Just like when I taught 4th grade and there were certain buzz words, there are buzz words in the homeschool circle, too.

And right now workboxes seem to be a big buzz word among homeschool moms.

So I decided to check them out and see what all the hype is about.

At first, it seemed to me that workboxes were used to fill the day with tons of worksheets for the kids to do and then once they were done with their workboxes for the day, school is over. That didn’t really appeal to me because Little Bug is not a worksheet learner.

But then I kept researching about workboxes and I decided that maybe I could find a use for them in our homeschool.

The whole idea is to have a set of drawers and then you place each assignment that the child is to complete for that day in the drawers. Then the child works through their boxes. There are all kinds of printable workbox system sets out there so that you can make little stickers to indicate to your child that they need mom’s help with this workbox but that workbox can be done independently. I began to see the big picture and realized that for a mom with multiple children that she is homeschooling, the workbox system may be a lifesaver for her in organizing everyone’s daily assignments. I’ve read that it keeps down the “Mom, what do I do next?” questions because the children just keep plugging through their workboxes for that day and they know what is coming next. And I saw that workboxes are not only used for worksheet work and can be used for just about anything.

And that’s when I decided to purchase a little 6 drawer workbox system for Little Bug. And, actually, I think this is more for me than her because I am planning to use this as an organizational tool to organize our daily lessons. Although I think this might be a good system for Little Bug too because she will learn that her daily activities are in her boxes.

Right now, I’ve got the first four lessons of Ready-Made Preschool in the top four drawers. We will start that on Monday. And then I was thinking I could put math lessons in the bottom two drawers. And now I’m thinking I might buy one more set of 6 drawers to have one set be for RMPK and the other set be for our math activities.

Then I will fill the drawers with everything that is needed for that day’s lesson. Little Bug can go to the drawer and pull out the items and there will be no question what we are doing that day. One problem I’ve had with Little Bug is that she wants to do anything but what I’ve planned. And while letting her choose what she wants to do and explore what she wants to explore is a huge part of our homeschool, there needs to be a balance between her choosing what we do and her being happy with what I’ve planned for us to do (because what I’ve planned is FUN and there is no reason for the attitude, Little Bug).

I tried the workbox method for the first time this afternoon and things went pretty well. This was actually a Saxon Math K lesson that I tweaked and supplemented some other activities than what was written in the book. (I am still not 100% sold on Saxon Math. More on that eventually.)

I explained to Little Bug that our activities for the day were in the green boxes (we were doing math activities).

She opened the first drawer and found this:

We read the Playtime Shapes book talking about the different shapes. I had cut out four circles and four rectangles. After reading the book we went on a Scavenger Hunt around the house looking for circles and rectangles in our house. She taped the shape onto the object that she found in the house that was the same shape. She loved this activity and wanted me to cut out more circles and rectangles!

After we finished with that activity it was time to go see what was in box 2.

We played the Colors and Shapes Bingo game and then she matched the shapes using a dry erase marker.

After we completed those activities, I let her choose an activity on her own. She chose to play with our Wikki Stix. It was her first time playing with them and she loved this activity!

            <p>We are finishing up our 3rd week of homeschool this week and overall things are going well. I am really looking forward to starting Ready-Made Preschool next week. She peeked in one of the RMPK workboxes for next week and was thrilled to find PAINT. This girl loves to paint and she can’t wait to see what that box is all about next week. It is actually in the plans for Day 2, but I am going to switch things around and let her do it on the first day. </p>  <p>These first three weeks of homeschool for me as Teacher Mom have been a time for me to figure out Little Bug even more and see what the best methods are going to be for her as far as “doing school work” goes. These three weeks have been very relaxed and laid back and I want to keep it like that. This is <em>preschool </em>after all and I don’t want to look back on this time with my girls when they are so little and wish I had played with them more. Apart from continuing to work on molding and shaping their hearts to Jesus, my number one goal this year is to make learning fun for my girls. </p>  <p>I am still trying to figure out our schedule and when we will do what. I know it will all fall together once we get started on Ready-Made Preschool next week. I am not sure if we will alternate the days we do RMPK and our math activities or if we will be able to fit a RMPK lesson and math lesson in each day. I have decided that our two blocks for “school time” will be 30 minutes during Room Time and 45 minutes after Sweet Pea is down for her nap and Little Bug is still up. And, the Room Time block won’t happen daily because, at this age, I feel there is still tremendous value in Little Bug having her complete 60 minutes of Room Time. So, we will have 45-85 minutes of concentrated “Learning Time” daily (well, four days a week). Friday – or whatever one day of the week it happens to be - is reserved for outings, appointments, errands and Field Trips with the Preschool Homeschool Group we just joined. I will write more about this group later.</p>  <p>And, now, it’s the weekend! Can I just say that I can’t believe it’s already September! I know I say that every month but the months are zooming by. Fall is right around the corner although our weather would suggest otherwise. But it will be fall before we know it. I am looking forward to pulling out the fall decorations for the first time in our new house! That is on the agenda for the middle of September and I can’t wait!</p>

- Elaine