Workboxes?

I would've loved having such boxes to plow through as a child--I'm just nerdy like that. :) Gerrick, on the other hand, isn't much like me in that regard. He is a free-spirited child full of his own ideas. He does not like being told what to do unless he directly asks for the input. So, why on earth am I considering workboxes for him? Because I have a relaxed homeschooling mindset, but the daddy wants the 3R's taught traditionally. His biggest concern is that Gerrick be "behind" in one of those areas should something happen that would cause him to have to go to school. I can understand that, which is why I'm trying very hard to meet him halfway--thus, the workboxes. I feel like having 6 workboxes that Gerrick can choose to do in any order, any time of the day, will give him a little more control over his day than me just sitting him down for "school". Right now, I'm planning to start with the following items in the boxes:


The 3 R's...

1) HOP workbook with page(s) marked, a book to read to me, or a reading game or other activity such as Teaching Tunes.

2) Explode the Code workbook with page(s) marked

3) RightStart math activity or game


Things he loves and doesn't consider "school"...

4) a. FIAR book & activity and possibly something that he can do for a lapbook (if he chooses) OR
b. a new library book or printouts he may be interested in related to a current project (for instance, right now he's making a pirate notebook & he loves for me to find things online to print that he can cut & add to the book, like drawings of ships, etc. In this case, I wouldn't make him work on his project--it would just be an offering on my part)

5) a note such as "pick any game from the game shelf and play it with Mama"

6) Our current read-aloud chapter book (read at least one chapter)

Traditionally there are 12 workboxes in the system. From my understanding, the parent fills up the remaining boxes with "fun" activities to break up the others. I don't like that idea for us because Gerrick is perfectly capable, and enjoys, coming up with his own ideas throughout the day. That just doesn't seem to promote creativity to me; it seems like that would possibly teach a child to be dependent on Mommy, to possibly develop a "What-can-I-do-now?" attitude when those boxes are empty.

I don't like to impose "school rules" but in order for this to work, he's going to have to do all the boxes daily. I don't care when he does them as long as they are done before he goes to bed. His motivating factor will probably be getting them done before Daddy gets home. If he doesn't, then Rick will have to help him with them instead of having their usual rough-housing, sword-fighting, good guy/bad guy play that he loves so much. We're taking a few weeks off, but as soon as we've tested this new practice for a couple of weeks, I'll let you know how it's going. In the meantime, I'd love to read your ideas on the topic. :)

I've bought 12x12 stacking drawers from Wal-Mart and they fit nicely in the corner behind his desk.


If you are looking for more ideas concerning workboxes, a Mr. Linky list of workbox users is forming over at The Work of Childhood.