Our family first encountered notebooking when our boys were in first and second grade through Apologia’s science notebook journals. They were such a great way for our kids to process what they learned!
I loved notebooking so much, that I incorporated notebooking into Bible Road Trip™.
In fact, you will find a number of Bible, history, and educational notebooking journals at Thinking Kids Press. Check out these fun tools for elementary-aged kids.
Looking for notebooking journals for middle and high school students? Find those here.
How to Notebook (and What is Notebooking?)
Notebooking develops a number of vital skills. Let’s look at a few of them:
Handwriting ~ Notebooking isn’t terribly structured, but the process of writing long-hand naturally helps develop handwriting.
Reading and Listening Comprehension ~ Notebooking requires attention and understanding of the information being processed and narrated in written or visual form.
Pre-writing ~ Notebooking helps students learn to take notes, to identify important information, and to organize their thoughts. It helps them make note of what they’d like to research later.
Research ~ Notebooking can be an excellent way to inspire further topical research and to record the results of that research. Topical exploration is one of the skills emphasized in the Cobblestone Path™ Church History Research Journals.
Long-term Memory ~ Notebooking helps cement what students have studied into their long-term memory.
Cognitive Skills ~ Notebooking requires a higher thought process. At first, you will need to help children process and narrate what they’ve learned, but cognitive skills will soon become second-hand.
Read more about what notebooking is here.
Homeschool Notebooking Journals
Thinking Kids Press notebooking journals are a wonderful tool to help your kids learn. Check out the journals available for elementary school kids!
The Bible Road Trip™ Bible Notebooking Journals will enable your students to record what they are learning in Scripture.
- Each structured Notebooking Journal has room for:
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- Copying the weekly memory verse
- Taking notes about each book of the Bible studied
- Several pages of notes about the weekly lessons
- A page to list prayer concerns for the country or people group studied that week.
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- Each Notebooking Journal has line widths and writing space appropriate for your students in the leveled grades.
- The Notebooking Journal contains many beautiful full-color artworks from artistic masters of eras past — such as Van Gogh, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt, as well as photographs of the weekly country shared by photographers around the world via the Creative Commons license.
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- Out of respect for varying beliefs regarding iconography, every effort was made to select artwork that was not only modest, but also did not include representations of Christ, the Father, the Holy Spirit, angels, demons, Christophanies or Theophanies.
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- The journals are available printed or digital.
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- Each digital download comes with a family/household use copyright license. So, if you have three children who will go through the Dialectic level, you may purchase the Dialectic Notebooking Journal once, store the file on your computer, and hit print each time you need a new journal.
- There is a Classroom License available for church and school classes, and co-ops. Please purchase a new class license each year.
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Purchase Year One (Genesis to Esther) Bible Notebooking Journals at:
Digital Year One Journals | Printed Year One Journals
- Grades 1-3 | The Year One Lower Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 233-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 1-3 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year One Curriculum.
- Grades 4-6 | The Year One Upper Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 288-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 4-6 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year One Curriculum.
Purchase Year Two (Job to Malachi) Bible Notebooking Journals at:
- Grades 1-3 | The Year Two Lower Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 239-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 1-3 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year Two Curriculum.
- Grades 4-6 | The Year Two Upper Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 276-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 4-6 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year Two Curriculum.
Purchase Year Three (Matthew to Revelation) Bible Notebooking Journals at:
- Grades 1-3 | The Year Three Lower Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 268-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 1-3 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year Three Curriculum.
- Grades 4-6 | The Year Three Upper Grammar Notebooking Journal is a 326-page PDF download ebook of structured notebooking pages for grades 4-6 that coordinate with the Bible Road Trip™ Year Three Curriculum.
Features of the My Timeline Notebooking Journal:
- The My Timeline Notebooking Journal is 132-pages, filled with beautiful artwork and plenty of room to record events.
- The timeline expands as time progresses since there’s just more to record as the centuries progress. The timeline begins in 4000 BC to give you room to record from Creation forward.
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- From 4000 BC to 0 AD, pages cover a century. Each timeline is broken into 5 year increments.
- From 0 AD to 1000 AD, pages cover 50 years. Each timeline is broken into 2.5 year increments.
- From 1000 AD to 2050 AD (for your littlest littles to use later), pages cover 25 years. Each timeline is broken into 1 year increments.
