Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: desk apprentice, Independent learning, independent work, storage systems, wonderfile, workbox, workboxes

This topic has 13 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 3 months ago by caycecronk.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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January 11, 2013 at 5:48 am
caycecronk
Member
Was wandering if any of you have tried or are using the workbox system in your homeschool and what you guys think of it. Does it work well with the Charlotte mason approach? Was thinking of trying it out next school year but for now my son is very dependent on me to work with him
January 11, 2013 at 2:04 pm
ruth
Participant
I use a modified workbox system. While it was designed to make the child work independantly I still use it while I work alongside my ds. He is a beginning reader and so I still do all the readalounds for history, science, religion, literature, math i explain what we are learning and then give oral problems. About the only thing he realy does independantly is his copywork. But even though I have not used it for the independance I still really like it and so does my son for the visual cues, the sence of accomplishment he feels when completing a box and the organization it provides to our schoolroom. I will be definately using this system throughout our schooling years as it works really well for our family.
You can make it as independant as needed by how much you tweek your curiculum to be child friendly. Sue Patric has a web tutorial on curiculum tweaking.
If you are interested in how I have modified the workbox system in our family I would be happy to share. One of these days I will make a video tutorial to put on youtube.
January 11, 2013 at 2:14 pm
TailorMade
Participant
We use a “modified” version of the workbox storage system for our cm style Ed.
I have a “table of contents” (TOC) binder, that keeps our plan for the year in tact and up to date. Our youngest two DC each have a Wonderfile that stores folders for their work, including their own copies of TOC for math. There is a folder in each pocket (or two) and spelling/math flash cards have smaller pockets. A place for their weekly chore charts is even in this briefcase type storage. Their math books are kept in a Desk Apprentice on the kitchen table along with notebook paper, my TOC & home management binders, etc. The living books that we use for the year are kept atop the piano that sits in out kitchen/dinette area.
I like this set up because everything is in one place. Copywork, dictation, geography maps, reading lists, and more fit nicely in folders within the wonderfile. It is a bit floppy, but it has been much easier for taming all the folders with the expense and space issues of the large storage bin systems.
Hth,
Becca<><
January 11, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Tristan
Participant
We have done workboxes for a few year in a few different ways, until this year, when we moved out of workboxes and into assignment sheets. It was wonderful to help children learn independence for a few subjects. I have blogged about each version of workboxes we did with pictures even. You can get to all those posts from this page on my blog: http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/p/workboxes.html
January 11, 2013 at 3:08 pm
crazy4boys
Participant
We have used them for a few years. These are my posts. For this current year, all 4 boys are doing them. The oldest have a printed sheet that tells them what they need to do for the week, broken down by day. If they want to work ahead they can. All their work is held in a plastic milk crate, divided by or in hanging file folders or small binders . The 2 youngest each use a plastic tower with 6 drawers. They have Pokemon velcro stickies on each drawer to show them what needs to be done next. The older boys used the towers when they were younger, but decided they wanted something they could cart from room to room.
January 11, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Sara B.
Participant
We tried it once. It was OK… but with both kids in school at the time needing to be read to, it was easier for me to just have everything on a stack on my desk to go through each day. They couldn’t do it by themselves, anyway. Now that a couple of them are slightly more independent (especially 1), I *could* potentially do it, but for me, it’s much easier to just give them a list with all their books on their respective desks. Not to mention, with 4 children, I don’t know where I’d put all those boxes. Takes up much less room to just have a stack of books and a list on top. 🙂
I looked at the posts Tristan and crazy4boys linked to. I will take a look at them a little closer later, but I like how they have adapted them to fit their particular homeschools. I especially like the idea of rotating through all the different “cool stuff” we have so that things actually get *used* instead of sit on the shelves taking up space and collecting dust. LOL I might be stealing that idea. 🙂
January 11, 2013 at 9:44 pm
Rebekahy
Participant
Sounds like you maybe just have 1 ds, so maybe this review won’t be relevant to you, but perhaps it will be helpful to others that stumble upon this thread. I found this review to be helpful and genuine and don’t intend to start a debate, but just post for “another” point of view. It seems the main two issues I remember from this review (I read it a while ago, but remembered it) was how long it takes to set up for a larger family AND that the goal is independence from that parent (my loose phraseology from my memory).
http://raisingolives.com/2009/10/sue-patricks-workbox-system-review/
That said, I KNOW that Tristan has a large family, so perhaps anyone disuaded by the above review could check out her blog for how to make it work!
Blessings,
Rebekah
January 11, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Tristan
Participant
Rebekah – had to chuckle! I think she makes valid points in her post at Raising Olives. I mentioned some of those in one of my posts (my official review of the ‘system’). It can become a lot of work. I got around that in some of our variations by putting an entire week’s work in a folder when we used hanging file folders and a note telling the child what to do each day. In essence, it was a precursor to our assignment sheets we now use.
