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Workboxes?? or some other kind of system? What do you use?
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I used workboxes last year for K with now DD6. It worked with the pieced together bits we did but this year I am not sure if it is a help or hinder to us and our progression.
I sometimes want to go to some plastic bins with lids to clump all the stuff for the subject together for that week but then common sense tells me our house can’t handle that amount of boxes of the appropriate size. We don’t have a ton of storage space, I could get rid of the work boxes to make room but I don’t know what would take their place though. Currently the workbox/drawer stand on rollers is on the other side of the table and there is only enough room for DDs to get to them when anyone else is sitting in a chair on that side.
Any ideas for YR1 storage/sorting/organizing would be appreciated.
I used to use a three pronged report folder with page protectors in it for my kids. I’d put their assignment into a page protector or the page protector would have a sheet in it that would read, “do one math lesson”. It worked well for us, but we’ve kind of outgrew it with what the kids are doing now.
Now each child has a cardboard magazine holder from IKEA that is their own. It holds their daily books (tho since they are older, the science books and math books are too fat to fit so the are just stored on the bookshelf), so most of their daily things go in there and I can plop in a map or other item that they need to do independently. It has worked well and the holders are stored on our bookshelf in the homeschool room.
My kids are a little older than that (4th&2nd) but what I do is give them each a box to keep their workbooks in, a shelf (or last year it was another magazine file box) for their books, and a notebook in which I write their lists for the day. I divide their list into 3 sections, a ‘with mom’ list, a list of writing/skill subjects (handwriting, math worksheets, etc), and a list of the non writing stuff (typing, practicing their instruments, math facts game, independent reading, chores). They work through their lists alternating between list A and list B, this alternates types of work to help them not get tired out, but they get to pick what they want to do next, which they like. I have one kid who does all the hard stuff first to get it over with, and another who procrastinates. But even the procrastinator can’t put the hard stuff off too much because of having to alternate between the two lists. When the toddler takes his nap, we drop everything else and do the ‘with mom’ list. This is stuff that I need to teach one on one, math, reading, spelling. While I work one on one with a kid, the other kid keeps working on their list.
Rebekah,
I like your idea of dividing their checklists! I will steal that and implement it when we change checklists…..(assuming we’re nearing the end of our Lice Adventure and can actually get back to school instead of spending all our time combing heads! 🙂 )
Hmm I like the idea of placing the individual subjects in a magazine holder or such. I think I might get rid of the workboxes, even though they were found at such a rock bottom price, and have the husband build a console with two shelves to fit just right into our area.Then the two kiddos can have a little space of their own on the shelves and I would think it would look at lot less cluttered, which is a distraction through the day. Might go with something like the X console on Ana White’s site http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/rustic-x-console The more I think about it the more I like this idea 🙂
The Ana White bookshelf is darling – I want one now too! The magazine holders I got are cardboard ones and they held up great for the school year. One took more of a beating than the other ones, but some packing tape fixed it. I had them each decorate their holder with markers and they thought that was pretty cool. Here are the ones I got ($1.99 for 5 – a steal!) ~ IKEA FLYT magazine holder.
P.S. I should add I didn’t use one holder for each subject, tho you could. I just put all their books and papers in one sans the big textbooks that don’t fit. Those go on the bookshelf, but they each know what is missing from their box.
We are on a “tub system”. I have a bunch of plastic dishpans from Walmart. I keep all the materials for each subject in its own tub. I keep our current books, teacher’s guides, supplies, etc. in the box…basically we just grab our box and get started on that subject. I have a few multi-subject totes (one for language arts, one for fine arts, and one for history/geography). Other subjects have their own box. Books that we aren’t currently reading just go on the bookshelf. When our tubs aren’t being used, we put them on a plastic storage shelf.
It’s not the most space-friendly system…we previously had a small 3 shelf bookcase with those collapsible nylon storage bins (one per kid and one for me). It took up far less space and worked well when we did school in our dining room.
We use a magazine holder for each kid also, plus a shelf for the books that don’t fit. Last year we used some binders but they don’t fit, so this year I divided stuff up more and used 3 prong folders instead so they fit in the boxes.
We tend to use a morning basket with all of our family subjects and then the kids have workboxes in their room(s).
Their workboxes have 3 drawers each. 1 drawer is for individual subjects (copywork, logic, geography, reading and comprehension).
The second drawer is for individual subjects that they do with either me or my husband (language arts, special projects, reading time with mom, etc).
The 3rd drawer is their homework drawer that they have for the week.
I also have several “tickets” that they get in their drawers each week which include music, art and foreign language that they do 1-2x per week each.
When they were younger I included a snack ticket that they could redeem anytime before lunch when they were ready, it worked out wonderfully. Now that they are older we don’t use it but I did just get asked this week when I was going to make up their new snack tickets!
I am enjoying reading how everyone organizes their school for their family. Thank you so much for all the examples of how it is done in your homes 🙂 I think the addition of a small two shelf console and then a small side table with a shelf below in our living room where we do our family studies will be of much help. I think the workboxes will have to go but the shelves and magazine holders will do well in keeping me more organized and the children able to get to their items easier, they are very difficult to get into right now. I think a tub with a lid will make itself useful for our science experiments, so all the items are caught in one area and I don’t have to gather them and try to keep them together without a proper place for them. I am excited for this change. Now to tell my husband I need him to build a couple consoles–Ack!! 🙂
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