Workboxes!

About a week into homeschooling I knew something wasn't working.  I was starting to freak out a little bit that we had made the wrong decision -- that all of were going to be miserable! Caleb would constantly ask, "How much longer" and the lack of continuity in the curriculum was making the day feel choppy and without a purpose.

Enter workboxes.

After our first week I started doing more research online -- surely I was doing something wrong!  Where were the kids who would be singing my praises and declaring that they loved homeschooling?  Where was all the joy that I was supposed to feel after sharing information with them?  What was wrong with me?  With us?

In my panic-stricken research I came across a number of blog posts about work boxes.  The Workbox System, explained fully in an ebook by the developer, is an organized system for homeschoolers to use.  The day is divided in boxes (or in our case, baskets) and each individual assignment, reading, project, etc is put into a box.  I would highly recommend the book which you can get HERE.  I won't get into all the set up and reasons why to use it (you can read that in the book) but instead, will show you what it looks like for our family.  I have deviated quite a bit from the system as she outlines it, but the skeleton is still there and our method is perfect for our family.

SET UP

The book recommends 12 clear plastic boxes and a rack for each child.  This posed a number of problems for us: space, cost, and available of  materials (sorry, Indonesia just doesn't have a plethora of things to choose from!) Instead, I purchased 12 inexpensive plastic baskets that would be big enough to hold a book/piece of paper. I don't have a rack for them, I just stack 'em up.  It isn't the prettiest, but it works and I really can't imagine having racks holding 36 baskets.  I like simple rooms, not rooms with more stuff. When the baskets are emptied, the get stacked up against the wall and can be left for the next day or put away over the weekend.

PLANNING

I do my planning in two stages:

• Academic lesson planning
• Workbox scheduling

For my academic planning, I go through the curriculum and figure out what needs to be covered for each lesson/subject. I have a sheet that looks like this:

I've revised this a bit, but you get the idea.  I fill in what needs to be covered that day on the left (page numbers, concepts, etc) and then on the right I write down what materials I need for that lesson.  This helps me keep track of each subject and make sure everything gets covered.

After all the information is plugged in, I go to my workbox schedule page which looks like this:

I go through my lesson plans and make sure all the academic stuff is on the schedule.  If it is something that I need to work one-on-one with a child on, I note that (I just use a simple black triangle in the corner of the box) and I make sure that the other two kids have something they can work independently on.  Once all the of the academic lesson plans are entered, I fill in the holes with other things.  These things vary by day and by child.  There are certain things that each of my kids needs extra time on and so I schedule them.  I also put in fun activities, snack, and things to do together.  I ALWAYS DO THIS SCHEDULE IN PENCIL SO I CAN CHANGE AS NEEDED.  My finished schedule looks something like this:

We don't do all 12 boxes each day.  We also don't always have a box for the activities we will do all together (for example, I don't have one for our Bible reading time).  I post the schedule on the white board for the kids to see.

The parts in blue are the parts we are going to do all together and don't have a basket.  The numbers correspond to the basket number.  The book says that when kids are done with one box they should move on the the next, but for the ages of my kids (6,5, and 3) it makes so much more sense for us to move at the same time and stay together.  The kids know if they finish before someone else that they can get a drink, go to the bathroom, color, read, or play with something quietly until we are ready for the next basket.

FILLING THE BASKETS

After all the planning, the baskets have to be filled!

Each day, I lay out the number of baskets we are doing.  The kids each have their own color.  I look at my schedule sheet and put in everything they need in each basket. If whatever they are doing needs a pencil, it goes in. If they need glue. I put it in there.  EVERYTHING that is needed goes into the basket -- this involves purchasing more of things but it means SO MUCH LESS time getting materials out throughout the day.

I fill each child's baskets, stack them up, and then go on to the next one.  When the kids "come to school" all the baskets are filled and they are SO excited to see what is inside!

WHAT'S INSIDE?

A number of people that I have talked to have asked what kinds of things I put inside the baskets.  As I mentioned, all the academic stuff goes in first.  I want to make sure that gets done.  The other baskets get filled with various activities.  Caleb needs extra sensory work so I put in stuff that will help him -- play dough, paints, etc.  I also sneak in fun activities that echo what we are learning in other subjects.  For instance, in math Caleb is working on sorting and classifying and in his occupational therapy he is working on scanning.  So, i created this basket for him:

In the basket were lots of block and a simple no-need-to-be-able-to-read instruction card.  He needed to build me something that had 5 blues, 3 greens, 2 reds, and 4 wood colored blocks.

Levi is working on sorting biggest to smallest, tallest to shortest, etc. so these simple little people were in one of his baskets.

Alaina is working on following written instructions.  In math she is working on measuring. She also LOVES crafts so I gave her an activity that would accomplish all of these things:

Levi is working on learning the letters of his name so we have lots of baskets that have letters in them for him to cut, glue, put together, paint, etc.

I put fun "mystery" items in too -- the kids don't know what they are for but they are excited to find out.  For this one I just added buttons and then later we played Bingo learning our Indonesian names for parts of the body.

One of my favorite things to put in the baskets are activities that two of the kids can do together -- Alaina reading to Levi, Alaina and Caleb playing a game, the boys building towers.  This gives the siblings opportunities to work together and gives me the chance to work one on one with the third child.  Here, Caleb and Alaina connected the entire box of Dominoes while I read a book to Levi.

THE VERDICT?

We LOVE workboxes!  They have added so much to our day.  We get to do SO MANY MORE fun activities in the SAME AMOUNT OF time.  Sure, it takes more planning and time on my part but the school day runs so smoothly! The kids LOVE moving from one basket to the next, love to see what fun activities are inside, and love having a visual way of knowing "how much longer." I love that I get to work in child-specific activities, can reemphasize our "academic" stuff with "fun" stuff, and that I get to spend so much more time one on one with the kids. 

  

Comments

[Nancy]

I love these activities. I may need to look at the program for my son to do just for fun!

[Jenny]

I love your set up! We are also using workboxes this year.

[Amy-Beth]

Thank you for posting once again! I do hope that you all are feeling better. I liked your idea on classification and the blocks... I just tried that with my daughter, and it was hard for her. I am glad to have found something that challenges her. Thanks for sharing all of your neat ideas! You are a blessing already.

[Vera]

I hope that when I have my own children (or even just one child), homeschooling may be something more "popular" in this country and that you're blog is still up - I think it's a wonderful resource for homeschooling mommas!

[Teaque]

I just happened upon your blog from someone's link on facebook - yes crazy world. Anyway, I love how you explained workboxes. I have been homeschooling for a year now and have not heard of them, but think my son would do well with this concept. I actually think you explained it better than the actual website did. I find so many of your posts interesting as I'm a scrapbooker too and would love to live in another country for awhile (since that probably won't happen, I will just have to live through you.) Oh and I'm a wannabe photographer so I love your pics as well... thanks for sharing so much of your life.