Work Stations/Ideas for number cards and such

I thought I would post our work stations-one for a second grader, the other for a tenth grader.  There are boxes for putting the items that are non-consumable and need to be put away,  another for papers and assignments that need to be graded and recorded, another for all those little, laminated cards they have in their boxes/files, and the number card return board (I blocked out their names).  This is part of the their area.  The actual workboxes are nearby (well the boy's is right now-Sissy's is the file system until I get her boxes).

Thanks for taking a peek into our school area.

The teen's area.  She chose to have fruit for her numbers/board and layout.  They are so cute!  I just used good ole' MS Word for the clip art and grid.  It is that easy.  The return box card is a bag of fruit dumping out (instead of a dump truck like brother's label).  I also need to get a cork board above her area for all her notes and reminders she needs on a daily basis...some how they just disappear on the desk.

 

The Boy's area.  He has vehicles, of course!  I also have a current book we're reading near their boxes-simply because it is a good reminder spot.  He is also responsible for the calendar-hence the red board with the current number cards for it.

Well, I have not made anything of late-that is rather shocking!

I am trying to figure out what I want to make out of some things I found at the dollar store, but haven't had any bright ideas as of yet-kinda know what area (art) but not exactly what I want to do...so, I feel downright anti-crafty! I am almost ashamed!

Well, we did start our first week of school last week, so that took precedence. I also started the workbox system for my teenager...so, figured I would list a few of the non-schoolie things I tossed in there...



this is fun...I have her do an outfit or 2 per session-she then glues it together (and when I have the little velcro dots) we then put it in her file folder with her designs-kinda like a designer has.


US President flash cards I found at Target for a buck. (I have only the ones she is currently covering in her All American History lessons in there right now) with a timer card for about 10-15 min.


Quarter Mile Math card to do some fun math practice with a timer card


A card to play a game (shows the actual game pic on it-so she knew which one I meant-as I only made non-worded cards for the boy last spring, so hey, didn't stress her out cuz she didn't have to read the name-lol) with her little brother

Mozart CD to listen to for about 15 minutes (I have a couple different CDs that will show up here and there)

US Puzzle to do (hey, bit below her skill level, but she needed a refresher of where all those states are, and it was a "fun" activity-I will add more again-except it'll be the hundreds of pieces one)


Mystery Marker and Book from Cracker Barrel

What is coming up for the week ahead-

felt squares with sewing needle, thread and pattern to make a character she created (looks like a candy corn with a face) and some beans for fillings

cooking activities: I will type up a card with what I want her to make with the supply list and recipe.



US states flashcards

Educaching activity (this is something I am reviewing)



I am constantly on the lookout for fun stuff to mix in with her reg. work. I am going to dig out some stuff that have been buried in boxes and see what I can come up with. She actually enjoyed the mini-fun things

and oh, lest I forget the biggest show stopper-I have a few snackies that I bought for both of em...so when brother has a snack in his boxes-she will too!

So that is all that is newish here-wanted to give ya some ideas for your teens-do not be afraid to put some things that are a bit "below them" because the idea is to give them a few minutes of fun, refreshing activities to revive the brain cells before jumping back into the ole reg. school work.

HTH

I was asked the question, and wanted to address it for all to see

I have decided to start a new section here, called Ask Sheri. So once a month or so, when I get a question regarding the Workbox System, I will post it with my not so expert response. That way, all who stop by will be able to benefit (including me-because I am learning new stuff every day about the workbox system and its power) and if I don't know the answer, I will look for my readers help too...so here goes-my first question. Thanks to my unsuspecting visitor for this great opening question!

A momma new to the workbox idea, One More Equals Four asked me:

My question to you is, do you use this system with your older children? I have a 1 1/2 year old, a 1st grader, a 4th grader and a 7th grader. I can see where the system would work for the three younger ones but am wondering about for the middle schooler, haven't seen a lot out there for older kids...just wondering what you think having used the system? Thanks!

This is such a wonderful, and timely question. Because, if you have been following this blog-I haven't really mentioned the workboxes for the older kiddos. I have one (Sophomore this year) and yet, haven't utilized it up to this point. At first, I wanted to just get a grasp of the over all concept, tweak it for my youngest and work thru it for a while-before tackling the teen. I was unsure of what I would use, because-no offense to Sue-the shoe rack/shoe boxes are just a tad immature for teens (and the boxes too small for the bigger books). Now, I am not trying to sound harsh-I just think young adults need something a wee bit more sophisticated, if we want them to want to use it.

