I've been bitten by the bug. I don't usually pay any attention to fads and trends in home schooling~ I've found that paying too much attention to what everyone else is doing can really get a mom off-track and mess with her budget. So, I'm generally slow to make a big change. But Sue Patrick's Workbox System caught my eye a long time ago, and I've been mulling it since.
The concept involves clear plastic boxes that mom can use to divide up a child's school work into small chunks. Each child has his own set of boxes handy to his school desk. Each box contains every item needed to complete that task, along with any instructions. The child physically removes the work, completes it, then puts it in a "Done" basket. This allows the student to watch her boxes become empty as she works, feel her progress and see her accomplishments as she moves through her school day. It's a great visual and hands-on system that fosters self-motivation and orderliness for each student. Besides that, it looks way cool. And who doesn't love a nice, neat, organized school room?
Now that we've taken the plunge and decided workboxes can work for us, the kids and I are spending this week reorganizing the school room, sifting through resources, tweaking my online planner, and setting things up. We are still a happy Charlotte Mason family, so the tasks in our workboxes will still follow that methodology. And we will have one set of workboxes that will organize the many subjects we all do together, just like always.
I'll have some pictures up soon to show you the changes we've made and why the kids are so excited!
Do you workbox?
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3 comments:
We used to Brenna but stopped pretty much. I do like the system and tweaked it to fit our needs but we do so much together right now that it ended up being more work for me.
We've been workboxing for over a year now. I think the main advantage that I've found is that it keeps me on track. In the past, I've tended to let some subjects slide while others (usually history) get more than their fair share of the school time. It also helps when I have to leave during the day to help take care of my Mother. My son (12 yo) can go through the boxes on his own & just save the ones that he can't do independently until I get back.
Janet W
Janet W
I've heard of it. Can't imagine having so many boxes for my large crew, though. Will be interested to see how you like it.
My kids all have daily assignment sheets. So, they just check off the assignments that are completed, which is a good motivator for them.
Laurel :)
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