Advantages to the Workbox System

We are in our fourth week of using workboxes and I truly love them for my boys. Our workbox system isn't fancy at all - I used the printables that were included with the purchase of Sue Patrick's book to label the boxes. I was able to purchase everything I needed from our local Target - plain, plastic shoeboxes and two shoe racks. I have seen some amazing workbox systems with adorable graphics online but our system is quite plain.

I have found many advantages, both expected and unexpected, to using workboxes with my boys.

• Workboxes help my boys navigate through their independent work more independently.


• Since I need to prepare the workboxes each evening for the next day, I am forced to keep up with their grading on a daily basis. My boys like getting the quick feedback on their work and I am able to target quickly any areas that need additional practice. My boys are able to make corrections to their work while it is still fresh in their minds. Checking over assignments on a DAILY basis has always been a struggle for me and the workbox system helps me to stay accountable. The boys expect to find their graded work in the workbox with their new work in that subject.


• I am finally playing educational games with my youngest child on a regular basis. He thrives on educational games with me and I have purchased many of them over the years. Previously, I would plan on playing a game with him...sometime during the day but that "sometime" often didn't happen. Now, he has a workbox with a game piece from an educational game in it almost every day and he brings it to me and we play. We both win - I spend quality time with him, he spends quality time with me, he gains important practice in basic academic skills, and he gets the enjoyment of playing a game with me, and I get the enjoyment of playing a game with him.


• Since some workboxes are marked with a "Work with Mom" label and others are not, the boys rarely ask questions when the workbox does not have a "Work with Mom" label. They know the expectation is that they should be able to complete the work on their own.


• I am using more of the curriculum supplements that I have purchased throughout our years of homeschooling and picked up through PaperBackSwap. For example, I purchased a neat book, "American History Mini-Books" several years ago. I even went so far as to make copies of all of the books and then...I never used them. Both of my boys have had workboxes to complete in which they were assigned one of the mini-books to read. The mini-books on George Washington, The Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, and Paul Revere's Ride have all directly related to our current unit of study. The boys have also used the books in writing activities.


• The boys can easily see how much independent work they have left to complete and that seems to be quite motivating to them to continue working.


• I am seeing much less "goofing off" between assignments this year. I like to complete the studies we all do together in the morning but if I am running late for any reason, the boys can easily get started on their first workbox while they wait for me. When one workbox is done, they get to work quickly on the next one and then the next. I have seen far less "wandering about aimlessly behavior" during the school day.


• My boys are doing more practice work to help them remember and reinforce what we are doing in our time together or in their independent work. I am working on putting together an independent game to review the Latin and Greek word roots that we have covered last year and this year so far. How will I encourage the boys to play the game and review the word roots? I will put it in a workbox!


• While my boys do take their workboxes to various places in the house to complete their work, they do faithfully bring the finished workboxes back to their workbox station. Therefore, I have far less "find the schoolwork" games to play than I used to.


• The workbox system really helps to make sure that my boys complete all of their independent work every day. The boys are easily able to look at the boxes, see what still needs to be done, and complete the work. I remember asking my middle son every day last school year, "Did you do English, your handwriting, your reading assignment..."

For my boys and me, the workbox system has many more advantages than disadvantages. The only disadvantage I have found so far with using the workbox system is that preparing the workboxes each evening IS time-consuming. Since my older two children have swim team every evening, I sometimes feel a bit stressed getting everything prepared before we need to leave. The peacefulness and organization of the next school day is great payment for my work in the evening, though.

The workbox system is definitely working for me this school year. If you would like to see what is working for other bloggers, check out Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.