Homeschool Organization - Work Boxes

Hi Readers,

I haven't done a post on homeschooling yet, but since its a big part of our family, I thought I would share an organizational trick we use that can be very helpful in focusing children and moving beyond the "are we done yet?" part of homeschooling.

NOTE: EVERYTHING IN BOLD IS A LINK.  I'M HAVING TECHNICAL ISSUES GETTING THE LINKS TO CHANGE COLOR.  JUST HOVER OVER WITH YOUR MOUSE TO FOLLOW LINK.

I got this idea from an amazing blogger,  Confessions of A Homeschooler .  If you are a homeschooler, or are considering taking the plunge, this is your new "go to" website.  She has curriculum, ideas, encouragement.  And if you are seriously thinking about homeschooling, and need help in making the decision, her 10 Day Enrichment Study was incredibly helpful in aiding my decision to provide a Christian homeschool for our family (It took me around a year to make this decision).

Now onto the workboxes, you will see printable materials in these pictures.  These are from Confessions of a Homeschooler and here is the link .  I believe the original idea is from the Sue Patrick Workbox System.  

Confessions of a Homeschooler uses clear craft organizers found at craft stores like Joann Fabrics.  I bought my metal versions at IKEA (they come in white, red, and gray?).  One of my best friends found wood ones at a liquidation store.  Basically you just need something with at least 6 drawers.

How it works:

Each drawer has 1 task in it, and all the things needed to complete that task. For example, if you wanted to give your kiddo a math worksheet, you could put the worksheet, pencil, and ruler all in that drawer.  Get the idea......

Each Drawer has a number velcroed to it.  When the child completes that drawer, they take off the number from the front of the workbox and place it on a grid on the top of the workbox.  Each grid square has velcro for them to attach it to.

Here's the cool part.  They can see on the grid, how many spaces they need to go (or workbox trays to complete) until break time, snack, computer time, you name it.  It gives them a visual reference of how far they need to go until they are done.

As referenced above, all the printable items (numbers, grid, computer time square, etc...) are from Confessions of a Homeschooler. click here for printables and explanation post.

Once I printed out the supplies, I had the items laminated and then attached velcro tabs to the back of the numbers and work box (your local printing store can laminate items rather inexpensively).  Kids need to be able to pull these off easily with out damaging them.

Now, assemble everything and you are ready to go.  Our workboxes are on wheels and rest under the desk in my office.  If you have young kids and don't want them wheeling these things all over the place, I would recommend taking the wheels off.  If you keep the wheels on, you could wheel the boxes into the kitchen while you cook and your kiddo can do school at the kitchen counter.

I hope this encourages you homeschoolers, and those considering this type of schooling.  I can tell you at this point, that the hardest point for me, so far, was making the decision!

Many blessings to you - Home Centered Girl

Grandma's Treasures

Hi Everyone!

Well, sometimes a creative idea gets put on hold.  When I started this blog, a generous Gem, "Auntie H", offered me her Grandmother's 3-tiered table for a project for my blog.  I was planning on painting it turquoise and giving it away to one of my nieces as a birthday present.  When I was prepping it for paint, I found an emblem and category number on the bottom of one of the tiers and started to question whether or not I should paint it.  After I did some research, I figured out that it is called a dumb waiter (very odd name), and very similar ones are rather old, like maybe a few hundred years old or more; some are quite valuable.  Her finish is in rough shape, but I'm going to have an antiques dealer check it out before I ruin give new life to the finish.  It looks like a giant cake stand.  Check it out:

So, onto a different Grandmother's treasure.  My Grandma B passed away over 6 years ago.  At the time, I was in the hospital and didn't get to travel to her funeral.  A few treasures were brought back to me that she owned and live in my kitchen where they get frequent use.  I cherish these few things I have of hers.  Oddly, a few years ago an unmarked package was sent to my Mom with two decorative birds in it that used to be in my Grandmother's home.  My Mom instantly recognized them and offered them to me.  At first glance, I didn't really care for the look of the birds, but I only have a few thing's that were hers and didn't want to pass up the treasures.  I decided to give them a fresh look with a good old can of spray paint.  If any of my cousins read this, I hope you don't cry like the transformation.

Here is the before:

That eye kind of watches you huh.... 

Here is the after:

I really like the birds now.  They are substantial and beautiful.  They are sitting on a set of my father's yearbooks that I recovered with painter's paper.  This is also significant because my father passed away a few years ago and now they support his mother's beautiful birds.  That gorgeous painting is done by one of the dearest friends I have ever been blessed to have in my life.  This little grouping of items holds some heavy sentimental weight for me and they are out in the open for me to enjoy every day.  A little dose of beauty for every day life......

Do you have a little treasure that belonged to a passed on family member that you can't bare to part with, but don't have out in the open because you don't care for it aesthetically?  A little paint, or brown painter's paper, can go a long way.

From this:

To this:

Many blessings to you, Home Centered Girl