What I did was use a system of plastic drawers.

Each child numbers 1-12 in their own individual color. Then I would put assignments in each drawer and the appropriate color/number would attach with velcro to the front of the drawer.

For example, our youngest 3-4 have handwriting books. So in one drawer I would put everyone’s handwriting book and then on the front of the drawer I would put each child’s color (and appropriate number).

Then each child would simply find the number one in their color and do the activity/subject in that box. When finished with #1, they’d move on to #2, etc. This allowed the system to semi work for us without taking up so much space (since I was able to put multiple children in the same box).

I’m sure that’s not very clear. If you have questions, please ask.

As I mentioned in my post, I also did my lesson planning on the weekends. I did all photocopying and gathered as many supplies as possible too. It often took me upwards of 5 hours each Saturday. In addition to that time, it took me 2 hours each and every evening to fill all the boxes.

Sue Patrick’s system is designed to minimize a parent’s interaction with their children (children are only permitted to get help or speak to their parent 3-4 times each school day). That is precisely the opposite of our desire. We wish to build relationships with our children by telling them of the wonderful things of the Lord when we rise up, when we lie down and when we walk by the way, etc. (Deut. 6:4-9). We believe that we are to be available when they ask us questions. And we pray to gain our children’s hearts. To achieve these goals we attempt to maximize our interaction with our children.

Of course, everyone is different and I think that this system, with some changes, may be excellent for those who struggle with organization. It could provide a rigid structure to help mom and child remain disciplined to get through all the necessary subjects each day.

For my little ones, I have a list of 60 different activities in and around our house. Many of these I have boxed away and put into the school closet. Most of us have tons of activities for little ones, we just don’t realize how many we have available. Make a real list of them and then put them up to use.

While the big ones are doing school, the little ones get right up to the table too. Then I say in my most serious tone, “I need you to do your school work too. Can you string these, sort these, count these, match these, color these, weigh these, measure these, trace these, lace these…. for me?” Walk abound your house and think of the things you already have and have it available. It is so helpful to already have the list (I don’t have to think) and have it available (I don’t have to stop and search for items).

Plus I couldn’t really see putting repetitive supplies in each box. They have a pencil box with their pencils, erasers, rulers, etc in them. We get them out every morning and they stay beside us during school. I do like the fact that all the schoolbooks have a home, and also it forces me to use all those other learning things that I have but never seem to fit into the school day (you know, flashcards, phonics manipulatives, etc. We all have that stuff, right?) and it has spurred me to make file folder games, which we all love (oy, the nights I have stayed up with my little scissors and contact paper, though)

So one day when I was online, I saw this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CD2I78/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

It works great for us. I painted a 1×4 white and hung it on the wall. I attached the file folder pockets to it with cup hooks. I also hung up an alphabet chart and a number chart. So! Cute! Now the dining room really looks like a kindergarten!

I don’t really bother with having different tags to unstick from the pocket and put on a chart. He does the work in whatever order he wants and then puts his workbooks or folders in the Mommy Basket for me to look at and prepare for the next day. I use little tiny post-it tabs to mark which pages we are doing in each workbook and stick it back in the pocket. Half the time I am working on this while helping with the next subject, so there is not a ton to do at night.

My little one is the challenge. She want to “do schoolwork too!” so badly, but has the attention span of a gnat. I stayed up past midnight last night laminating all kinds of games and things I thought she’d like. She promptly rejected it all, while my son was distracted that his sister had something he’d never seen…

I think that was one of the problems with trying to use the workboxes as written in the book. Rather than the children just doing their handwriting, math and Greek independently because they know that they do those things each day. I was gathering the 21 different books, pencils, etc. and putting them into 21 different boxes. Multiply that by all of our daily assignments and you get what I mean. Rather than getting to the end of our history reading and saying “I want everyone to fill in a 3 x 5 card about Nero” and then writing “Nero” on the board, the system dictates that I go find 7 pencils, 7-3×5 cards and 7 post-it notes, on each post-it I should write “Fill in card with pertinent facts about Nero”. It ended up being much, much more work for me.

The system that we are using now is a terrific fit and the children really love using it. I hope to share that in a post later.