I will confess to being quick to be intrigued by new systems, eager to implement then, and fast to fizzle. I think I first heard the word “workbox” about a year ago, and I took one peek somewhere online and immediately ran the other direction. As much as I love the way the system seems to work, I’m so darn afraid of trying something and failing at it a quarter of the way into the school year.
Not that I’ve ever done anything like that before.
Ahem.
So when my friend Susan bought Sue Patrick’s Workbox System, A User’s Guide, and asked me if I’d ever seen it before, I chuckled. I said I had. I said I wasn’t all that interested.
But here we are, two weeks before our school year is to begin and I’m finding myself thinking more and more about it. There is something very intriguing to me about the system and I’m wondering if I might actually be able to pull it off.
I came here to the Homeschool Classroom tonight to confess to all of you that I’m just a teensy bit afraid of the whole thing. But while here, I did a search of this very site and found Amy’s insightful post on making the workbox system work for you.
I think I might be able to do it her way.
But what say the rest of you? Yay or nay on the workbox system? Why or why not? Have any of you tried it and found it not to be all that and a bag of chips? Has it been just the ticket for solving world peace in your homeschool situation?
Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.
Megan has been homeschooling since 2001. She keeps a personal blog at Half-Pint House and writes bi-monthly for WORLD Magazine as a family and education commentator and has more recently helped launch the MODSquad.
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We started with work boxes and that evolved to wall pockets. We love them! You can search “wall pockets” on my blog if you are interested.
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I must admit too, that I have never even clicked on the links about workboxes! I don’t even know what they are. I have a system that seems to be working for me, and I guess that it why I haven’t read about the workboxes. But, I am still intrigued….I think that this time I will click on the links! Who knows? I may make some changes in my organization.
I am all about making things work for us, but I admit the workboxes intimidate me. I see other people’s workbox spreadsheets and I get sick to my stomach. Amy’s system made sense to me too, but I’m waiting until the little one is a little older and needs books to try that system. I might have to get that book and see other ways to do them. I think our biggest challenge is finding one system that works for both the second grader and the 2 1/2 yr old.
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I used workboxes for about half a school year, and then I found it to just be too much work. But, 2/3 of my kids are upper elementary, so it could be that I would have felt differently if I had a lot of littles. Now we just use assignment sheets each day (printed on scrap computer paper), and it seems to be working out really well.
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We’re trying workboxes for the first time this year. I have a 2nd grader and a 2 year old. My 2nd grader loves them so far and it’s been a help to my 2 year old to keep her entertained while 2nd grader is working.
So far it’s working for us….. we’ll see as the year progresses.
I don’t use workboxes in the strict fashion that is laid down in the booklet. A lot of the stuff in there strikes me as very, VERY rigid and that is not the atmosphere I am trying to create with my kids. Not to mention that with little kids, I already feel like my house is being taken over by red and yellow plastic – I don’t need even more bins cluttering up the place.
However, I have adapted some of the ideas in a way that really suits us. I bought some file-folder wall pocket charts that I use for all our workbooks. I pretty much let my son choose the order in which he wants to work, and he knows when the pockets are empty, we’re finished. It has helped with the “How much more is left” whining because he can see how we are progressing with his own eyes.
I can see how it might be really great for larger families, but with two kids, I don’t really need all the velcro tabs and work-with-mom or have-a-snack slips Sue recommends. I also keep only schoolwork in the pockets – I know some people put fun activities or surprises in a few of their boxes, but I let my kids access those things during the rest of the day.
I think there are a lot of REALLY great concepts in the Workbox system, but also that (in spite of the vehemence of the booklet), it is really customizable to individual families.
