Our New Workboxes

This year we are using workboxes. There are several reasons we decided to go with this system:

• I liked having our books separated by subject & handy so I wasn’t constantly hunting down what books we were using with each subject. (This tended to lead to a huge 2-3 foot stack of resources by my desk waiting to get used or toppled over by Tinker Bell!)
• It allowed us to keep current projects, lapbooks, worksheets, and books all in one convenient spot. Where we would remember to use them!
• It helps my kids visualize their progress through the school day.
• It was great to help Minnie feel like she had something to do too! Minnie is no longer regularly napping in the afternoon so she needs something to do when big brother & I “do” school. Plus she is ready for worksheets, letters, beginning math, and more.  She is so proud to look at what her work is for the day!

Elementary Boxes

We made Goofy’s boxes by subject. I added a label to show if we do that subject daily or the particular day we do it. This helps not only Goofy, but Mommy stay organized. As I stated above, Goofy’s boxes are filled with books, curriculum, lapbooks, worksheets, or projects that we are working through in that subject.

Preschool Boxes

Minnie is doing the Letter of the Week program (Confessions of a Homeschooler) this year for preschool. She has 5 boxes – one for each day of the week. I know some people use 5 different boxes every day, but the time commitment to change them out every day was unrealistic for me. I like this system. During the weekend I fill her boxes for the next week. I put worksheets, manipulatives, activities, and hands on learning fun in each of the five boxes. Then we are all set for the week – one day at a time. Minnie loves seeing what’s in the box today!

Here are some of our favorite things in the box:

Just in case you were wondering how they fit in our homeschool room, this is where we have them. They are convenient  to our school table for the kids to go through & to my desk to fill-up.

If you are looking to make workboxes I think you will really like them! They are hit with my kids & me! To save you some time, here are not only the labels we used, but extras I made along the way. I laminated the Preschool labels & affixed them with Velcro dots. That was my plan for Goofy’s smaller subject boxes too…. but Tinker Bell enjoyed ripping them off too much! O well – time for Plan B! I used this nifty Xyron machine that makes stickers! (Seriously SO cool!) So these labels I affixed directly on the boxes & now Tinker Bell leaves them alone!

Here are some supplies you’ll need:

 

When the kids complete their subjects, clean-up, practice piano, work on memorizing their Bible verse, or extra reading or practice sheets they put stars on this chart. It was intended as a Chore Chart (I actually stumbled upon it at Target) but it works great of us. I printed colorful Avery 8160 labels that match our workbox labels so the kids can easily identify where to put their star. (you can download our labels here).  The kids will earn prizes based on the number of stars accumulated: prize from treasure chest (cheap dime type prizes), stay up 45 minutes late, date with Mom/Dad, or Family Fun Event (bowling, mini golf, movie, jump zone,etc.).

 

We are all ready to start our school year!