Have you guys seen Sue Patrick’s workbox system? It looks like a great solution for our family! Basically, you get 12 boxes, and put your kid’s school work in them, incorporating that “fun” stuff you never seem to get to. It seems everyone is doing this, and there’s even a weekly carnival, too!
I would love to do this. So often, we don’t do the art project or craft or get to the library book I checked out because life with littles intervenes. I think this will help the kids be more independent.
Except. I am very attracted to the Montessori philosophy, even though we don’t do a lot of classic Montessori works at our house. I like freedom within limits. The littles choose their activities and work on them until they are done.
We have spindle sticks and a moveable alphabet, but I don’t use the Montessori curriculum for my older children. Frankly, the golden bead material scares me. Are workboxes Montessori compatible? They could be.
After all, a key component of Montessori is a prepared environment. When works are presented, along with everything needed to complete it. There is no hunting through the medicine chest for the tweezers, digging through the cupboard looking for small bowls, and reaching under the couch for the little pitchers. It’s all there, ready to go, so a child can work with it independently.
Workboxes function the same way. The entire activity is prepped ahead of time. If the activity is nature journaling, the colored pencils and notebook are in the box. No fumbling around on cluttered shelves looking for the box of colors or digging in the junk drawer looking for a pencil sharpener. It’s ready to go, so the child can just get to work.
Another issue – I’ll have 5 official school children next year, plus Miss C who will turn 4 in November and I know will want to do preschool. Workboxes would be perfect for my pre-K and Kindergartner, actually.
But. I would have to fill 72 boxes each night. SEVENTY TWO! I struggle to find time to shower each day, let alone fill 72 activity boxes. On the other hand, I’ve seen so may adaptations and mutations. Some mothers of large families use manilla envelopes, which would certainly take up less space. Many of our activities would simply be the next page in their math book, or spelling binder, and an envelope would be fine for that.
Do you workbox?
I’m rolling around how I can incorporate the workbox method. How do you organize activities?
Veronica (3)
kat (2)
Kristin (2)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (2)
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I just came across this too. I am going to try it. I am teaching 5 also. I want to use the plastic bins becase I like the size and being able to see through them. I am going to spread the bookcases out. Two in the dining room andto in theliving room. My older 11th grader,won’t need to use the system.
I also like the idea of limiting the # of questions. It will aid the kiddos in being more
independant and prioritize.
I just discovered Workboxes yesterday and am also wondering if they will work for us. We’re using the Robinson Curriculum this year (along with a few other things) and I’m not sure how it will work. Anyway, Workboxes sure do seem the new thing in homeschooling, I’m reading about them everywhere…lol.
Last year I came across Lapbooks and fell in love with them. But my boys HATED IT! Wondering if this is the next big homeschool fad or if it will help organize on a long term basis.
I am working on it. I am using 2 5 drawer Sterilite rolling carts per child. I almost have them set up. I have actually just put their math, or religion or another little project in them and the kids really like them, especially the one that is least organized. I think this may work for us simply because I am a visual person. I mean out of sight, out of mind for me. So when I see those empty workboxes, I know I will remember to get ready for the next day. So with 4 kids (10,6,5,1 graders) I am looking forward to this coming up year.
My boys hated lapbooks as well. I think it may appeal more to the crafty types. These guys hate art class. But workboxing teaches skills everyone should know. I am anxious to get mine done.
Me too! I’m without a car and can’t wait to get to OfficeDepot and BigLots to get my supplies! I’ve moved the school room to a larger space (our family room is now a school room – no couches, but plenty of shelves!) and cleared off shelves.
In the process of moving, I found SO many resources that we haven’t been using, including Art with A Purpose, a book of kitchen experiments, a book called Geography Projects for Fun, and several liturgical craft books. I found packs of stencils, fraction manipulatives, and story prompt cards.
I’ve also been trolling my bookmarks for file folder games – I have several freebies that I never printed out. I joined the workbox yahoo! group but I’m scared to open the emails – my brain might explode from all of the great ideas!
That workbox yahoo group is something. I have started just browsing the topics (I get the digest) and clicking on the topics that are of interest to me. Otherwise I get really bogged down.. I need to get to the store so I can finish the workbox system and take picture for my blog.
I plan on doing a workbox system that will help me fit in all of the various items that seem to slip through the cracks. Our kids all have some type of special need, with various things they should be doing through the school year. Our workboxes won’t have math papers or anything like that, but it will have auditory processing items, or rapid naming practice sheets, visual processing games, Occupational therapy exercises, and such. I plan also to slip in a fun workbox item every so often
Something like an index card reading: “Grab your brothers, run outside and jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes.” They’ll do a workbox when they have completed the work I’ve assigned them at the moment and have a few minutes before I can work with that child directly again. I plan on having about 10 boxes total to choose from daily.
I’m considering a version of this for this fall myself. My kids are almost-14 and almost-11, so actual boxes aren’t necessary, but I’m thinking about maybe hanging folders. One large box, and one color of folders for him and one color of folders for her, with the subject labels across the top, of course.
I wouldn’t have room for boxes even if I only had one child and they were young enough for the boxes to be a good idea. Folders will work much better. If I even do this, LOL.
Have you considered just making up 5-10 (or however many) “Montessori Workboxes” that are ALWAYS made up and you just rotate them out? You may need duplicates of some things but man, esp w/ littles, if you can JUST GET IT DONE once and tweak as necessary I’d think it would go really well.
As they “out grow” some activities, you can just replace that box w/a new “kit” so to speak.
Here are a few more workbox activities you can make on your own and and use
http://sharonscreativecorner.com/autism-activities/
Sharon
Could you give me some ideas on how to get them to work more independently? Would workboxes work for us? Something else? It seems like I have to hold their hand for everything. Many things we actually do have to do together. They do MUS well independently. That’s about it
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