The Workboxes

I said I would update the blog with pictures of the workboxes when they were completed . . . and I am quite sure everyone in the world is as excited as I am about these, so here are the pictures:

This is my workbox, it is bigger than the kids' because I hold all the read alouds, extra activities, and other helpful items like the markable map.

Here you can see I have all the books we will be using this week. Other core books are stored in my bedroom closet. I put just a week's worth of stuff in so we can do a little more if we want to.

The table, Jack and Laura have their names on their spots because #1 it elliminates discussion on who sits where, and #2, Laura asked for it.

The kids' workboxes, at this point I am using them more as an organizational tool rather than a means of working individually. Once we get the hang of it all I may implement the tags that indicate what they have done and what they need to do.

In the box I have 11X13 envelopes that hold their workbooks and worksheets for their different subjects. I tear out the pages if the workbook is perforated, if not I paper clip a green circle on the first page they are supposed to do, and a red octagon on the last page for that week. I do the same things with the readers and the read alouds.

Other items in the boxes include their Bibles, a 3 ring binder for their notebooking, and a folder for them to put their finished worksheets. The folder is so that I can grade their work, but right now I follow along as they do it so I really don't have much to grade.

John snapped a picture of us just starting out, one day down, so far so good!

I guess I have adapted the workboxes to work for us, and they are a lot different than their original purpose, but I like how organized they let me be, even on the first day.

Their seat work took about 45 minutes, then we did a lot of reading which only took a bit more. Fortunately, John was home and he was primarily watching James for me, so I could do the schoolwork with them all at once. This will be different when he is not on a 4 day weekend!

I plan to keep the schoolwork light until we really get into the late summer. I am also still waiting on some Science material for Sonlight, so I can add that fun stuff in later.

John spent some time with them later on the Music Ace Deluxe, and also on their little learning video game Jump Start.