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.

Workboxes

On the Sonlight Forums, and on other homeschooling sites and blogs I have come across the idea of workboxes. I think this is a fantastic idea. Here is the overview of the process: Workbox

Sue Patrick organized this system to show kids what they need to accomplish, give them a sense of how much they need to do for the rest of the day, and promote independent work. It also helps to organize all the things they need for the school day in one place. I like this form of it, that bloggers have adapted for their families: The picture is posted by Angela who shared her ideas on the Sonlight forums, she seems to have a very interesting blog if you have a few hours to kill . . .

As soon as I get something like this together, I will post pictures. It may be a while yet, so don't hold your breath quite yet!