Thinking Tree Review!!!

This is the journal bought for my 11 year old daughter. We have been using it for almost two months now and I still am liking it!! I am sure by now most people in the home school world has heard of The Thinking Tree Journals. They seem to have taken the world by storm so to speak LOL. 

I really wanted to use them for a good length of time before posting a review on them. I will review the other ones we are using eventually as well. One thing at a time!!!


I am really liking these journals. We started our year amazing but then it had a set back and it seemed to never get back on track. School days were full of whining, arguing and just out right misery. My wonderful friend Linda at Sew Happily Ever After  was like, Look try these out I think it is gonna help! I am so glad I took the advice! The kids had fun picking what library books they would use to learn about what they wanted to learn about. 

Skyler was excited movies were going to become a regular part of her routine and she could watch whatever she chose not just what I had said we were studying. She picked books about animals OF COURSE!!!! She enjoyed learning about guide dog puppies and african cats. She got to add a Gravity Falls book for fun but it counted as school. 

We are half way through this book now and yes we have the next one we are using on the way! This is for sure a keeper!!! The creator of this journal and many others as well as Dyslexic Games can be found on amazon by searching Sarah Janisse Brown. She also has a blog and a website where some of these great books can be bought as a pdf file. There is also yet another blog where she has a few of her books as freebies!!!!!! 

Now to share some pics of my little noodles work!!! 

This was the very first thing she colored and she was very proud!!!

She used an animal encyclopedia to research the snail. She likes learning about different animals!

This is one of her reading pages. She reads each book for 15 minutes then either draws or writes something about what she has read. 

Just a draw the missing pieces page. She enjoys this as well and I think it is helpful for attention span LOL

She picks her spelling words from her library books. We also have spelling books she can pick from. 

This is a drawing she made for her listening page. She usually picks classical music for this. She enjoys Beethoven and Mozart.

This is a currents events page. I usually try to find her kid friendly articles or something to do with animals. 

This is a tell the story type page. There is a picture then you draw the next picture. For this story the shark apparently ate the diver LOL My kids have BIG imaginations.

This is a retelling of a Bible Story. There is a picture on the other page and she reads the story in her Bible and retells it in her own words. All of these are just random pages out of her book. She is enjoying this more than other methods we have used to do school. 

For Skyler I asked her for three things she liked 

1. Listening Time- because I get to draw
2. Movie Time  because it is different than just reading

3. I like the doodles that is in my book, they are fun to do and color. 

Does Skyler want to continue using what she calls journal school ?

With a Big smile Well YEAH!!!

So there you have it! Our review of this journal, not just my review. I like my kids to have an opinion on what they use. I bought this was not paid in any way for my review. I just feel this is a great homeschool option and wanted to add my thoughts on it!!!