Ok.. so I'm sitting here, in the middle of some horrible downpours thinking it isn't supposed to storm like this at 8am, and that I probably shouldn't be on the computer... but I wanted to share where my thoughts are right now.. or well what supplies I have sitting in front of me..lol. I have a pack of business cards (thank you hubby for not hiding them from me..now they are mine :twisted, a bunch of packs of photo paper, the 4x6 kind to go into a Kodak printer dock.. my dock died and I had 3 boxes of paper and ink cartridges and they don't work in my other printer, a few packs of index cards, a huge stack of manila folders (my MIL works for a health plan in the office and brings them to us because they just toss them out all the time), markers, glue, tape and an imagination... I'm thinking of making the pockets with the picture paper and then using index cards, but have also thought about making the pockets out of index cards and using the business cards as the cards. Who knows what I may whip up... but I will share in a bit
OO I like this, like a TOP SECRET lesson! WHOO HOO We are using this for our TuesdayNight class for the lessons, I am getting the envelopes today if my foot behaves andhaving to set it all up for the peeps who will take over for the summer, TOP SECRET and For your EYES ONly, things will be on there! :love:
Sommer I am getting excited more andmore its fun seeing all the ideas tossed around! i AM THINKING TOO! I have a shelf under my file cart so I can actually set up drawers singluarly or baskets under there ( Plastic) for the text books, with cards on them, and One color on one side one on the other, that way I dont have to strain my weary eyes to see them but one color will also have words of IN, and one Out, or TO DO, DONE! Or something cute like DID IT! kwim? So he can pull them and move them as he uses the boooks then one box/basket gets empty and the other full as he goes through his work too.only I have to make a rule that ONLY TEXT BOOKS go in them cause dds turned into a catch all so I have to goo empty her basket to use it for ds next year lol I can leave the directions to where to find the baskets too if I want to make things more interesting. He really likes solving mysteries soon days when things are getting hum drum I will hide the basket with the books and make him find it... I still want the drawer cart for the supplies though, so gonna look at those when I go for the ennvelopes at Wallys today dh laughed last night he said "Sonow that you are down to one studentyou are finally getting organised?" haha I laughed too cause I have tried and tried but finally we have space, one child takes less! HA!
We use a book shelf (one shelf for each kid) and a check list. It accomplishes the exact same thing, but with less space and each child knows when you are all doing a group project together. It is a lot simpler, and the kids check off boxes when they are done instead of moving them. This workbox idea seems neat, but looks like a lot of excess work that can be more easily done with a simple checklist. But different strokes for different folks, you know?
We tried a check list this past year..... part of our problem was the taking of books places and then they wouldn't be put back. But they wouldn't just leave books - they would leave their copy of the check list.... I'm hoping our version of this will work - especially with the breaks we are having planned in and things like that...... and with high school level work the kid's gotta step up to the plate
I finished my folder "prototype" yesterday, it's not what I had pictured in my head, and need to get some pics of it to share.. but it's basically a folder with 12 pockets, each pocket will get a card of what to do for that "time period". I am thinking I could make 5 (or even 7) of these, one for each day of the week and I could just write the assignments out on the cards and stuff the pockets. I am going to give Garrett 1 shelf on my shelves here by the desk to keep his school books on (crayons, markers pencils etc are in a "kiddy locked" cabnet or everything would be rainbow colored in my house..lol). I will load those folders up once a week, but check daily to make sure everything is done and done right! (I found myself checking half of a math book in April because I don't make myself check at least weekly ). I still like the idea of a single folder that tells him to do X subject Y times a week and lets him work at his own pace.. but I couldn't figure out how many times I think he should do what yet.. so I will have to think on that one a bit more yet.. we may switch to that plan after a few weeks if this is going well and see how it works.
