A couple of months ago, I started hearing alot about this great system to schedule your school day called The Workbox System. I have been trying it out with Samuel for the last few weeks and he has loved it! We get so much more fun stuff done each day.
Basically the idea is that you have a box for each school subject or activity that you want to do that day. You fill the box the night before with everything you will need for that project. So for instance if we want to do an art project, I go ahead and get all the paper and supplies together in one box and put them on the shelf. The boxes are numbered and you work through them in order, kind of like a visual schedule. It really helps Samuel because he can see what's coming next. It helps me because I actually get all our stuff ready the night before instead of scrambling around trying to make copies or find what we need in the middle of a project or activity.
Samuel usually has around 12 boxes each day because I put enough stuff in there to last all day. Our school stuff takes up anywhere from 3-5 boxes depending on what we're doing that day. Then the other boxes I fill with games for us to play together, fun stuff for him like playdough or coloring, library books to read, a DVD to watch, puzzles, etc. Most of the boxes are things for us to do together, but I try to give him a couple of things to do by himself while I'm trying to get other things done (like cleaning) so that he's not in the way.
Here's a look at workboxes in action:
This is our workbox shelf
Filled workboxes
Samuel loves to go get each box and bring it to me to see what we get to do. Eventually, there will be more and more independent items so that he can work on something and just move on to the next thing when he's done, but that probably won't happen for a few years :)
He stacks the workboxes in the floor when he's done and puts the books, games, etc in the chair for me to put away or back in the box at the end of the day. Keeping the workboxes off the shelf when they are done helps him visually see how much work he has done and how much he has left for the day.
If you want to read more, here's a list of other homeschoolers using workboxes.
2 comments:
What a great idea! I need more organizational tools like this.
I'm still trying to decide what curriculum we're going to do for homeschooling this fall. A beka seems to be so big here, but I'm not sold. I would love to hear how you came up with your decision if you don't mind. Feel free to email me or post here.
Hi there!
I have been reading about this system. I really think I'm going to do the workboxes. We need something to keep us going through the day! Thank you for sharing this!!!
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