After scanning tons of Internet store sites, walking many an isle in your usual name brand stores, and thinking and thinking-I hadn't a clue as to what to use until just this past Saturday. Yes, I had some minor "me thinks" moments, but when I got to really thinking upon it-I just couldn't figure out what would work for my teen. I thought about those carts on wheels, and may in the end resort to them-but for now I am not going this route-mainly due to space and the fact that I cannot find one I like. I thought about those desk top paper slot things, but figured they would be too skinny to hold a chunky textbook, I thought about a lot of things. Then I figured I would go streamline. I would give it a office look. When attending the Staples Teacher Appreciation day, I stood in that isle that displays the trinkets that go on top of desks, file cabinets and the like. I almost bought a wire rack that holds files on the top and has 2 baskets below-and still may do that. Then I saw it. The holder that just spoke to me. Maybe because I like things that move? I dunno. This one has 5 clear dividers that flip forward, so you can see then next divider when moving the one in front. One of the things I was concerned about was where to put those number cards. On a wire rack-it wouldn't work (but now I think I could laminate a skinnier card and add velcro for the cards, then clip it on with a ring). If I put em on the folders I bought-they would be all warped and possibly ripped within a month...so-this is what I decided on. Not sure if it will really work-or it will suit our needs. But if it doesn't, I guess I will have a nice file holder for my stuff. So I velcro'd on some squares to hold the number cards (which she is drawing pictures for-then I will shrink to fit with numbers-making it even more personal for her)-but in the pics it is the piggy bank cards she'll have to use til that is done. I also am having her draw a pic for her name card to put the number cards on when she is done with the packet. [2 projects that we will have to wrap up this week]



I also decided that trying to stuff those texts into a workbox would be crazy-usually they are too big for most storage units. Have you seen how big and heavy those Apologia books are? I also didn't want to appear to be micro-managing her either. She needs to be able to accomplish a lot more on her own at her age-as it is a life skill I want all my kids to have; and high school is a great time to really let them hone those skills. SO-





I bought a 10 pack of 1 1/2" expandable file folders (and can I just say-I simply do not get why they cost so much, and I think, perhaps they're a major rip off-but I digress), to hold the essentials for her day. I bought colored ones, and will tape on the numbers for them once we get more printer ink (and no they are not see thru-haven't found those, but sometimes you need to bend the rules a bit). I can put 2 folders per section. I do not plan on putting super bulky things in there-but will instead use my Holding Stations [we are going to create a few more teenish looking ones to use with her-but for now, she has to use what I have on hand. I will get a link for those soon, otherwise if you are a part of the workbox yahoo group, it is in the file section] for such things.

I have explained to her that with the system, she will

*take the first folder and peek inside-and then proceed to read any notes in it, and do the assigned work
*take the number off the divider (I still have to get the matching number cards on there, but alas-she needs to draw em first) when done, and place it on her chart (visual, visual, visual)
*move on to the next one until she comes to a time where she is do something else-
**insert the Missions Chart (not created yet due to no ink)-not chore chart or activity strip-but a missions chart...why a MC? Because-she is on a mission to improve her time usage skills and get into a habit of working thru the day in a timely and accomplishing (new word?) manner.
***so on the MC-I will have blocks for the 1-10 cards, but also have squares to break up the day from school work (guess I need to create or run off a few more cards), with certain activities; such as household chores, or phys ed or various other things that give her a mental break before diving back into the schoolish stuff. It sounds a bit more sophisticated than a chore chart doesn't it? Maybe not-well, that is what it is named around here.

For the classes she is taking thru our local homeschool group-I will have to morph the instructors' schedule of assignments into the ones I am teaching at home. So until I get them, I really cannot be specific to the work set up yet. So, I will get back to that once we figure out something that really works for us.

Here are some examples of what I put in for tomorrow, as we are only doing 7 to start out. But you get an idea of what you could stuff em with.


So, that covers the system. I suggest to all-find something that will not only work within your house's space limitations, but also something that your teen is excited about. I have something in my head that would work, but I don't think it actually exists...time to hunt down Ty from Extreme Makeover-Home Edition, for help.

Now for my thoughts on the concept for a Junior High/Senior High student. I think it is an absolutely awesome idea! I also think if more businesses had something like this for their employees-so much more would get done in one week than they would normally see in a month's time. A lot of people simply shut down when confronted with a task that seems huge and overwhelming. Toss a big, ole thick math book in front of your kid and watch the eyes gloss over, and you will see what I mean. Give your hubby a "Honey Do list" thicker than a metro phone book-and you will get why it simply doesn't work (in rare occasions perhaps there are those who thrive on 20" thick task lists) for most. So, by taking the project and breaking it down into bite sized, manageable pieces-you get success. Knowing they do not have to linger for several hours over one assignment, and you get accomplishment. Getting your teen to do their work without excessive stress-and you've found peace. Oh, sweet peace.

