activities and more. These learning activities are not only fun, they increase the student's retention of both the important terms and the subject matter presented in the lessons.
In addition to vocabulary work, the student has the opportunity to practice his handwriting and is given the choice between print copywork, cursive copywork or both. The Scriptures used for copywork are shorter than in the regular notebooking journal, and the font is larger.
Templates to complete all the notebooking assignments, project record keeping, Scientific Speculation Sheets and, of course, the same beautiful, full-colored miniature books found in the original notebooking journal are included in the junior journal.
There are some higher level activities missing from the journal journal, but they are replaced with cut and paste, high interest learning activities that bring the subject to life. What's missing?
• The lengthy and technical Vocabulary Crosswords
• The What Do You Remember? Written review questions
• The Final Review
The Botany Junior Notebooking Journal is perfect for the beginning writer or the child who is not yet writing well. Every child writes at a different age, so age is not the best factor when determining which notebooking journal to purchase: the regular or the junior journal. The best determining factor is whether or not the child feels comfortable writing paragraphs. If not, the junior journal is a great tool to help the child begin incorporating writing into his learning.
Age appropriate activities for your child include coloring pages, easy and fun science experiments, full-color mini-books, easier vocabulary exercises, and supplementary materials. A suggested lesson schedule is outlined for you, making this ready to use and enjoy. Perfect for younger elementary students or those students with limited writing skills.
Young Explorers author, Jeannie Fulbright, discusses the immersion approach to learning.
