Our Workbox System

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I know that the school year is almost over, but I wanted to be sure to post about our workbox system.

Let me just say that I LOVE the idea of Sue Patrick’s workbox system. Although I have not read the book, I have done ALOT of research on it and have checked out ALOT of bloggers who have implemented the system or their own variation of it. Well, we have found something that works for us and I love it and so do the kids…and we have been at it for at least 6 months now.

So, the idea of eventually having 60 shoe boxes (12 for each of my 5 kids) was very daunting to me. Flat out…I knew that I was NOT going to be able to do that! So, I saw this post from Color Me Orange and came up with my own variation. Each child has ONE box and 9 bags (12 seemed like a bit much for now). Here is what our setup looks like:

I purchased Sterilite boxes (like the one to the right), velcro dots and bags. (I found my bags at the Dollar Tree…3 bags per box.) I love these bags because they have handles on it and they are see-through. So, I printed my number cards and activity cards from Spell Outloud…two copies of each number for each child. Each child has a different color. (In case I didn’t tell you, I have my kids color-coded. Once the little boys are old enough to have their own box, I will be adding green and red.) I covered them with clear contact paper (this was before I got my fabulous laminator) and used my circle cutters to cut out one set of numbers for each child. I cut the other set of numbers into rectangles (too lazy to do more circles) and taped them onto the bags with clear tape. I attached the velcro dots (with the fuzzy side) to the boxes and onto each of the bags. I put the other dots (with the hard side) onto the circular number cards. So, that is how I got our set-up prepared.

This is how it works. The night/day before I prepare the bags. I have a spreadsheet that I fill out with our plans for the week. {This is VERY key for me…I have to plan at least a week in advance!} I put a number by each assignment/activity to correlate with what bag number I want it to be. If I have all of this planned out ahead of time, it makes filling the bags super easy. In fact, when there is down time for me while the kids are working, I refill the bags as they complete them.

Okay, I think I am jumping ahead. Let me back up. So, I fill the bags and put the appropriate amount of numbers on their bin. The next day, after Bible and Calendar Time, the kids begin their bags. This is what it looks like. Any big stuff that will not fit in the bags goes at the end of the bookshelf.

The kids go and take out bag #1 and get to work. While they are working on their assignment, they put their bag under their desk. (I found the desks at the surplus store of a local university for $3 each!!!)

 

Once complete, they put everything back in the bag and take the #1 circle card off the bin and stick it on the bag. Then, they hang up their bag at the end of she bookshelf. (Hint…don’t waste your time trying to use hooks from the Dollar Tree…they will NOT hold up…trust me…I tried. I ended up purchasing 3M 5lb hooks and they are working great!)

The kids continue this until they have completed all their bags. I have special cards which I also printed from from Spell Outloud (I made a few of my own too) that have special activities on them. These are activities that the kids will all do with me in the afternoon…like science and art or they are individual activities that just don’t fit into the bag…like computer and practicing piano. The individual activities go on that person’s bin {take a peek at the very first photo and you can see that KJ has some individual activity cards}, but the group activities go up on our group list. So, in the pic below of our group list, we have already done Bible, Calendar Time; we have read together and we have done science, but not art.

 

I have said, that for me, out of sight means out of mind. So, I made this group list to remind me of what we need to do in the afternoon. I also have a bin that I use to put everything that we will need for our afternoon activities. I put a velcro strip on the side of it. While preparing the kids boxes for the following day I prepare this bin as well. (See below.) I put the activity card(s) on the side of the box as a another reminder of what needs to be done. Once we have done each group activity the kids take the card off and go put it underneath the matching card on our group list.

 

As I mentioned, sometimes I am able to fill some of the kids bags during down time while they are still working. As they complete a bag and hang it up, I am sometimes able to grab a few {in between helping, assisting, and teaching the older three…and keeping the 2 year olds out of trouble} and get them ready for the next day. As I do that, I have my own little “station” where I put the bags that are ready to go for the next day. Here is what it looks like. A hook is on the side of the little file cabinet so that the bags stay out of the way.

 

This way, I know that if a bag has made it to this hook, it is already loaded and ready to be put in the box for the next day. As I am reloading the bags, I remove the circular number so that I can grab them quickly to adhere to the bags for the next day. Once I remove the circle numbers I put them in a little hanging thing that I found at the Dollar Spot in Target.  This is what the spot looks like. {So, in this photo my daughter has completed bags 1 and 2 AND I have already re-loaded them for the next day. She is still working on bags 3-8 OR they are hanging at the end of the bookshelf waiting to be re-loaded. She did not have bag 9…hence the 9 is still hanging up…does this make sense?}

As I am working with the kids, I keep my spreadsheet handy so that I can be reminded of what is next for the kids, plus I use it to re-load the bags while the kids are busy. I also wanted to mention that when I plan assignments and activities for the kids, I find that having the spreadsheets makes it ALOT easier for me to plan so that in general I don’t have two kids needing my help at the same time. So, KJ may start with an assignment that requires my help, but I make sure that I schedule the bags so that the boys should be working on something that they can do independently. Make sense???

So, this is our set-up. Please feel free to ask any questions. Hopefully I explained it well enough, but I do tend to be wordy….like I said, let me know if I need to clarify anything! Finally, I can’t say enough how much I LOVE this system. I no longer get the “Mom, what do I do now?” questions, because the kids know what they should be working on!!! I love it!!! It has SOOO drastically improved our homeschool day! We get so much more done! It is great!!!

UPDATED: Have more questions about our Workbox setup? Check out my Workbox Q&A! While you are at it, check out the Workbox Tags that I eventually created!