(see here: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Insights-Classroom-Organization-Center/dp/B000LLEA5Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I22I5GAJLF3DQ8&colid=XSDMZG8H9E5H and here: http://notinadequate.com/2010/08/08/not-back-to-school-our-school-room/)
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I have been using workboxes for my two boys (6th and 4th grades this year) for over a year now. I absolutely love them and particularly enjoy how they have helped my boys be more self-directed in their independent work. I wrote an article about all of the advantages of the workbox system for our homeschool – perhaps somebody might find it useful:
http://tobebusyathome.blogspot.com/2009/09/advantages-to-workbox-system.html
Samantha from To Be Busy At Home
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It is intriguing–I read about it allll the time–but I really don’t see the point in using them. We do fine without them, and they also seem like they take up a lot of valuable space.
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I love the system and it sure has solved all the battles of how much we have let to do and so on. We had to adapt it to a hanging folder system because we just didn’t have the floor space for anything else. My son (7) loves the way it works, he was looking for more structure going into 2nd grade work and this did the trick. He knows exactly when his breaks are and likes the cool tabs sending him to different work stations around the house. I don’t actually put the snacks into the folders just the break-time label, he gets his snack and once he sits down I start the 10 minute timer for breaks and 1/2 for lunch.
His confidence has really grown because he does independent work a lot more now and even on assisted lessons he’ll ask me to leave while he tries it himself first. I’m very grateful to have found the system.
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I thought the same thing you did, that I was going to spend all this time and money on workboxes (and it is a lot of time, all that laminating and velcroing) and then it would all fizzle. But that was in March, so it’s been…4 months or so and I still love it. You can see my workbox story hereBut here’s what the system has done for us:
-Fostered tremendous independance in my oldest. This is my clingy girl…the social bug who loves to be with me all the time. Once we implemented workboxes, she went from doing one subject independantly with a fair amount of coercion, to being happy to work on 8 of 12 boxes alone. This was huge for us.
-Motivated me to actually fit in all those subjects, crafts and activities I never seemed to find time for before. When you have 10 or 12 boxes to fill, you need to find stuff to fill them.
-Gave me time for my preschooler. Going from 1 student to 2 was not that big of a deal, but trying to toss my son into the mix when all three are using a different curricula would have been terribly chaotic. With workboxes, I can use a schedule and a timer to ensure that everyone gets time with Mom–even the baby. It’s a little more “school at home” than I ever imagined for our family, but since baby #4 was born I’m finding a need to be a lot more organized than I was before.
-Makes the kids happier about their schoolwork. They love knowing that they’ll have a break, or a group activity. They love seeing “play with the dog” or “time with baby” on their schedule strips. And they are excited in the morning to peek in every box and see what’s there. More importantly, they don’t wait on my direction. Right after breakfast, they know it’s time to dig into that first box, and they don’t have to wait on me.
-Keeps me accountable. I have to fill the boxes the night before, or they’re angry with me. We have far more productive days now than we used to.
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I use a workbox for my 5-year-old. It is a lot of work but it helps us stay on track and helps me balance her needs with her 1-year-old sister. We don’t follow all the strict rules laid out in the system. I just plan what I want to get done on a given day, divide that into 5-7 “assignments” and put them in the boxes. I put the things she likes most (like art and science) right after stuff she’s not thrilled about (writing, workbooks) to help motivate her. It works for us. It’s a really flexible system that you can adapt to your own needs and your kids.
I started with it last year. While I’m not fully following Sue Patrick’s layout, I do like having the boxes to store the day’s work in. My daughter can clearly see what comes next and can grab the box needed.
Good luck with your upcoming school year!
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I’ve attended the webinar and have the book, but I’m still gun-shy about implementing them. They DO look great, I’m just trying to figure out how to do them while schooling 4 kids. We do some of our subjects together, but they still require A LOT of one on one instruction with me. It’s our first year homeschooling, and that’s probably why. We’re still doing review as I try to figure out where exactly they are. It’s not a whole lot of, “here, take this, read from here to here and complete the pages…” type of work going on around here yet so I’m kind of at a loss on how to use work boxes with that! They look great though!!!
