Workboxes are wonderful

Now that we have using the workboxes for awhile, I have to say that it is a wonderful system. Who would of guessed that a plastic container with a bunch of drawers would make school so much easier. Bug is loving the choices she gets to make.

My system is tweaked to meet our needs. We have 7 drawers compared to the suggested 12. Not that I would mind having 12. Cost of a larger drawer was considerable and I wanted to make sure it worked for our family before I put to much money into it. I won't complain because, I think Bug likes the mixture of things in the drawers. I let her choose which item she wants to do first. The only thing I don't let her have a say in is when we have a game or craft. She knows we have to do other stuff first. Some days I surprise her when she is being focused and we are moving along at a good pace I tell her she can choose which one to do first. Unfortunately, Bug is hard to get back on track the majority of the time so we have to have some ground rules with the boxes. Little man and Sierra on the other hand have a little more freedom in that area unless, Bug is in the room and they already understand that the games and crafts (which usually include Bug anyways) have to wait. They know Bug wouldn't understand why they get to have more of a choice in that area. Maybe one day Bug will have better attention span and I won't lose her if I do the games and crafts first. As you can imagine I have to put those in the last drawer. This is what our drawers usually look like.

1st drawer - bible and memory verse

2nd drawer - All About Spelling and a portion of language arts-usually this is Explode the Code or Daily Language Review.

3rd drawer - Math U See or a portion of Horizon Math 1

4th drawer - Sonlight history, Sonlight geography or Handwriting without tears and a snack. This is also when we do our passport and map work.

5th drawer - Sonlight read-out-louds and more language arts usually a portion of Sonlight or First Language lessons. Which, includes our lapbook for FLL. Phonics if we didn't already go over it in Spelling. I use Teach America to read and write by Frank Rogers.

6th drawer -Sonlight reading, or the electives we don't do everyday

7th drawer -God's Design for science, Mystery of History and crafts and games(I don't do these everyday) and other electives if needed

We also do lapbooks, history pockets and notebooking. Depending on what we are doing. We also do some file folder games which for the most part Bug will keep on focus.

I also do the workbox cards and I will have her go jump on the trampoline or the scooter for 5 to 10 minutes. She gets excited with the cards and has to announce it to the whole house.

I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. It has made our days more productive, calmer and alot funnier for everyone. This mom has more sanity!