Where to start?

Well. the work boxes are ready but I am not *starting* school until the 14th. Alex will be doing the pioneer camp all week and I think that they are gradually admitting the kids into kindergarten, meaning she will not be in class every day next week.

So I have a week to get things together. I've been working like a maniac cleaning and organizing the house. I mean, I know I have about 4 pairs of kid scissors around but they are upstairs, downstairs and heaven knows where else. So, I think, wouldn't it be nice to find all the stuff hidden around the house and when I need scissors/glue/tape/etc. I will be able to find it asap. Nice in theory, huh?

I know I need to focus on Alex's writing this year. Rob is upstairs right now working with him on adding and subtracting three and four digit numbers. He can do it. He just doesn't write it out very well. I don't expect him to be a perfect writer but I don't want to hinder other parts of his learning because he can't write well. Doing a science experiment is great but having him write anything down about it is excruciatingly difficult. I admit, though, that my big concern is the 'what if something happened and he needed to go to school' mentality. They would probably ignore all the things he excels at and focus on the few things he lags in.

That makes writing a priority this year. Everything else seems to be quite flexible. Which is good and bad. I sit here wondering where do I start? What should we do? Sometimes I wish a curriculum fairy would just drop off a list for me. I should probably just start by getting off blogger :-)

My Take on *Those* Work-Boxes

I have spent about a month thinking about the work-box system. I've browsed a ton of sites. I've made lists about subjects to cover and what types of activities I could put in the boxes. Mostly, I have been trying to figure out how to make that system work for me.

To start with, I love the idea but didn't like many aspects of implementation. I took my favourite ideas from a few other homeschoolers using the system and made up the rest to suit us. The numbered system, for example, seemed too regimented for us. I know Alex would just look through the drawers and do which ever one he wanted to do first. We are also very visual and I wanted pictures to tell Alex what he was up to that day.

So, first I had my list of subjects and activities. Items like math, science, history, geography and social sciences were a priority. Also included were items piano practice, art, construction & building and reading. I came up with 20 categories. I also made 3 work with mom cards and 2 need assistance cards.

After deciding what categories to use, I headed over to the Discovery Education Clip Art website. I found corresponding images to my subjects, printed them to size in black and white, then coloured them with the kids' pencil crayons. I purchased some self laminating sheets, multi-coloured bristol board, velcro strips and ring clips then went to work.

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I am using a bin with seven drawers because (1) that's what I already have, (2) it takes up less floor space (which is at a premium) and (3) no one is tempted to throw unrelated things into the open bins as we (meaning me) are apt to do. There are, however, eight spaces on the completed sheet. I made an extra one for piano practice. It didn't need a drawer because his books are on the instrument but I will add an extra velco sticky above the top drawer to remind him that that is on the list too.



There are two velcro pieces to each drawer. The ones on the left will hold the activity/subject tags. The ones on the right will be used for the work with mom tags or left available for Alex to affix the need assistance card, should that come up.




I will keep the subject tags in a box for my evening preparations. Attached to the side of the drawers will be Alex's laminated sheets to affix the completed tags as he works through the bins.



We haven't put it into practice yet, so I know it will evolve along the way, but the idea is that Alex will need to complete all the drawers before the end of the day. This will give him some control over what he does and when and it gives me more control over what he is doing (academically). If a drawer remains unfinished then it will roll over to the next day. On busy days, the work load will be lighter. We may or may not implement some rules like three drawers before Lego or five drawers before Wii. We'll see.

I am excited. I feel more organized but not so much so that it feels like unsustainable micromanaging. Alex is excited too. He is already bugging me to start filling them up. This is good. It will keep us both on our toes.