Workbox Update

I still love workboxes. I have found it's a little challenging some days to make sure I am not needed by 2 or more kids at the same time...unless we are doing something together anyway. I am getting better at the timing of it all though. I thought I would share a few assignments from today's boxes.

Let's start with a few of Betsie's boxes. Betsie is three. She is not required to do school yet, but if I don't keep her busy, it is REALLY hard to do any work with the other two girls! One thing she did today was match little foam numbers to a chart with numbers on it. This activity was from a preschool bag swap I did a few years ago. We have a similar activity for letters.


In the box pictured below, we did a sorting activity. That blue circle folds up like the red and yellow ones in the box. For older kids these make nice ven diagrams for comparing sets. For preschoolers, they make a nice easy way to sort items. We sorted unifix cubes by color. Then we counted each group. We made a stack for each set and compared the length of each stack. We also wrote the numeral representing each stack on an index card. Betsie thought this was so fun. She has no idea how much math she did today.


Betsie also got to play Memory with me, read a book, play with Little People, fold washcloths, and watch a Signing Time DVD today. I know she did a few more things, but those are the ones I remember right now!

The next two boxes show a little of what Mary, my 2nd grader, worked on today. The box pictured below shows our current read aloud, a biography of Gladys Aylward. I read a chapter out loud to all three girls while they ate their snack or worked on a different quiet activity. They love this time and so do I.


The box below was a math activity for Mary. She had to use the straws (which had been cut into a variety of lengths) to make several quadrilaterals. She also did the dot-to-dot activity. I put those in the same box because they were both quick activities and she was not doing 12 boxes today. (She is receiving tutoring and on tutoring days, I give her less work.)



Some of Mary's other work included a map activity, learning about animals in the arctic, and reviewing Bible verses we have memorized.

Now for a couple of Rachel's boxes. Rachel is my 5th grader. Yesterday I got this American Girl Minute Mysteries book with my Rainbow Resource order. I found it when I searched for logic items and I thought she might enjoy it. It says it is for ages 8 and up so I do think it's a little easy for her. If you have a sharp 7-9 year old girl, these might be perfect. You have to read a few pages and solve a little brain teaser. Pretty cute just-for-fun activity.


Rachel also had her spelling in one workbox. Not a fun activity, but it's got to be done. Love Sequential Spelling by the way.

Other things in Rachel's workboxes included paper dolls for Russia, a note telling her to research and sketch St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, math, and a few of the activities I mentioned for Mary.

We love this system and I am so thankful for it!

My Workbox Peeps

Here are some other blogs discussing the workbox system.

Leslie has several posts on workboxes: Post #1 , Post #2, Post #3, Post #4, Post #5

Jessica adapted the system to fit her large family without taking up so much space. Read about that here.

Ami has some helpful posts on her blog. Check out her sidebar on the right for about 5 different links, including tons of ideas and free downloads!

Seriously...I love this system. Betsie is SO happy to be included with her own work. She fizzles out before the 12th box, but she hangs in there for most of it. I have been putting in a DVD for her last box and leaving that time to work with the older girls on something that isn't as easy with a little one around. That has worked nicely.

The workbox system DOES TAKE SOME WORK! I am getting faster and smarter about what goes in the boxes, but it does take some time depending on what you are wanting to do. But the payoff is so great. Spending a little time yesterday to put the baking soda, vinegar, and clay in a box last night meant that we actually made a volcano today. And I didn't have to walk around for 10 minutes saying, "Now where did I put that clay?" Just sayin'. I love how this is working for me (and many others), but not everyone will love it and that is okay. But I do hope someone will find this info helpful!

More on Workboxes

Wow, I love this system already! We got so much done today and the girls loved it. Two out of three even told me so...with the third working happily and without complaint.

A few details:
* The workbox system is kind of like a visual to do list for children. They can look at their shelf and see how much work is left to do and what has already been accomplished. No more, "How much more until we are done?"

* This system makes it easier for the teacher to remember to add in the fun stuff. Things like games and crafts that you always mean to use but never get around to.

*My kids were more independent today than they have been in a long time...or maybe ever!

*It is so easy to break down a complicated assignment into smaller parts with the workbox system.

*It is also easy to review previously taught material. I am putting an addition worksheet in my 5th grader's box tomorrow. Though she is already doing much harder math, she could use a review to make that harder math go a little faster for her. This will be an easy assignment and she will still do her regular math.

*My preschooler was kept busy and productive today which made school time happier for all of us!

*This system forces me to have everything ready to go before we start. No more scrambling to find an item we need and losing their attention while I search for something. Everything we need is right there in the box.

*It doesn't matter which curriculum you are using. This system is very flexible!

Here is a close-up of one workbox. Notice the "work with mom" card. When the child gets to this box, she knows to bring it to me and we will do something together. Velcro pieces are a BIG deal with this system and that is how the card is attached to the box.

I hope to do another post soon with links to lots of other blogs about this system.

Workboxes...I Am Officially on this Bandwagon

The ladies at the Five in a Row boards have gone crazy over workboxes since Leslie introduced them a week or so ago. Count me as one of the converts. Workboxes is a tool developed by Sue Patrick that is a useful way to organize a school day. First, here is a picture so you'll know what I am talking about.

Basically you use between 6 and 15 shoebox size clear boxes to assign and organize a day's worth of school work. Each child has a shelf with 12 boxes and they work their way through the boxes sequentially. The ones pictured above are Betsie's boxes (preschool). Here is what she will be doing tomorrow.

1. A shape worksheet (She asks for stuff like this so she can feel big.)

2. Handwriting Without Tears wooden letter pieces

3. Teddy Bear counter sorting activity

4. Book she is always begging to read that I usually try NOT to read because I am sick of it.

5. snack

6. Coupons and scissors (not the ones I actually want)

7. Alphabet stamps, paper, and ink pads (I try to have all necessary materials in the boxes.)

8. Dry erase board and marker

9. Story Bible

10. blocks

11. Before Five in a Row book

12. DVD

Here are Mary and Rachel's boxes:

Mary (2nd grade) will be working on these 12 activities tomorrow:
1. Reviewing the Lord's prayer
2. Science (Usborne book)
3. Reading Made Easy
4. tangrams
5. book basket
6. sight words and a snack
7. Math game
8. calendar activities
9. science coloring book
10. Math lesson
11. More of the Reading Made Easy lesson (This system makes it easy to break longer lessons into less overwhelming parts.)
12. Read aloud

Rachel (5th grader) will be doing these activities:
1. Review the Lord's prayer
2. Science (See Mary's #2)
3. Book basket
4. tangrams
5. Sequential Spelling
6. Health and writing activity (Using The Care and Keeping of You from American Girl)
7. Handwriting practice
8. Read the Times Tales stories (multiplication/division review activity) (Easy to build in review with this system)
9. Make geography cards
10. Math (Teaching textbooks)
11. Presidents thingy that was in a chick-fil-a kids meal
12. Read aloud

More on workboxes soon! Gotta go to bed!