Our Workboxes

Before I dive into explaining what workboxes are and how I set mine up, let me just say that these workboxes are AMAZING!!  Davin has been so excited to complete his boxes and work toward his little reward breaks.  I feel just a little silly for not implementing this earlier.  I've actually had all the supplies since the beginning of the school year, but it was tucked away in the closet (where it didn't get used!)  Now that it is out and situated where we actually use it, it has been SUCH a blessing!

If you're not familiar with workboxes, they are basically a way to organize the school work that needs to be done for the day.  It's a great visual for seeing how much progress (or lack thereof) has been made in the day and also is set up so that kids can work more independently and develops their responsibility.  Inside the boxes can be the typical daily work, but also educational games, flash cards, puzzles, etc.  There's so many possibilities!  Here's some sites with more information:

• http://www.squidoo.com/workboxes
• http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/need-to-get-organized-check-out-homeschool-workboxes/
• http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-were-using-workboxes.html

Here's where I got the workbox picture cards:

• http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/files/Workbox_Picture_Cards.pdf

Here's how I set it up:

• I used three Sterilite 3-Drawer Organizers stacked on top of each other.  I got them at either Target or Wal-Mart and they were around $10 each.
• I printed the workbox picture cards, laminated them, and used velcro dots to attach them to the front left of each box.  I have many different subjects that can be interchanged and used (Art, Latin, Nature Study, Bible, Math, History, Piano, Music, etc) .  
• After each third drawer, I put a "reward" on the right side, such as: computer time, free reading, play outside, puzzle, etc.
• On top is just a school supply container with pencils, crayons, colored pencils, markers, and so on. 

A closer look at the drawers, with the "Math' drawer pulled out:

When the subject is completed, Davin simply pulls off the card and puts it on top of the workboxes:

In case you're wondering where we store this, it's right in the corner of our dining room, where we do most of our school work at the dining room table!