Workbox Wednesday

When I first saw these I was so excited! 

I added my twist to them, gave ‘em a lil’ Texas flare & these were our schedule cards:

They were fabulous!  I was so proud of myself.  But then I admitted that they were a bit much for my crew.  My outlaws quickly became frustrated with flipping back & for & I continued to mix up the days.  So, as an alternative I made these:

  The clock in/out & schedule strips are all on one sheet!  They absolutely LOVE them!  Much easier!!  On the back of Momma’s boy’s is his HELP section – if you remember on the original ones I just put 4 velcro coins on the back for the “Help” cards, but when he would bring them to his scatter brained momma, I would loose them :)  So, now we have a better way of keeping up with them. 

Now for what’s in the boxes . . .

The Mustangs:

As I worked the kinks out of my planning, I made an outline for setting up the Mustangs’ boxes:

1. Math
2. Math Activity
3. Letter/Handwriting
4. Explode the Code
5. Letter Activity
6. Story time &/or Activity
7. Science Activity
8. Reading
9. Reading Activity/Misc.

Using these labels made planning MUCH easier!! 

(*Keep in mind this week’s letter is “W”)

          *Tomorrow we are going to see a college performance of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

I’ll explain so of these workbox activities in another post soon!

OH!  I almost forgot . . .

I hate to waste these:

If you would like our old schedule strips:

Leave a comment & tell me how many you need (Limit 3).

If there is more than one person I will use random.org to pick a winner on Monday (because it’s my birthday!). 

And since it’s my birthday & all . . . there might just be another giveaway coming for a chance to win one of our newly designed schedule strip.  I’m just sayin’ . . . Maybe!

Workbox Planning

When do you find the time to plan the workbox activities?

I DON’T!  I’m still working this system out.  I truly believe in it & have seen (when used correctly) how smoothly our day goes by implementing it; however, it seems to be that I’m preparing for them at 10pm each night or not at all.  I haven’t planned them out (on paper) for the entire week, but usually 1-2 days at a time.  I’m a mess! 

I am trying to update boxes throughout the day to prevent me from doing it at 10pm.  It seems to be working pretty well.  Part of it is just discipline on my part.  By the time we are done with school – I am done.  I’m checked out!  I’m ready for a break.  This has been an issue that has also overflowed into dinner & bedtime. 

I’m sure there is a better, more time saving, organized way of going about this, but at the time being here is what how I’m doing it:

I’m using my Well Planned Day Planner:

I just ignore the subject titles on the left.  I use every other space for the mustangs & momma’s boy.  Sometimes if we have to finish at a certain I’ll mark times in (like you see on Monday).  I’ve really been experimenting with the whole system & trying to figure out how to make it best suite us.  Some activities don’t require a box, but an activity card, so I started numbering the boxes on my schedule (see Tuesday’s circled numbers).  I use the very last boxes at the bottom for daily activities.  See Monday “BB 6:15”  That reminds me we have baseball practice at 6:15 that day.  I have to have this constant reminder so I know how on task we need to be.  Sometimes if Big Daddy is off I’ll sway from our boxes & take more breaks & come back to them in the evening – only to realize we have an activity planned for that evening. 

It would be nice if it were color coded, but time has not been an abundance around here lately (I’m saying that as I’m blogging when I should be making dinner – LOL). 

I’m still trying to figure out how to schedule boxes according to the time frame.  For example I need the Mustangs to be on a box that is independent while Momma’s boy & I work on his reading together.  If anyone finishes slower or quicker than anticipated – IT IS ALL MESSED UP!  Which then brings me to the schedule cards – Not so sure they are helping or making me more annual.  I will admit, I am a little frustrated with them.  I have a activity tab thief crawling my floors which doesn’t make matters any better!!  Ahem, Truman!  Not to name any names or anything. 

I’m not discouraged yet.  Just getting more creative.  So look for a revised post of our system soon!

Please feel free to leave any suggestions in comments or let me know how you are planning for your boxes.

Thanks!

Workboxes : OURS

I am so excited to FINALLY share about our workboxes with you! 