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- 29 full-color paintings from artists such as Rembrandt, Monet, and Renoir, and from ancient artists. The art is carefully chosen to avoid depictions of: extreme immodesty, angels, demons, mythical gods, Christophanies, or Theophanies (for those who feel those violate the second commandment).
- A quote at the top of each timeline page, including:
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- ESV Bible quotations about time, seasons, and plans.
- Quotes from historic Christians such as Charles Spurgeon, Samuel Rutherford, and Hannah More.
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- Available as a digital download with a household license, or in a printed edition.
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- Choose your edition in the dropdown menu.
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Bible Investigators: Creation is an activity book bursting with brain-teasing puzzles, which helps kids investigate the Bible for themselves.
With 90 brain-teasing puzzles, 40 Bible passages, and 30 concepts regarding God’s creation, this 272-page lesson, puzzle, and activity book gives kids aged 8-12 skills to investigate the Bible for themselves―just like a real investigator!
As kids apply logic and solve challenging puzzles, they will dive deeply into Scripture and examine the Bible’s account of creation, picking up lots of skills for reading and interpreting the Bible.
Your kids will also find lots of journaling boxes for notebooking, which allow them to reflect on, interpret, and apply what they have learned about God’s Word.
Creation is perfect as a six-week unit study for your homeschool, and it’s a great tool for churches to use with kids. It’s fun for road trips and rainy days too!
Bible Investigators: Creation contains six sections:
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- Introduction: You Are a Bible Investigator!
- Section One: God Created Everything in the Beginning
- God Created All Things Out of Nothing Genesis 1:1-2a; Jeremiah 4:23
- Every House Has a Builder Hebrews 3:4
- God Created the World for His Creatures Isaiah 45:18
- It Was All Good Genesis 1:31a; 1 Timothy 4:4
- God’s Works are Wondrous Psalm 145:1-13
- Section Two: The Story of Creation
- Let There Be Light! (Day 1) Genesis 1:3-5; 2 Corinthians 4:6
- The Sky Above (Day 2) Genesis 1:6-8; Jeremiah 10:12
- Soil and Potatoes (Day 3) Genesis 1:9-13; Psalm 104:14
- Time for the Universe (Day 4) Genesis 1:14-19; Psalm 104:19-23
- Creatures That Swim and Fly (Day 5) Genesis 1:20-23; Psalm 104:16-17, 24-25
- Beasts of the Earth and People (Day 6) Genesis 1:24-27
- Section Three: God Made Me
- God Gave Me Life Job 33:4
- God Formed Me Wonderfully Psalm 139:13-16
- God Gives Everyone Life and Breath Acts 17:24-28
- God Created Me for His Glory Isaiah 43:6b-7
- Section Four: Our Creator God
- God Is Eternal Psalm 90:2
- God Is All-Powerful Psalm 33:8-9
- God Is Uncreated Psalm 102:25-27; Revelation 1:8
- God the Father Created Genesis 1:26a; Jeremiah 32:17
- God the Son Created John 1:1-3
- God the Holy Spirit Created Psalm 104:24, 30; Genesis 1:2
- Section Five: God’s Good Creation Gifts
- Every Good Gift Is from God James 1:17; John 3:27b
- God Blesses Us Genesis 1:28-29
- God Gives Us the Sabbath Genesis 2:1-13; Exodus 20:8-20a, 11
- God Gives Us Work Genesis 2:15; Proverbs 28:19; Colossians 3:23-24
- God Gives Us Marriage Genesis 2:18-24
- Section Six: God’s Great Salvation Plan
- To Disobey God Is to Sin Genesis 2:16-17; John 14:15
- Adam and Eve Sinned–And So Have I Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 3:23
- Jesus Paid for Our Sin Ephesians 2:4-9
- Believe in Jesus and Confess Belief Romans 10:9-10
Each section, or unit, has four to six lessons, each with a teaching, notebooking spaces, and three Bible verse puzzles. The book makes a great six-week unit study on the doctrine of Creation!
- An overview of a Sola or Scriptural concept
- A Bible passage to study with discussion questions
- Additional passages to read to better understand the intent of each Sola
- A structured notebooking page
- A family activity
- A craft
Your family will study the Five Solas together for seven days. Need more time to explore? You can always extend each day’s study to several days or even a week!
- Day One: Lost in the Woods: How the Solas came to be and what Sola means
- Day Two: Sound Doctrine
- Day Three: Sola Scriptura
- Day Four: Sola Fide
- Day Five: Sola Gratia
- Day Six: Solus Christus
- Day Seven: Soli Deo Gloria
The incredibly popular My Sermon Notebook will allow your kids to take sermon notes, and stay engaged with what they’re learning, while giving them something fun and hands-on to do during the service.