Sommer sounds like I want to see thepictures! I was sitting here today ( my day I dedsignated to set up the file cart thing so I dont have to worry a bout it and can have fun) making up a plan on paper... so basically I have decided I could fit the whole pile of books in less than half side of this cart so .. On the lid I will put my lesson plans--- Weekly, daily , monthlly... then ds and I can mark off the days of the month as well as check off the daily stuff and then weekly as I ( same as you dont do often enough) grade the work I will make a point system for how well he did effort, neatness etc. As we finish these they will be filed in one of the files marked daily, weekly monthly--- Okay on the half with the books ii plan to put so I can see the names, the books, Math-SOS DISC left over work books from DS18 when he was younger. Then History books, both of them, AND the mapworks book that I have for atlas. The English books ( WS, SV VOCAB< and Daily Grams) each in a seperate file cause they are small! I will also put in the Notgrass World History books I have to keep them safe for when he gets to that level. And the literature book that I may use once we get through at least one of his english books. Okay thats only half maybe of my cart so on the other half I am putting CDs/Dvds that relate to lessons of the week/.month and pencils, crayons, markers, whatever is needed for the mnths stuff to get done. Under neath I have a shelf as big as teh cart itself lol, SO I have two basket type bins that I will put the odds and ends posterboards, index cards pens pencils etc that end up all over the house will be cenntralized there. And Possibly the library books to keep them seperate from the rest of our books around the house. If I have room inside there will be Binders for each English Class as well. I hve the skinny ones for those skinny books haha! So It shoudl be clear on top anndhe can use that for his desk! ha!
Oh.. before I forget again, Walmart has the shoeboxes in packs of 5 for 3.50 right now.. I didn't buy any because we don't have room for such things. I'm uploading pics of my folder right now.. have to resize them yet..
Ok, here is the inside of the folder, as you can see the tab is labeled for the day of week, there is 12 pockets, each numbered. The pockets are simply index cards cut in half and taped in (tried glue and staples but neither worked because it didn't allow for enough room to put the cards in). When you are looking at the folder this way, the pockets were made with the lines of the index cards facing like this "lllll". This is a close up of a pocket with a "project card" sticking out. Notice you can see the subject of the card. When you pull the card "project card" out it reveals the lesson. Oh the "project cards" are also index cards cut in half, they are stuffed into the pockets with the lines facing like "=" (obviously :lol. We are doing the Sport Store Business Math from Simply Charolotte Mason.. so this card that you see tells him to name his store and design a logo. Notice I wrote the lesson in pencil in hopes to get a few uses out each card before it wears out. I am going to put a small square plastic bowl on his shelf next to the folders for him to put the completed cards in, so he can see how many pockets he has done, how many he has to go, and with the titles sticking out he has some idea of what is to come that day. He will also learn that just because it says "math" it doesn't mean he is doing an actual lesson.. he may be playing Timez Attack or doing his store or playing a math board game, or something from Family Math, etc. On his shelf I will be putting a folder that will have workseets in that aren't in his books if they are needed.. the "project card" will tell him what he needs to gather from where, and he can't turn the card into the finished box until he returns all supplies to the correct places.