That is what the workbox system does-it simplifies and breaks down assignments into something they can do without being overwhelmed. Now, I have tried typed out "to do" lists for her. I have laid out the goodies before her each day, in nice neat piles, and I have scheduled work on a calendar-and nothing has worked. For whatever reason the list simply was ignored or didn't strike her as useful. So we're giving the system a try.

SO-to end this rambling post-yes, workboxes should work quite nicely for the teenager in your home, and will help you stay on top of what they are doing too. Yes, you will have prep work, but will be accountable too (and I know we need to be more so in that department), but I am looking at the end result. Getting a school year accomplished without fighting, tears, and non-finished assignments-whilst doing so with a sense of success. Teens will start their day with little increments of assignments, knowing what they are to do-and when they are done for the day!

Give it a try with your teen(s). I hope any of you who are using the system with your JR/SR highers will comment about how it is going in your home too.

Cinema stuff up on HSS

Alright-the templates are up on Homeschool Share! Thank you Ami! It is under the What is New section, workboxables, math section. I think she posted the smaller sized coupons/work duty/badges sizes, but if it is a tad too big for the folder-just trim them to size until she does. I originally did not have parameters around the folder-so when I added the lines-the program only allowed for a certain width-and it is a tad too small for the original sizes of the cards.

Direct Links:
Cinema Patterns

Cinema Instructions


If you need more assistance, just ask. Hope you enjoy it!

Night out at the movies

We took the cinema kit for a test drive last night. Boy was my son excited! I decided to let him do the concession stand for opening night-which was a success (altho, the stand lost more than it took in due to offering a bunch of free coupons) and best of all-the boy learned to count out his money drawer, tally it up at closing, serve folks, take orders, and make change. My daughter served as the ticket taker and the rest of us just came as patrons. I hope to do this a couple times per month at least. I only need to remember to get a copy of the snack bar prices for the employee to know what to charge (we kept turning the menu around to see) and also to get the movie house sign up (still have yet to do that).

Well, I hope to get this into a form you all can download soon-perhaps by Sept. Please be patient with me-I have some projects that need my attention first, then I can get these switched over to HSS (need to get templates and stuff first tho)...I will post when it is finally up. Thanks.

Til then-

Our Family Cinema Presents...

OK, here it is... our cinema package. It is kind of hard to see the details (but if you click the thing, it makes it bigger), but you get the idea. I covered up our last name to protect the innocent (on the movie goodies folder) as well-so that is what that little strip of paper is. Basically, each kid will get a folder containing their ticket, a free coupon, and a work assignment card with the badge (I have yet to put a hole in it and string some yarn thru to make an ID necklace for them), and they will also get a money pouch with fake-O money to purchase additional items from the snack bar. As for the Snicky-Snack Bar menu...I never have all those things available, nor would I want to-so I listed as much as I could think of, and on movie day-the concession stand personnel will mark what the customers can purchase. I will throw in a calculator, note pad to take the orders, and extra $$ to make change. Their job is to set up and clean up the concession stand.

OK, so when I get some extra time, I will get the templates to make it user friendly for HSS, and will let you know when Ami posts it. If you cannot wait, it is easy to create using MS word images and different fonts. Just use the table icon to give you an outline for making them and for easy cutting. HTH.

Hmmm my pictures are MIA, let me get some news ones up for ya soon!

OOOH, Homeschool Share has all the new goodies posted

Well, this is exciting-finally, the wait is over! Homeschool Share has uploaded all the new lapbooks, unit studies, notebooking stuff and of course-the brand new section: WORKBOXABLES! Yeah! There are a ton of ideas and projects just waiting for you, and they are all free downloads! Cannot beat that!



I submitted a Money Center file (which I believe I mentioned in a previous post) where you can download cards to put in the workbox for the kiddos, and number cards, ideas and a sign for your center area.

I am also tickled pink, that I was selected as the winner for one of the Early Bird prizes. I won the awesome Ultimate Lap Book Handbook (Thank you Tobin's Lab!)that I have been wishing to purchase for a long time. I submitted my lapbook based on the FIAR, BK 4 title: The Bravest of Us All, so if you are a FIARower, and you are considering this book, please head on over. This particular lapbook study involves a lot of weather mini-units, a touch of character study thrown in, and a wee bit of history too.

