Is it normal for your kids to fight you while doing the lapbooks? I am so frustrated. They bicker with each other, they argue and complain to me about doing it. Of course, most of them hate being read aloud to. Where did I go wrong with them??? (I'm talking about 3 boys here)I have to read aloud to them because two of them cannot read. But I'm about ready to quit!

Hi Dawn,
I'm not really sure if your ultimate question is about lapbooks or read-alouds. Nevertheless, here are a few ideas for you:

*Do ONE lapbook between all of them. Assign them each a fold for the week to complete (whether with illustrations or summaries, depending on their ages), and then at the end of the week, they share it with Dad.

*When you are reading aloud, let them make models (using play-dough, legos, etc.) or draw pictures of whatever you are reading about.

*Have assigned seats. Yes, truly, I had to do that with read-alouds. We rotated because one of them always wanted to sit in the recliner.

*Tell them that they will have a "pop-up" quiz when they least expect it when you are reading. As you are reading along, just randomly stop and ask a question about something you've read in the last paragraph or so. When each boy knows the answer, he jumps up ("pops up") and tells the answer when you call his name.

*Do read-alouds at a specific time each day. We did them right after lunch and it got us back in the swing of things.

*When my boys were really young...in the 6-11 age range), I sat in the floor, and they rotated behind me "fixing" my hair. They thought it was so funny arranging my hair in odd ways...but they did listen. ...and, of course, I had long hair back then.

Hope this helps!

From one 3-boy mom to another,

Dawn,
We use one lapbook between both my children. They take turns writing in it. They don't always like to write in it, but they know they have to. And it helps that they don't have to write in the whole lapbook by themselves.
My children love being read to. I think it's because I love to read and add real drama to my voice,etc. I also have 3 boys and 1 girl. Two of the oldest boys have graduated HS and I am left with a 11 and 8 year old still being taught at home.
Take off a week and work on training your children at home to sit quietly, no complaining, etc... The training is what really cements things into childrens minds and then they can understand what is expected of them. I have even had my children run around the house several times whenever I heard them arguing. I've also been known to stick them back to back and join them at the waist with a belt or rope and let them work at getting along. This was NOT done for a long time, it wasn't a punishment, but rather, a way to let the boys see that they need to work together to get things done. It almost always ends with hilarious laughing as one goes one way and the attached other goes another way. I don't even want to know how they used the bathroom facilities!! By doing these types of things, it unleashed the pent up energy boys have and allowed them to see how ridiculous arguing was. Do they still do it? Sometimes. But they also remember the times when they had to run around the house, etc. with actual fondness. Now that I look at it, I think they may even have been bad just to get outside to run!!!!!! Don't give up. Take a break. Wear those boys out with activities requiring motion (and not by sitting in front of a nintendo). Just my 2 cents worth.

Is it the writing they don't like? For some of the books I google pictures and we paste them in the books. I also try and have them make their own illustrations whenever possible so that when we go back and look it is fun for them to see their drawing abilities.

Thanks for the suggestions. I do let them draw or color, if they can behave. For the lapbooks, we usually compose what we want to write together, then sometimes they'll copy it or sometimes I'll type it up on the computer and print it out on sticky paper.

I did much the same when my children were young. I let them draw as long as they could answer my comprension questions. I bought nice markers, etc. Another thing that really helps with boys is to get them outside and all out running or bike riding or something very aerobic right before I need them settled and able to concentrate. This helps them sooo much!

With our lapbooks, I read, then I copy what we have decided to write on a small grease board and they copy it.

I don't think lap books are for everybody. I have two boys 11 and 8 and ordered lap books as a new thing since lots of people love them. I didn't really like them, and they didn't like doing them. For them I'm sure it was the writing but I also thought they were kind of rote fill in the answers. We had enough of that.

I decided to focus on other hands on projects and that's worked well for me.