I just finished my lesson plans for this week for our 2nd week at Sacred Heart Academy Homeschool.  On my recent "Organization System Saturday- Workbaskets + Workboxes=Works for 4 (children)"  post I blogged about how my children's subjects and workboxes were organized to help make our school days as stress-free, tear-free, and productive as possible.

So this post will focus on more details about how I have organized the 10 drawer rolling cart that I am using for my workboxes. I am showing you what is in tomorrow's workboxes as an example, but our workbox activities will rotate daily. (except for the "Busy Box" sheets)

Before I explain with photos the system that I use, I will tell you that each of my children have one workbox designated for their "Busy Box" sheet (see explanation below), one workbox where they are assigned an activity with my youngest child, and then one workbox is an activity/worksheet that my child does alone or with a sibling if they need help.  



Workbox #1 for oldest child:  When my daughter sees in her workbasket her brown board that has a "1" on it, she opens her drawer #1 which is a "Busy Box" sheet for August.  Each child is assigned one of these laminated sheets in one of their workboxes.  Since these "Busy Boxes" will stay in their drawers everyday, this is one less drawer I have to fill :)  I got the "Busy Box" idea from a teacher resource book.   It is 9 squares divided up with one activity listed in each square.  She is to do one activity per day and then put a star on the activity with a Vis-a Vis pen when the activity is completed.  The middle square always says "FREE Choice" where she can decide what quiet activity she wants to do until her next subject begins. Some other things I have listed are "do a puzzle", "do a math sheet", "read a chapter from a book", "Trace and color a picture from a Catholic art book ( I have Seton's Art 2 for Young Catholics that I use)", etc.   So I plan on making a new Busy Box sheet for each month to keep things interesting.


Workbox #2 for oldest child:  My daughter knows that her #2 box will always have something that she can do with our youngest child to keep her sibling entertained while I work with my other children on one on one instruction.  Tomorrow my daughter will be reading these picture books to her little sister.


Workbox #3 for oldest child:  Box #3 will always have an activity/worksheet that my daughter can do independently.  Tomorrow I have assigned her a page in the "Building Thinking Skills" workbook.


Workbox #4 for my son:  Box #4 will always have an activity that my son can do with my youngest child.  So tomorrow he will be playing with magnets to help entertain his sibling while I work with my other children.


Workbox #5 for my son:  Box #5 is where he will find his "Busy Box" sheet for the current month that we are in.  He will choose one activity and after he completes it he will put a star on it with a Vis-a Vis pen.


Workbox #6 for my son:  Box #6 will always have an activity my son can do independently.  Tomorrow he will be doing a ziplock bag activity where he matches up insect cards to their names.  There is also a puzzle that I made and laminated about where different products come from.


Workbox # 7 for my third child:  Box #7 will always have an activity my daughter can do with my youngest child.  Tomorrow she can do different puzzles with her. 


Workbox #8 for my third child:  Box #8 will always have my daughter's "Busy Box" sheet for the current month.

Workbox #9 for my third child:  Box #9 will always have an activity my daughter can do on her own or ask for help from one of her siblings.  Tomorrow she will do a page in her Draw Write Now book, which she loves.  She copies the sentences in her Draw Write Now Workbook, then she tries to draw the steps to make the picture for her handwriting entry in her workbook.  We have enjoyed using these books for our homeschool activities.


Workbox #10 for my youngest child:  I have this box designated for our 2 year old to make her feel included.  Tomorrow she can use Melissa & Doug stamps and an ink pad to make a picture.

So I have all these drawers filled each day with different activities, but the problem I am having is that most of these activities don't last as long as the lessons that I am teaching with another child.  My 2 year old's attention span is very short and she begins to disrupt things (or my other children start quarreling over something)  and then chaos usually breaks out.  So I'm still trying to figure out what works best during our school days.  This is at least a start as my homeschool journey continues....