I still think workboxes are a great way to give preschoolers defined activities for during table time, but my 6th grader grew out of workboxes and the 1st and 2nd grader do fine with assignment sheets.
We moved to more living books/CM and less printed out pages to do, which also made the need for workboxes less.
January 12, 2013 at 2:23 am
Wings2fly
Participant
I do not use all of the boxes, but rather one clear box with a lid and handles and easy to carry with you, 15″ X 11 1/2″ X 3 1/4″. I have a weekly assignment sheet broken down by day and then subject that I made in Excel. I have in there his copywork, ETC, math practice sheets, and readers. It is basically the 3 R’s. But we do a math lesson together later, and then family lessons. He is in 3rd grade and this is the first year I started it and it has worked out great for us. For the reader, I have another “subject” for narration called “Tell mom what you read about”. So he has to come and find me and give me his oral narration when he is finished reading. He can ask me any questions he needs to and I check it later that afternoon and we go over any mistakes together for corrections. This was a mixture of ideas based on the workbox system and http://www.urthemom.com/Self-Learning.html
January 12, 2013 at 4:25 pm
TailorMade
Participant
Because we are cm in nature at our house, we do better with the files for their individual TOCs/assignments. The only real “stuff” other than these sheets are notebook/computer paper, pens/pencils, flashcards, and maps. So, it’s must less storage to manage. Composition books for nature study easily fit in there, too.
After quite a study on Montessori years ago, I did organize the kids toys on shelves for the boys’ room and in bags on pegs in the girls’ closet. Dishes, etc. are kept in lower drawers in the kitchen for help with table setting and clean up. Any nature study finds are kept on the window sill. Without a lot of worksheets and manipulatives, we don’t need the storage bins. We do have small marker boards that fit in their laps for all sorts of practice. And, I do have a nice little container for our timeline cards (Veritas Press).
I think the “system” used depends on space, materials used, and lifestyle. I’ve had friends incest lots of $ into the workboxes only to find they weren’t utilized because of methods and curriculum choices. It’s worth thinking through before the investment. :). Another friend loves the system, has the room, and even uses a similar setup for herself.
Becca<><
January 13, 2013 at 2:05 pm
amyjane
Participant
I use the workbox system but only for organization purposes. I found that switiching from one subject to another often caused my boys to get distracted. So I have boxes and a chart. Each box has a number stuck to a magnet on it and then they have a chart basically like the workbox system. Every night I fill the box with the next day’s work. Many days I don’t have to switch out stuff. If the box is piano lessons, for example, I just put a notecard in the box. Each boy has a set of boxes and we have a set of family boxes as well. So all I have to do is grab the box and move on to the next thing. So I don’t use it for busy work. I just use them to help the flow of the day as well as foster independence in the boys. They can see from their chart when they get a break and such. So the system works well for us.
January 13, 2013 at 3:33 pm
suzukimom
Participant
I used it our first year or so…. first with larger boxes, and then with fileboxes (because I “lost” our schoolroom) I found some benefits at first – my visual son could see exactly how much there was to do…
But, we moved further and further away from it – and moved more to “to-do” lists (from the organizer) – and now we are closer to planners. I still use the organizer for tracking what we have done, and for me… but the kids like having most of their stuff in a weekly list and they chose when to do what.
January 15, 2013 at 12:30 am
chocodog
Participant
Wasn’t on when when this posted. I thought I would say that we use them also.
I like the fact that they can do the next subject but I think I would like to go to a homemade folder now. We do use a folder when we or my children will be away from the house. I will put their subjects in a traveling file folder and then they can take it to work with their dad. This way it gets done or they don’t have the privilege of going with him the following week. 🙂 I also have a chore chart that each child has in their color hanging on my fridge. It has velco on each side so they can flip them over when they are finished with the work.
I also put velcto on both sides of the containers. This way they have the number on the left. On the right I put another workbox card. Ex.. Science poster or history. Then, they have to do whatever it is that day for that subject. I thought I could put it in book form though and I might be able to put some of their chore cards in the slots also. (just a thought in process right now)
I do like them though. It helps us stay focused on what we have to accomplish for the day. I also have a container that we work on together next to the table. This has our reading and projects we do together. I usually do Math as their first workbox. This way it gets it out of the way in case something comes up and we have to run somewhere. We are also self-employed and it helps if we have to do something on the run. I can just fill the folders and go. Or we do car schooling. 🙂 Depending on what needs to be done and how long it will take. 🙂
Hope this helps. BLessings!
January 21, 2013 at 3:14 am
caycecronk
Member
Thanks guys! Was wandering how the workbox system would work with the Charlotte mason approach. I have been so disorganized with my first year homeschooling!