We are on our second year of using workboxes, and I love them as much for me as I do for the kids. I don’t use the complete system at all. I use a variation that works for us and fits my personality and teaching style – we don’t take off the numbers when we are done; I only use 6-8 for each kid; we don’t have as strict a schedule. But it’s great because my daughter’s Native American materials we need for history are all in one box, all her math lesson manipulatives and supplies are in one box, all her reading activities for the book she is reading are in one box, and so on. For my preschool son, his letter of the week activities are in a box, his math game is in a box, the fiar book with activities is in a box. My kids are fine with them, but I love them because it keeps me organized and helps me prepare the night or week before so that I have all the supplies and books we need ready to go and in the right spots where we all can find them easily. I haven’t started them yet for my toddler, but I am ready to do that soon. If you haven’t tried them, try them for yourself as the mom and teacher! They help me get on top of my game, get prepared, and get ready for activities that I probably wouldn’t do in the moment if I didn’t have it ready to go in a box. I know some people use folders, but because I like to put all the supplies we will need for projects or games in a box, especially for preschoolers or toddlers, the boxes work better for me. Don’t be afraid to try them – you don’t need that much of an investment to get started – the plastic dollar boxes at Walmart, somewhere to put them (shoe rack from Target if you don’t have shelves), and you can make your own velcro stickers to go on the front (if you want to.) I think it does as much for the mom as it does for the kids.
We use a variation of the system. I actually used it long before I had ever heard of workboxes! Mine are simply baskets with various activities (for the preschoolers) and subjects (for the 1st grader). The main thing I like about it, is that it forces me to be organized. It also helps me remember to include games, puzzles, etc. that I often forget we have! My girls have learned to move through each box in the right order, so I don’t have them move numbers from one place to another or have a specific chart. I tried that, but it made me crazy redoing it every day! I try to plan what is going in to my baskets at the beginning of the week, so I have it all out and ready when I need it. Some times I just need a break, so some weeks we don’t even use it! We’re pretty flexible compared to the actual “system”.
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My experience is pretty much Krystal’s, so I won’t repeat all that. :)
We started ours about a year ago and so far plan to stay on it. In our case, my oldest has Asperger’s and is highly visual and also highly unorganized (typical traits), so the workboxes work for him in a way that a simple checklist does not. (A very good friend and long-time homeschooler uses a checklist for her sons, two of whom are about my son’s age, and that works great for them.) I admit, ours would run more smoothly if I were 1.) more organized about filling some boxes with a greater mix of “fun” stuff, instead of – right now – only what they have to do each day, and 2.) keeping a strict “you need to finish all the boxes or you are not done for school yet” attitude.
But good luck with your discernment! I think they are a boon for some families, maybe most families can get good benefits out of them, and for others they are not necessary. A lot depends on the personalities of both the teacher (mom/dad) and the child(ren). My friend I mentioned above? She is a highly driven and very well organized person. Me? Not so much… which I know is why it has been a help for us personally.
We purchased the entire workbox system at the 2009 curriculum fair. I was so extremely excited about the whole program. I still like the program, but I guess you’d say that I never used it exactly right. We rarely have all of the workboxes filled. I don’t do all of the spreadsheets and such either. I’ve just found it to be too much work for me. I do think that the kids like seeing everything laid out and knowing when their done for the day. One of these days I may get the urge to use the program as I’m supposed to.
I tried workboxes last year, and they did not work for us. It was simply overwhelming to fill up 72 boxes each evening. Many classes are “group class”, especially history and science and I couldn’t figure out how to make that work in workboxes. Two of my kids have shared books – one’s at the beginning, one’s at the end – and there was fighting over who got it. Eventually we tried a modified workbox, with core subjects (spelling, math, grammar) not included and done first, and then doing the workboxes but that didn’t really work either.
I use pencil pouches for the little one’s activities and that works much better.
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I took one look and knew it would not work for us. It’s too like a public school cubby or centers system to me. I like to work alongside my daughter, and it seems that one of the points of the workbox system is to get your child to work independently. Of course that is one of my goals, but I don’t need boxes to get there.
Now with that said, there are plenty of moms who LOVE them. GREAT! I say use what works! We are all different. Viva la difference!
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