I agree-- he'll be much happier in APUSH if he isn't simultaneously trying to do something that feels so unnatural.
Cornell method is what I went with when I finally insisted that DD12 (then also a HS freshman)
had to learn to take notes.
I worked with her in math and in science/social studies and I spot-checked her notebooks all year, offering critical review of what she had done well, or what needed improvement.
She actually takes quite GOOD notes now-- better than most of her peers, from what I've seen. So it's not too late, and even if she doesn't NEED to take notes much of the time, she knows that it's the key to higher grades when assessments are memorization based.
