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For those interested in our home school journey, I’ve started a new blog at growingngrace.wordpress.com. To prevent Homekeepers from becoming a home school blog, I just had to start a new one. That way, Homekeepers could remain devoted to tips and encouragement for the home, and all my news and resources for homeschooling could find the right audience.
If you are interested in our family’s journey or needing some encouragement and direction for your own, check it out. I’m excited to share our journey of grace with you.
I’ll start by saying that this is not a homeschool blog. But because homeschooling has recently become a part of my daily schedule, it makes sense that it would become part of my blog. That said, my most recent homeschool discovery has been the workbox system of organizing your homeschool day.
I came across this idea quite by accident, and without really knowing that’s what I needed. Until I found it, that is. Then, I immediately knew that’s what we needed. After floundering through myriads of worksheets, wearily giving up, guiltily beginning again and floundering some more, I knew our pre-homeschool (since we are just at the pre-school stage) was in desperate need of some assistance. God heard my prayer.
Basically, the workbox system is a set of 10-12 drawers (or 12 files if you are using the space saver version) that are numbered. An accompanying grid of 12 empty squares is posted in front of the child’s work area. After the child works through the assignment in one drawer, he pulls the number off the drawer and attaches it to the grid, proceding to the next drawer. Then, as if the self-paced possibilities aren’t enough, the drawers don’t have to only contain schoolwork. Drawers can also be filled with educational games or motivational rewards. The work and fun are interspersed through the drawers or files. The result–a fun-filled day of surprises!
As I read Erica’s blog Confessions of a Homeschooler and her use of the workbox system, I had one idea after another for how we could use the system. I envisioned worksheets neatly arranged through the files (so that my four year old didn’t have to color four pages in a row). I envisioned folder games and books hidden in some folders, with crafts and skill-projects hidden in others, a granola bar sandwiched in between phonics and numbers, a happy note slipped in with the handwriting pages… I wasn’t just brainstorming; my brain was having a party, complete with confetti and streamers. I quickly ordered the space saver files and began printing off my folder games and workbox templates.
I’ll tell you how it goes. But if any other homeschool mom is totally stumped and despondent, check out this video and break out the M&Ms (’cause a brain party has to have some of those). I think you’ll like what you see.
Update: To see our workbox stations in action, check out our school room on my homeschool blog.
