Thursday, May 21, 2009

Workbox Update

The last two weeks have been busy. I've had to leave the house for doctor visits (just check-ups), birthday parties and grocery shopping. This really throws the whole day off. Which is okay because Joshua is doing preschool stuff. We pick out letters and animals and colors everywhere we go, unschooling, I think its called. I found The Work of Childhood which has great information on workboxing. These are some questions they posted for us "workboxers" to answer.

JOSHUA is three. NIKOLAS is 19 months.

How many boxes do you fill? 6 for Joshua, 3 or so for Nikolas

Do you expect your children to go in order? Joshua- yes, Nikolas-no

Do you use the schedule strips? I use 24 boxes on one sheet for Joshua, I include his entire daily routine from the start of the school day. Nikloas doesn't have a schedule yet.

How long does it take you to fill the boxes? I try to plan ahead of time for the week which cuts down on filling time, so probably ten-fifteen minutes and I typically fill in the morning. I leave the same activities in the boxes for Nikolas.

Do you fill your work boxes EACH night with all new items? I use Joshua's curriculum workbook and My ABC Bible Verses. We usually having matching, coloring and books everyday but I mix those up.

Do you have some boxes repeat each day so there is less filling/refilling? not so much

What do your kids do with the empty boxes? Joshua puts the boxes back on the shelf.

Do you put away the ‘supplies’ each night? or do your kids? I do, but once Joshua is able, he will be helping me.

Anything else you want to add? We are preschooling, so I use the workboxes loosely but Joshua loves doing them. It also helps me mix up the activities so we're not doing the same things all the time.
Thinking Outside the Box

2 comments:

  1. I think that is awesome-for preschoolers, keeping it more mellow is just perfect. They do not need the full system, and getting him started on it now, creates familiarity-which will help when he transitions into Kindergarten. Montessori "works" fit this system perfectly. There is a couple books that discuss Montessori in the home-most of the items you can make or purchase fairly cheaply. HTH

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by!! I think you have a great plan in place! Our boys are very close to same age! I look forward to reading more of your posts!

    ReplyDelete