I heart IKEA!  The Trofast system from IKEA is perfect for workboxes.

I decided to with this style for our set-up for several reasons:

They look much better than a shoe rack :)The vertical style is a great space saver for multiple kids!

I love love love the self on top for books.  This shelf is adjustable/removable.  I use this as a “cubby” for each of the boys stuff/books.  This is very convenient for preparing their workboxes.

Even more room on top for more books!  I use this for our Animals & Their Worlds study.  I have organized the top into stacks for: teaching guide, just the mustangs, all 3 together, & just for momma’s boy. 

The bins can easily be exchanged out for a different size.  I have been following a hot topic on the Workbox Yahoo! Group over what to do when the material won’t fit in the box.  This system has the capability of using several different size bins.  It also happens to work great because much of our centers are stored using this same system in our playroom, making it very easy to just change out bins & add centers to their day. 

Even my lil’ buckaroo has his own workboxes :)  Who has discovered he can slightly pull the boxes out & use them as stairs & climb on top of this workboxes! 

I was a little slow to catch on to all the details of the system & I’m still not sure I didn’t it “right.”  I permanently numbered the bins.  Then I put a round velcro tab on each side.  One is for special instructions like “work with mom” & the other is for them to place the corresponding number from their daily strips.  I don’t have them stack the bins when they are done (like Sue suggests) because they don’t seem to need be overwhelmed with their school day.  I just didn’t find it necessary for us.  Right now adding their numbers to their bins is enough of a visual for them.  If it ever becomes an issue I may just have them turn the bins the other way when they are done (hiding the side with the numbers).  A pile of bins just isn’t an option with Truman cruising around these days.

I used Rag Tag Cowboy digital scrapbooking kit to design my daily strips.  I like having the day all laid out on one card & multiple days make it easier to schedule the fun stuff in & rotate through our centers or other activities.  I will say that at this point, I’m on the fence about how well this works with little ones.  They get frustrated with flipping through the cards.  Ideally a chart would be best for them, but my wall space is extremely limited right now.

I added a cover sheet to “check in” & another one in the back to “check out”

I printed out each of their pictures & added velcro to the back of them & to their “time cards.”  They just stick their picture on which ever card applies.  I was actually really surprised at how excited they get about this. 

 

On each sheet is 15 squares with velcro (I should take stock out in velcro!! BTW, it does NOT stick to cold lamination!!!  If by mistake you laminate with a cold laminator you will HAVE to sand the spot you want to stick the velcro at.  I’m just sayin’.)

I fill the squares in with our daily activities & the workbox numbers: 

In her book, Sue suggests giving your children HELP cards to reduce the amount of times you are interrupted.  I LOVED this idea, b/c momma’s boy is always interrupting me when I’m schooling with the mustangs.  He is very sweet about it & isn’t conscience of how often he does it.  This was a great way to encourage him to make sure he really needs help before he interrupts me.  I give him 4 “HELP” squares each day.  They are also velcroed to the back of each daily strip.  For each square he has at the end of the day, he is rewarded with a quarter in cowboy coins for our school store.

I was not very organized when making my activity squares & wasted a lot of time printing extras or making ones for activities I had not considered, but I FINALLY got them done. 

    

Another big topic amongst workboxers is where to store all the little squares.  I got my storage idea from another blogger who used a $1 schedule pocket from the dollar section in Target.  Guess who had one laying around, not yet used?

Next week, what’s inside our box?!

Workboxes: The RESEARCH!!!!

Once I decided to use the workbox system in our homeschool I began doing a little research before I set ours up.  Here my research:

*I’m just going to warn you:  This post is ALL over the place & there is A LOT of rambling & has lot’s of these !!!!!!!!

Click HERE for all kinds of workbox info:  Explanation, Set-up, Printables, a peak into other schoolrooms with workbox systems, workbox ideas, & sites.

Check out Heart of Wisdom's Workbox Directory – FANTASTIC!  It shows a picture next to the link for the blog!

Workbox Yahoo! Group

What's In The Box has ALL kinds of suggestions, ideas, & discussions regarding the workbox system.  I love the scheduling ideas!

