Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Blink and summer is almost over!

I don't know if the speedy passage of time is a good thing or a bad thing?! For one, I've accomplished very little in regards to house cleaning. It seems that something always takes priority over, well, anything to do with washing windows or cleaning out cupboards. Shocking, I know.

I do love Fall, and we have a big milestone coming up. I will have two kids in school. Or rather, the one in school and the other will be homeschooling for grade 1. Grade 1! These kids grow up way too fast.

So, Izzy is as good to go as she can be. Finally potty trained. Can write her name, knows her alphabet, has an healthy obsession with books, etc... Alex needs some extra guidance this year. We have turned that corner where he would probably turn on the Wii before reading a book so I will have to help steer him towards more scholarly pursuits as the new school year comes around.

If you are a homeschooler and browse homeschool websites you are probably familiar with the latest craze - work boxes. I think it was started by a woman named Sue Patrick - or at least she is the first one to market the system. Since then, there have been many versions out there posted on various blogs and chat sites. The idea is that each child (in my case, Alex) would be set up with a number of work boxes. Some people use shoe boxes on a rack, magazine holders on a shelf or drawers from plastic bins. Each day you put in work, activities and games in different boxes. The kids work through the box and then you are done for the day. I like this idea but I am trying to think of the simplest way to implement it. I know that anything that takes too much effort will die off in a few weeks.

I was thinking about what I could do with such a system. There would be daily requirements such as piano practice and math lessons. I could mark off the pages I want done with sticky notes. It would force me to plan more concrete activities on a daily basis. Plus, whenever he gets in the 'I'm bored, tell me what to do' mood, I can just say - have you completed what is in the drawers? I love it in theory. The problem is putting it into practice without overdoing it. I have a bad habit of over complicating things in life.

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