Monday, March 14, 2011

Workboxes, maybe?

That is the question today. Do I want to go this route? I mean worse case scenario I end up with extra storage bins that I can use in other areas of the house. I want the transition of schooling to go smoothly as possible. I want a lot of variety and fun so that me and the kiddos don't burn out to easy. I also don't want to get myself caught up in the thought that I have to cover 10 subjects a day. I will be happy to hit 4 or 5. I want to make sure we hit the important things early so when the say drags on and we feel like calling it a day we already got the big stuff done and can beef it up the next day in other areas.

My idea of our own workbox system comes from reading a BUNCH of blogs and ideas. I have not read the official workbox book.
Here are my tentative workbox plans
1. We start are day in traditional ways
-make your bed, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, get dressed
-Family morning meeting & prayer
-Bible and character studies as a group
2. The big kids would then go to their work boxes
- These will contain a lesson/activity, an instruction card, all materials they need for said lesson/activity and a digital timer. While they get a start on this it will give me the time needed to work 1 on 1 with my 1st grader
3. Each child will have 5 boxes to start I will label them with Numbers or letters that are removable and they will have a place to put them on the wall under their accountable kids boards.
4. They will do 2 boxes and the 3rd box will be a fun box that will contain something both fun and educational and a snack or something. I may toss random treats and such in other boxes (anything to motivate right)
5. If I put a lesson in a box that I know they need my help with I will include a "mom" card so they know they can bring their assignment to me for help.
6. I do plan on staggering out personal 1 on 1 time for each child that will be the tricky part.

For my 1st grader she will have boxes too I hope that if I stagger everything out just right that she can work independently while I work on things with her big sisters.

I am sure I will revise this 100 times but I like the idea of it.

5 comments:

  1. I have never heard of this concept before. That sounds like an interesting idea but it does sound like a lot of prep for mom. You must plan ahead and prepare all the boxes each day for each kid. If you are very structured and organized, it might work well. I use Homeschool Tracker to write lesson plans (over the summer) for all of our subjects. Then at the beginning of the month, I put all of our work for that month on the calendar. Then each night, I print out the assignments for the following day. My son just follows the schedule and checks off each item when he completes it. Rescheduling is a breeze too if we don't get to something or decided to take a field trip. I look forward to hearing how your boxes work.

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  2. Wishing you well as you figure it all out!

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  3. It sounds great to me...but I know for me, I would not follow through. Good luck! Hope you find what works for you all!!

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  4. We did a work "bag" system... here's my post about them:
    http://curriculumcrazy.blogspot.com/2009/08/our-system.html

    We liked it because it was easy to reuse and we had less stuff to lose. lol

    It's an interesting idea, but I found that it was difficult to start planning because DS was getting old enough to want to have "school" too.... and he was 2 so it was hard... hard knowing what to plan and when for him.

    DD LOVED it, though.
    I really need to get into the hang of this again because kids thrive on routine, and this was the kick in the buns to stick with it and keep going!

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  5. We do something similar to this with Melody's stuff she does afterschool. It's not overly structured but I put library books, printouts etc that will keep her stimulated. Do what works best for you, tweak when you need and be flexible to change things up so it works for you. ((hugs))

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