Homeschool Share Workboxables – WOW!

Walking By The Way has FABULOUS workbox ideas.   *This is the first blog I ever read :)

Leslie at Joyful Mother of 6 Children has an amazing amount of workbox ideas!  I am still drooling over all her preschool activity bags!

I found my daily “strips” at Ginger Snap Shots.  (*BTW, I LOVE HER SCHOOLROOM)  You can check hers out HERE.  I downloaded her grid here & printed it out on cardstock. 

Love these Clock In Cards!

I am using my planner to schedule my workboxes, but I really like Homegrown Mom's Master Schedule!!!

Limited on space?  Check out how Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations set up her workbox system.

I love everything about Sweet Simplicity’s workbox system!

 

Next Wednesday: Our Workboxes!!!!!!

Sue Patrick’s Workbox System

Okay, (Big Daddy is reading this doing his cheerleader stance making in fun of me!) . . . I have to admit, when I first read discussions on Yahoo! Groups about Sue Patrick's Workbox System I was totally NOT for it & had no desire to implement this latest fad in the homeschool world into MY homeschool.  Nope, NOT ME!  Mom’s were fantasizing about scheduling their kids entire day in workboxes!  Toothbrush & all!  I just didn’t see the independence in this kind of “pampering.”  My opinion was, “you wake up, you eat, you brush your teeth, you begin your day.  You don’t need a box for those things!  Do I seriously need to lay your entire wardrobe out for you every day?  I can go on & on, but to say the least, I did not see the benefits & thought of more dependence than any independence – AT ALL!

Then I began homeschooling MUSTANGS . . . & had a baby who quickly is turning into a toddler that climbs tables.  This type A, over planner, scheduling nutt, momma NEEDED HELP.  I was desperate.  I just couldn’t be in 4 places at one time.  It seemed that the minute Momma’s Boy & I would sit down to work together (after getting the Mustangs & baby occupied) I was being interrupted with a “what’s next?!” 

Then a few weeks ago I stumbled upon Confessions of a Homeschooler.  One of my readers, Melinda?, suggested I visit her blog & I got sidetracked, then I was redirected there AGAIN a couple days later.  By chance you think, or by grace?  Anyway, I saw her set up & how she was using them & decided to JUST buy the book.  LOL  -- I LOVED IT!  Here is Sue’s description of her book:

“This book will teach you how to organize and structure your homeschool in a way that optimizes time, space, effort, planning and independence. With this system, you and your children will move through your homeschool day more efficiently and with greater understanding than ever before. The way you teach will be fun for your children and more rewarding for you. You will be able to spend more time having fun with your children and less time on the “business” side of homeschooling. Once you have this system in place, you will truly wonder how you ever homeschooled without it.”

These are some excerpts from Sue’s book that really stuck out to me:

• You will find yourself missing almost no school days with this system and needing far fewer “teacher workdays.”
• Homeschooling is hard work and it’s a serious job. Homeschooling is not what we do when we don’t have anything else to do. It’s not what we do when we’re not doing laundry and cooking and cleaning
• I am not interested in helping homeschoolers figure out how they can do their laundry, cooking and cleaning while homeschooling their children. I am very interested in getting homeschoolers to focus on homeschooling—period. Isn’t that what you want your children to do?

Sue offers very helpful suggestions as well.  Here are some of my fav’s:

• An “I need help” card.
• It’s a good idea to have a list of what group time will entail to help keep them interested.
• It is very beneficial for children to have a routine
  in which your expectations are clear and also includes
  plenty of visual reminders.
• A “wait” center. This may be either a special area with special educational toys that are not normally played with, or it may simply be a separate table with a puzzle, K’nex or special project. It shouldn’t be so involved that they won’t want to leave it once you are free to work with them. But it should be involved enough that
  they won’t feel slighted when you are busy with another child.

After reading Sue’s book, I became one of the “people” she describes in her book, “People have understood the system and its potential benefits immediately and were motivated to begin tomorrow.”

Here is a sneak peek at our workboxes (I’ll explain soon!)