do you lable flders? I dont wanna Lol my kids can see whats what, but for odds n end science stuff , that is my onlyone other than theMAPS one that was already there Lol I think I may order the Physics 1 from Colorado Mom's ezhs, to go with his SOS, we have a couple of short unit studies as well.. keep adding t my job! lol waiting for the pictures hehe
oka I like this! you are getting me all creative thinking! I am thinking if you use some of your tape you could use white board markers on your job cards? I am going with the full card for min maybe even the bigger size 3x5s I think cause I am going to have more directions.. my boy needs more information for where to get what and how long to work on what... so his would read something like - Read page 123 to 125 then answer questions in Activity book page 23 , get map from map file titled Tibet Map and find YAD YADA land. Write its location according to lat and long. that kind of thing anyway I will thent ell him what to do with it when hes done, and how to let me check it hahah! I need to tab his history book though, for the activites and other sections they have in there for ME! I am liking the idea of putting in there to go play this game found in such a file too since I am putting the box in there with all our educational CDs, I may just make a Mystery File and put a card in for that too! See I am thinking I will put cards in one slot, for me, but make them different lengths, So it goes big to small in size... I will make them so he can do the things that are one day one color, two days a week another color ad three days etc, you get the idea? Sohe knows he has a day off of blue say, but has to do Greenn every day
I am rethinking soem things because I really like the looks of your cards... it has numbers to see how many items and everything... thanks a lot Sommer! ha! now I have more work to do today! Lol, I have alrady ptut he books in and am wokring on labeling the sections... I realised that there are tons of tabs in the bottom in colors even, but they dont all fit in the slots so I am sorting them and rewriting titles for the ones that already have something in there.... its looking orgainsed at least for the moment hahah I have to measure my two baskets, I think they may work as I want but may be not...
Ok.. now I want to see pics of where your brain is going..lol. I did want to do full sized cards, but couldn't' get 12 full size into the folder and also have them labeled for the 12 numbers (12 boxes). I will have to try to write on that tape.. it's super duper glossy, so I'm wondering if it's not too glossy. My brain just went to contact paper. I could cover the whole folder in it with the pockets held in place by tiny bits of tape to get it on there and then cut slits in the contact paper.. but then again the contact paper may end up ripping. Oh the dilemmas of a homeschooling mom..lol
I'm enjoying this thread! Here's my two cents of ideas at the moment... (By the way, thanks for all of the ideas! Workboxes themselves don't work for us, but the idea is helping me get more organized!) Sommer- when DS finishes his cards, instead of putting them all in one box, try envelopes with each subject marked on the outside. That way you don't have to search through all of them for a "Math" card- they are in the math envelope. Also, you could try and laminate some of the cards and use dry erase markers to put different page #s, etc. TMom- instead of labeling the folders, maybe different colors for different days of the week? For those of you who's children rush to get to the fun stuff, try a tote or box of a solid color- they know it's special but they can't see what it is. By the way- I use index cards for a ton of things! Love them! MT3
I am out of big cards,they got used for Chemistry flash cards, rats, now I have to go to Staples or Walmart , geee oh wait! 99 cent store has them too right? Maybe I nneed to go there or to Big Lots? ( see how my brain works, haha) if I can get colorful big cards that will work best for me.... I was typing up the lessons for him this year and I knowI went trough alot of ink.. but if I use big manila ( colored) envelopes and cut them down a bit for my holders then I coudl revert to print form if I need to too.. I want to be able to adapt it to work even when i GET LAZY.. and I do get lazy .. thats why I am trying so early for me since school wil get offical on the 8th of September for ds, dd starts the 31 of aug. Me too as I have Drama first class that day.. Ineed to get organised now so I can be relaxed befor it starts up. Okay shopping list---- contac paper, colored envelopes , colored big and little index cards... already have markers and stuff like that... so off I go in a few, I will wait till kids are ready cause I will need them to runaroud the store for me.. Ihate having THIS sprained foot IT IS REALLY A PAIN ( humor R R?) I will take pics when I get it in place, Its only two miles to either store so wont take long!
Love the envelope idea for the finished cards!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with TMom!! I still haven't tried the dry erase markers.. going to go do that now... and make a chocolate pie
I have read about it and like the system but like everyone else, we do not have space for that many boxes. Instead we use a combination of Activity bags and tower drawers. I have a small set of tower drawers (three drawers for each tower) Each child has one tower so that makes for 4 different "workboxes" and then we have the activity bags (that have math manipulatives, small math games,etc.) to choose from. The tower drawers contain worksheets, books and printables.
I have this problem with my oldest! I'm pretty good about the younger ones, but he works mostly independently. I've got to get better at that, because I make him correct any wrong answers! I'm loving all the ideas on this thread!