Well, there are lots to see, so take a look see and build up your Workboxable collection and more.

Things that go with the hot dog theme

Well this is officially Hot Dog Month (July, but you can do this anytime)-so why not do some fun activities centered around it?

I see that HOAC has their Hot Diggity Dog Lapbook available, and you can get it for free. Just click the "Freebie" button near the top. Then you have a great project to fill up another workbox!

Need some cute food ideas? Try this: Family Fun Video where they show you how to create hot dog/burger cupcakes (very cute). You could put the ingredients into the workbox, which means you just added a craft, snack and tie in to the ever delish hot dog. I am not a fan of those circus peanuts they suggested for the buns tho-I will look around the candy selections and see if I can find a substitute...otherwise, maybe we'll just top the cupcakes off with those gummy hot dogs. Hmm.

Having the kids work on the Odd/Even Hot Dog work I showed (scroll down a couple posts) will just add to the hot dog fervor.

This is just too cute to resist! Guess I know what we'll be doing when we get back from vaca.

Treasure Hunt Idea

My son thought it would make the photo nicer by having some little rocks scattered in front. I think it's a nice touch.



So I found a 4 pack of treasure chest goodie boxes at the Dollar Tree. My intention is to have the kids do a treasure hunt- and when they find the box, they get a sweet reward in return. So for the workbox-I would put in some markers, pencils and a large sheet of paper-so that the one who is hiding the treasure can create a map (now if I am that person, I will have it already done-so the only things that go in are the map, the timer and the time card), and the box with supplies to fill it. Otherwise, they need the supplies to create the map, the box and goodies to fill it (I would put a timer and time card in too-so they don't linger forever on this project-say 20-30 min). And it is that simple.

A side note here: I simply saved the 3 remaining boxes for when the first gets too banged up to use. But if you have several kids, and we know that they like to find things for themselves-you may need to use more at one time. They were in the pirate birthday party section, and I have seen them (similar in style) at other dollar stores and party stores.

My daughter drew the first map (sadly, I forgot to take a pic of it) and then I helped the boy find the treasure. He loved it. I plan to toss this one in, on those occasions where we need a fun distraction and/or are bored with the reg. routine. I just have to remember to keep a stash of loot hidden, so it is there when I need to stuff the box! LOL. This is one way also, for me to fulfill my son's wish for more candy. He made mention of this "need", when I interviewed him about what he likes/dislikes about the workboxes for one of the Thinking Outside the Box memes.

I know he will be excited to try to create a map too, and let others find the box. It is a great way to learn planning, and use math skills, not to mention-sharpening the ole art skills too.

Wanted to share this idea, while the pirate stuff was more readily available-enjoy!

This is a really fun math work

This is a math work where the child adds the equation, writes the answer with a wet erase marker, then decides if the sum is odd or even. They then place it into the correct bin. There is a check sheet for the child to go over when done too (this is nice, it corrects itself, so to speak-they can tell if they answered the equation correctly and if they put it into the right box).

I found this at Teena's Teacher Tidbits at Etsy, under the math. She has some awesome file folder games/activities for Pre-K to 1st. Most, sadly are too youngish for my son, but I do see a few with subjects we haven't covered yet...so thought I would start with this one. For $4, I downloaded (you will have to create an Etsy account, which takes only a few mins.), printed, laminated and assembled.

I couldn't find the hot dog holders she has shown, altho admittedly, I have not scoured the picnic sections of most stores. I did however, find 2 plastic butter dish holders at the Dollar Tree. They work just fine. I simply hot glued the 2 condiment bottles to them, and use one of the trays (came with the butter dish) to hold the hot dog cards (all nice and tidy). This is a great activity for the workbox. I also wanted the boy to do some subtraction-but she doesn't have those in the hot dog project-so...I decided to simply type up equations on MS Word (checked the font size to get close enough) and also typed up the key sheets (odd and even answers) to overlay onto the images [these are white, instead of brown like the addition ones, but hey-visually it signifies that he is subtracting. I can also do this for multiplication and division when he gets to that]. I just printed another set. Then I cut the problems to size, glued on and laminated as usual. I also just over laid the answers to the menu. So now he can do 40 problems (20 each) and really work the odd/even concept into his head.

How cool is that? Well, cool! I am going to be looking thru her other goodies to see what else we can use. Now is the time to get all these made, b4 the fall semester starts.