Back to Square One: Workboxes -- My version

If you have been homeschooling recently, you've likely heard this term. The idea was developed by Sue Patrick.

This video gives you a good idea of the workbox system...

Work-boxes seem to have taken homeschooling by storm and we all have our own way of doing it. I am going to share with you how we have adapted the idea to suit our needs and space. I will also share with you some of my absolutely favorite resources for workbox ideas, info, etc.

Before we get started, you should know that I have not read Ms. Patrick's book. My system was developed based off of information I have found online.

The system basically consist of:
Work-boxes
Schedule Strips
Number, subject and special instruction tags
Something to store your tags in
Velcro (lots and lots of Velcro....at least when you have more than one child. lol)

First and foremost are the actual boxes...

I bought these boxes through Overstock.com. The general purpose for the drawers is that you are able to fit everything a child will need for each task into the box. We do not have that kind of room so I went with something that doesn't take up as much space. The only thing that I imagine will not fit into these drawers are large games but I have come up with a solution for that.

These are our game cards. I will be laminating them. If there is a day when the kids will be playing a game I will toss one of these into their box and they will go pull that particular game off the shelf (which happens to be next to the workboxes).

Teglene (a fellow blogger) came up with a different and brilliant way to use the workboxes and getting her children to work together on different projects/activities. I have adopted this idea for our home and here are what our tags(which were created in Microsoft Office) look like:

Your tags can be for anything; subjects, chores, time limits for activities, outdoor play, reading, etc, etc, etc. The only limit is your imagination. I did not make my own tags (other than the ones I've already posted). I found mine on Homeschool Creations.

I decided against schedule strips and trust me, I am so glad I did. After cutting out, laminating and the re-cutting a hundred or so little boxes I do not want to cut anymore than I have to. lol Instead I created a table in Microsoft Office with 12 boxes (4 columns, 3 rows). Each of my children picked a different colored paper for their schedule sheet. The numbers on the front of their boxes correspond with their schedule sheet so they know which boxes are theirs.

Orange is Bryce's color. So he will always know that these are his boxes. I stuck some of the tags to the boxes so you can see how it will look. I am going to have to add a third Velcro dot to each box for the special instruction tags.

One thing you should know if that there is a lot of prep work to getting this program implemented. Fortunately, you only have to do it once.