If at first you don't succeed...

...try, try again. I was going to attach this to the previous post but I felt like this warranted its own entry. This is my new workbox system I am going to try this year. I think I may have mentioned that I was an Industrial Engineer in my previous life. My mother tells me that I am always analyzing a process. I can't seem to help myself. Anyway here is my new take on workboxes.

There are 2 hooks with these hanging by the door. This will be where each child physically checks in and checks out of school. "Checking In" means taking your hang-tag set down and go to your desk to begin work for the day. "Checking Out" means hanging up your hang-tag with all the little cards for that day turned over (to the back or white side). Read on if you're thoroughly confused right now...



I have each page for each day already loaded and ready to go based on a master schedule I made up (I am using Adventures in My Father's World curriculum). I will use this grid to help me determine what to fill each child's 6 workboxes with. The most helpful thing with using a grid is so that I could see where I needed to stagger the "work with Mom" activities for each individual child. Most of the boxes will be with standard items each day but one or 2 each day I will just throw random and/or fun things. Here are Monday, Thursday, and Friday's daily pages...

Monday

Thursday

Friday

All Week

If you click on the above pictures you will see that there is a hard ("hard on the card" for any of you that have sat in on one of Sue's seminars) velcro dot on the front of the card and the back. This way everything is all self-contained which means no pieces to keep up with so hopefully none to be lost. All the girls have to do is turn the card over when they're finished with that activity.

Here they have checked into school for the day and both girls have completed their Calendar Activities (hence the first square which read "Calendar Activities" has been turned over)


I have re-labeled all of the drawers with permanent numbers. It was getting to be a huge pain for me to bend down and put all of those velcro'd labels back on each drawer. Sounds like I have real problems, huh? But there is another advantage because we found that the number tags were always falling off of the drawers and getting lost in other drawers, on the floor, etc...


Finally, when they have turned over all of the individual cards on their daily hang-tag they hang it back on their hook and they're done with school for the day. They have officially "Checked Out"

Now I'm checking out. Later!