We've used quite a variety of science and history curricula in our homeschool over the years. Sometimes the curriculum I pick comes with a workbook or comprehension questions, and sometimes it doesn't. But even so, with a number of delayed readers, traditional worksheets and written responses to tell what a student had learned weren't always a good fit for us.
Visual Note Taking for Science and History
I wanted a way for kids to summarize what they remembered from a science or history lesson that could be easily adapted to different ages. I knew some kids would need to draw pictures, some could list a few words, and some could write sentences and paragraphs. So I created Visual History Notes and Visual Science Notes.
These super-basic one-page sheets can work for any history or science curriculum and are easily adaptable to any age or ability level. There are two variations for science and three for history with different combinations of empty boxes or lines for drawing or writing.
Visual Science Notes for any Homeschool Curriculum
Visual Science Notes can be used for students who are reading or watching science lessons on their own to share what they learned. Or they can be used during your lesson time to summarize what you've taught or read to your students.
Visual Science Notes are divided into four sections. The small box at the top with the microscope is for listing the lesson or topic of the notes. If your student isn't old enough to write it himself, you can put in this part for him.
The second box is for important terms. You may ask your student to copy a few vocabulary words from the lesson or draw pictures of important things that were mentioned.
The third box is for important ideas. This is an area for drawing or writing about processes or scientific laws covered in the lesson.
The last box (and the back of the page if needed) are for drawing and labeling diagrams related to the lesson. These might be pictures showing the stages of an frog's life. They might be diagrams of the water cycle or the rock cycle.
There are two versions of the Visual Science Notes sheet - one with blank boxes and one with lines in the first two boxes. For older students who are able to create written summaries, they can use the "Important Words" box to list vocabulary and the "Important Ideas" box to write a few sentences summarizing the concepts they studied.
Visual History Notes for any Homeschool Curriculum
Like Visual Science Notes, Visual History Notes can be used for a range of ages. Visual History Notes come in three different variations so you can pick the one that works best depending on your needs and your students' abilities.
The box at the top allows students to name the period of history or historical event they are studying.
The Important People box is for drawing, listing, or describing the historical figures who played a major role in that episode of history.
A second version of Visual History Notes includes lines in the Important People box so that students can list or describe historical figures.
The Interesting Facts or Important Events can be adapted based on how you want your student to use it. They can jot down or draw pictures of the things that caught their attention during the lesson, or they can record certain events you ask them to include.
Two versions of the Visual History Notes have a blank area for Important Places that your student can use for map work - tracing or drawing a map of the part of the world where this historical event took place.
Another version has lines in the Important Places box so that students can list or describe locations relevant to this portion of history.
If you choose to have your students list historical places, they can use the back of the sheet for map work instead if you wish.
Download Your Free Copies of Visual Science Notes and Visual History Notes
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