Creating a journal of the trip??

[NJDisneymom]

My dd is 5 1/2 and will be missing a week of kindergarten to go to Disney. She is one of those that missed the cut off this year, so she's in a private kindergarten (with a later cut off) and will go to her elementary school's kindergarten next year. I am not worried about her academically, she is doing very well and I don't see her falling behind.

I thought I would have her create a journal of our trip to bring back to school with her. I think this would give her some good reading/writing practice while we are away.

But, I'm trying to think of how/what to make as a journal. She writes like a 5 year old so I'm not sure any of the journals they sell in the parks would work, I'm guessing they are narrow lined. I thought of making something using writing paper and maybe having a fill in the blank for each page say "Today we went to..." "The thing I liked best....", etc.

Has anyone ever created anything like this?? Any creative moms (or any teachers out there) that have ideas????

Thanks!

 

[Princess Wannabe]

Wow...talk about deja' vu...for a minute, I thought I was reading something that I MYSELF had posted!!!

I, too, have a DD who is 5 1/2 years old...and missed being 'old' enough for public kindergarten by a mere 12 days...and so I have had her enrolled in a private, Montessori kindergarten this year. She will start public kindergarten in the fall.

We are taking her out of school for a week (beginning next Friday - woo hoo!) for her first trip to WDW.

I think a journal is a great idea. However, my DD is just now really beginning to spell...she is definitely more creative on the 'art' side.

For my own DD, I will probably have her draw a picture each night of her favorite thing we did that day...in her pictures, which are very creative, she can pretty much capture everything. She sometimes writes (or attempts to write!) words on the pictures, so that will be her 'journaling'.

So, it is just an idea, but what about having your DD draw pictures, as well? Of her favorite thing that day...or her favorite memory?

P.S. It's nice to know there are other moms in the same boat I am...I thought I was the only mom in the world who had a daughter in this situation!!!

 

[HM]

On our first trip the kids were 4 and 6. We had them do journals. I put together a booklet using pages that have the really wide ruling at the bottom and the blank area for pictures at the top that are often used in K-1 grades.

Then the kids were asked to draw and write about their favorite thing that day. Then I'd have them explain what they wrote about (and then wrote that explanation at the bottom of the page). We did this at the end of each day after they had gotten ready for bed. Great keepsakes!

-HM

 

[NJDisneymom]

Princess Wannabe, that is so funny that you are in the same boat. Our class is full of Oct/Nov/Dec kids who missed the cut off and I was so glad when I realized I wasn't the only one doing this too!!! You are not alone, LOL!!

Adding pictures is a great idea!!! And for your daughter maybe you could do the journalling under the picture for her. Have her describe it to you and write it exactly as she tells it. We took a Rutgers University reading class for preschoolers/kindergarteners and this was a weekly exercise for the kids.

My dd can't write/spell real great, I often have to spell for her, thats why I thought of the fill in the blanks, so she only has to write a few words per line. Otherwise it would take us hours and I feel like I would be the one doing most of the work.

I'm thinking of doing one side journalling, one side picture now. Thanks for the idea!!!

 

[luvmy2sams]

My then 5 1/2 DD loved the journal we used for our October trip to Disney. One of the DIS posts I read mentioned a website with great journal templates for Disney trips. I purchased card stock and printed most of the journal pages. Office Depot spiral bound the journal for around $1.50. DD loved it, and it is now a treasured possession of hers. FYI... the lines on the blank journal pages are spaced far enough apart that it's perfect for big little kid handwriting.

http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/journal.shtml

 

[Deesknee]

If you ask at your DD school they may have appropriate journals. Ours did. DS was instructed to keep a weather chart also. Great fun to look back on as he is now 14! It is by far my favorite souvenier!lol

 

[the kabuki]

My then 5 1/2 DD loved the journal we used for our October trip to Disney. One of the DIS posts I read mentioned a website with great journal templates for Disney trips. I purchased card stock and printed most of the journal pages. Office Depot spiral bound the journal for around $1.50. DD loved it, and it is now a treasured possession of hers. FYI... the lines on the blank journal pages are spaced far enough apart that it's perfect for big little kid handwriting.

http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/journal.shtml

I did the same for DS7 and he loved them. For DD3 I put in coloring pages instead of writing pages. For a 5 yr old, you might want to add some coloring pages, some mazes, and word searches that are disney related. Also a nice thing is to add maps of each park along with listings of hidden mickeys' in each that you could search for together . Would leave some blank pages for art work of hers, maybe some paper souveniers-tickets perhaps or autograph pages? Leave space also for photos to be added later.