Workplans (instead of workboxes)

If you click on the page link above and take a peek at our schoolroom, you'll likely see photos of some drawer/boxes that I originally planned to use like "workboxes".  To be honest, this system did not last long.  I have kept the boxes because it's nice for each boy to have his own shelf with a dedicated place to keep the materials for various subjects.  However, I have never ended up filling the boxes with work to be completed individually by the boys.  Instead, what I have done up until very recently is write out a list of work to be done for the day on an index card.  Each boy has their own card and they can check off each item once it's completed.  This system has worked very well, especially for my oldest son.  He has become much more responsible about getting his work done and can move from one activity to the next without interrupting me when I'm working with my younger son.  One downside to the cards (especially for my oldest son) is that because they are small, they tend to get lost during the day.  Perhaps that seems surprising since we are only using them right in our own home!!  Still, they often get placed under things or taken into another room and "forgotten".

When I decided to move to a more Montessori-based approach to our homeschool, I made some changes to our system.  Now, instead of writing up a list for each day, I type up a workplan that shows what work needs to be done in each subject for the whole week.  I require that they do at least one "work" in reading, language, and math each day.  Otherwise, they can work at their own pace and do the subjects in any order they want.  If they want to work ahead, that's okay.  In fact, I told them that if they finish everything by Thursday, they can have Friday off!!  We'll see how that works.  I'm hoping they will make it their goal to get almost everything done during Mon-Thur each week so we can be more relaxed on Fridays.  Maybe we'll plan field trips then, or maybe I'll let them look through my back issues of Family Fun magazine to choose a fun activity to do on Fridays.

To prevent our workplans from getting lost, I clip each boy's plan onto a clipboard.  My oldest son's board is shown below.

How we're using "workboxes"

When I was initially thinking about homeschooling I came across several blog posts about Sue Patrick's Workbox system.  I really fell in love with the idea of having school work organized this way; however, as I saw others' ideas and thought about how to do it without purchasing a lot of extra containers, I decided to utilize some plastic drawers I already had.

As described on my schoolroom page, each of my guys has a shelf with their drawers and materials.  I use adhesive velcro dots to place a label on each drawer and these may change from day to day since they only have 6 drawers each.  Also, I've decided to only do science twice a week and history twice a week, so those drawers flip flop each day.

As I write this we are only two days in and so far the boys aren't using these drawers very independently in terms of "working through" them.  However, at this stage I am wanting to sit with each of them, especially as they do their core subjects, so I can assess where they're at and then determine what might be most appropriate for them to begin to do on their own.

For now, I'm using some pieces of cardstock that I laminated to write their "assignments" on, and I place these in the corresponding drawer.  These can easily be wiped off each day and reused.

In the above photo you can see one set of my oldest son's drawers.  In the photo below, you can see his "assignment card" along with the necessary materials (in this case, his Reading A-Z book and science notebook).

I guess you could say that for now we are mostly using our "workboxes" to organize their work instead of as a system to increase their independence.  And for now I'm fine with that.  I really like having a designated spot to put all the materials they need for each day.  It seems a lot easier to break that all down by subject instead of having it all glopped together somewhere in our schoolroom.  The drawers are not wide enough for all my teaching manuals, but for the ones that fit, it's nice to be able to stick the manual in the drawer along with a paper-clipped assignment card.  So far, it hasn't been taking me a whole lot of time each night to get the drawers ready for the next day. 

Planning our year

 I decided to write a post about how I'm organizing my planning for our first year of homeschool.  I'm sure as time goes on, I'll tweak this a bunch, but this is what I'm using to start.

I've made a binder that holds several forms and planning sheets.  It will be my "bible" for everything important in one place.  In it I have an attendance sheet for each boy.  I found these at Homeschool Launch.  Next is a section with monthly calendar sheets.  This is where I can write extracurricular activities such as piano lessons, soccer, etc.  Following the calendar sheets are weekly planning lists.  I have a separate lesson plan book that my cousin gave me for free that I am using to write our day to day plans.  These planning sheets will serve as a to-do list for things I need to copy, prepare, and gather for each homeschool week.  I tend to write to-do lists on little scraps of paper, anything I can find, and leave them all over the place.  So I know I will benefit from having these sheets in the binder where I can always find them!!  The monthly calendar sheets and weekly planning lists are both from Mama-Jenn. 

Next, I have a Books I've Read sheet for each boy, also found at Homeschool Launch.  (Note:  You'll have to scroll down quite a bit; it's under the "Organization" heading.) This will be a nice place to keep track of what they read independently throughout the year.

Then I have a section with sight words lists for my first grader.  I have both the kindergarten and first grade lists from our local school district.  Next up are some spreadsheets I made to keep track of the Right Start math lessons for each boy.  When we complete a lesson, I'll check it off and add the date we finished with any additional notes.

At the end of the binder I have a list of "independent choices" for each of my sons.  I think this will be useful for me to refer to either when planning for the week or to pull out during the week as needed to remind me what I can give one to do while I help the other one.  I am planning to write a separate post listing some of the choices on this list.  Many of the ideas are ones I've found on Pinterest this summer.

In the front pocket of the binder I have a menu-planning list to help keep me on-track with planning healthy meals each week.  I'll probably share about that in a future post too.

I'd love to hear from the rest of you about how you organize everything.  Leave me a comment if you have a great planning resource.