The My Sermon Notebook has several exciting and fun aspects to it:
- 107 page sermon notebook
- 52 weeks of notes
- 2 pages of notes per week
- Instructions written directly to your child
- Sermon notes prompts
- Date
- Main Passage
- Other Scripture Passages
- Three Main Points
- A Question to Ask Mom and Dad About
- A Song We Sang that I Liked
- How I Can Apply This Sermon to My Life Right Now
- Adorable Children to Color
- Weekly Mazes, Coloring Scenes, or Bible-related Word Searches
- Household license
- Reprint for all of your children
- Reprint every year
- Classroom license available
- Choose your license at the dropdown menu.
The My Book Log: A Notebooking Journey will allow your kids to learn everything they need to know to really understand reading fiction and nonfiction during their elementary years. Not only that, the notebooking portion of their book log gives them a way to practice what they’ve learned over and over again.
The My Book Log has some cool aspects to it:
- Explanations, charts, and diagrams
- The Dewey Decimal System
- The Dewey Decimal Classes
- Fiction Book Genres
- Nonfiction Book Genres
- Fiction Characters
- Fiction Plot
- Nonfiction Text Structures
- Nonfiction Beginnings
- Theme
- Author Worldview
- Interactive Fun
- A Library Scavenger Hunt
- Book Plates for Your Kids
- Text and Pictures to Color
- Book Logs Galore
- Books I’ve Borrowed
- Books I’ve Loaned
- Books I Want to Read
- Books I’ve Read
- Books I’ve Loaned
- Mini Book Reports
- Fiction Book Reports
- Nonfiction Book Reports
- Easy-to-Fill in Reports that Reinforce What Your Child Has Learned
- A Great Base for Future Literature Study!
- 170 pages
- Household license
- Reprint for all of your children
- Reprint every year
- Classroom license available
As your children travel and explore the world around them, you’ll want to have a way for them to keep track of where they’ve been and what they’ve seen. The My Field Trip and Travel Journal will help them do just that.
Your kids will keep track of:
- Places They’ve Been
- Places They’d Like to Go
- Mapping Their Journeys
- A Record of Their Trips
- Trip Dates
Your kids will learn:
- To Keep Lists
- About Geography
- Where They Are in the World
- Notetaking Skills
- Basic Memoir Story Writing
- To Plan Trips on the Calendar
Don’t miss out on these great notebooking journals for kids! Grab one and get started today.
Books Make Great Gifts!
Teach Your Kids the Bible with Bible Road Trip™
Bible Road Trip™ is a three-year Bible survey curriculum. Take your family through the Bible five times from preschool to high school.
To help you get the most out of your studies, Bible Road Trip™ has an array of coordinating weekly activities:
- Researching the section of the Bible you’re studying
- Reading and discussing the Bible
- Memorizing Scripture
- Notebooking about your studies
- Praying for the nations
- Suggestions for further study
- Crafting about what you’ve learned
- For your older students: A project to share what they’ve learned
- Bible Road Trip™ also has some great tools you can use along with it, such as:
- Notebooking Journals for grades 1-9. Want a structured notebooking journal for high school? Don’t hesitate to use the Dialectic journal (grades 7-9).
- Bible Memory Card Sets for all five levels of study, preschool to high school. These are available in both ESV and KJV.
Grab your Bible Road Trip™ Year One Sample Pack. You’ll get:
- The Bible Road Trip™ Parent / Teacher Guide.
- The first three weeks of the curriculum for all five learning levels. Week Three is where we really dive into the Bible and begin to our systematic study. Week Three will give you a good feel for the rest of the curriculum.
- The first three weeks of the Bible Memory Card sets for all five levels, in ESV and KJV.
- The first three weeks of each of the three leveled Notebooking Journals.
Grab the Sample Pack for FREE:
Disciple your kids by taking your family through the Bible together in a meaningful way!
The 2024 Practical Homeschooling® Reader Awards™ were announced in the Fall 2024 issue of Practical Homeschooling® magazine.
The Reader Awards have been a regular feature in the magazine since 1998.
Thousands of homeschoolers rank the curriculum they have used, and the products with the highest satisfaction ratings win.
Bible Road Trip™ Curriculum
Take a look inside the Bible Road Trip™ curriculum! Let me show you around:
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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