Saturday, November 19, 2011

Jessica's Workbox System

I have been homeschooling for a couple of years now.  I really love it!  But, I did not love having to direct every single little thing about the children’s day.  Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT a micromanager.  Or, at least, I will never admit to being one!  I needed to organize the kids school stuff in a way that they could get started on the work they do independently, until I was ready to get out of my pajamas start their corporate work.  I heard a lot about the workbox system by Sue Patrick, but knew that there was no way I could implement her system.  I don’t have room for 3 carts holding a total of 36 shoebox sized boxes, and this would be before I added Bekah’s.  So I read blog after blog after blog, searching for the answer.  What I came up with is more of a combination of what I found. 
I have a workbox, singular!  I decided to go with a file folder system.  I bought a box from Office Depot (on sale for $4.99), a box of hanging file folders, and some clips I found for a buck.  I could not find the medium point sharpie markers my friend Sam found, but perhaps this was because I had my husband and all four children in tow. 
When we arrived back home; I got to work.  I labeled 10 folders with Jaela’s name and numbered them 1 – 10.  Then I did 5 for Quin and 5 for Micah.  I used the remaining six folders for my own things.  I got out my lesson planner, scanned down it, and put all of Jaela’s stuff in the folders; math in one, drawing in another, reading instructions with the book in yet another, and so on. 
011811212757
I interspersed some fun things, like time for snack, in other folders as well.  The idea is she will start with the first folder and continue working through them in order.  Every few folders, or after a particularly long activity she will find a break with something fun.  This will, hopefully, keep her motivated.
  011811213234
I did the same thing for the little ones as well.  I will make up some pretty snack break and computer time pages today.  Then I am going to laminate them with my spiffy new laminator.  (How did I EVER live without that thing?)  But a sheet of paper and a marker works for now!
Tell me what you think?  How do you organize your children’s schoolwork?


post signature

4 comments:

Karen said...

I know this is an older post but I'm wondering if this worked out for you. I have a large family and just can't have a million boxes everywhere. I was thinking of smaller file folder boxes for each of them.

Jessica said...

Yes! It does still work for me! The hardest part it to remember to refill them!

Karen said...

I'm definitely going to give this a try. Thanks!

Rodriguez said...

Mainly because it's easy, fast, available 24/7, truly mobile and perhaps most of all, online faxing is very convenient to use. Benefits of an Online Fax Service If you already have a fax number, Nextiva makes it easy to switch and enjoy their added benefits by giving the option to port your existing fax number(s) over for use with Nextiva Fax. While you can check online review sites, nothing beats first-hand testing of the fax service in your own working environment. But the borrowed cash can be paid back in couple of more weeks also.