WorkBox System and Free Printables

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The new school year is here. As many of our friends are sending their kids back to their schools, we are preparing our house and curriculum for the new homeschool year. Majority of what we are doing this year is really similar to what we did last year but we are incorporating some extra co-op times and trying out our own spin on a work box system. Go ahead and google work box... I had to too. 

I knew that with the two younger kids all over the place now, I would need the school age kiddos to have a little more independence with their lessons. I will still be there teaching them new skills, helping them review and over seeing everything they do but a more independent system will be a huge help in making the days run smoothly.

So, here is how we will make it work: The kids will have a set of drawers where I will be placing her work and materials according to the days lesson. Instead of doing a box for every subject, I made them only for the ones that the kids can typically start on their own. Every night I will fill the drawers with exactly what they will be needing. As we finish teaching time or complete an activity, (basically anytime we are done with a subject), they will be able to head over to the drawer and grab the next subject. 

Some activities will be able to be completed on their own. If it is something they will be needing me for, I will simply draw a little dry erase star on the label and they know not to start without me.

When they complete a subject they can check it off of their work list, return it to the drawer and move on to the next subject. The checklist is something that we added to the basic work box concept. Rhiannon is a lot like me, checking something off a list helps us to feel like we are getting somewhere and encourages us to keep going and if I do it for her, of course I need to do it for Talon.

I am really excited about this new system and thought some of you might be as well, so here is how we set it up:

We had the drawers already but you can find them pretty much anywhere. 

As for the labels and checklist, I have included a printable that you can find at the bottom of this post, or make your own to fit your subjects.

Because we would be writing on the checklist and we needed the labels to be nice, sturdy and durable to last through the whole school year, I made sure to laminate them.

Wal-mart has this awesome Scotch™ Thermal Laminator and Scotch™ Thermal Pouches, that I picked up for the project...and lots more projects coming soon. The products were located in the Back-to-School seasonal areas and in stationary. so we just grabbed it as we stocked up on all of our other back to school essentials and were ready to go.

Once you have your laminator and laminating pouches, print out your labels. **Tip: I like to cut anything I am laminating before putting it in the pouch and then cutting right outside of the paper line when the pouch is sealed and cooled. I feel like this gives the best seal and is much more durable. You can see what I am talking about in the picture above.**

That being said, cut your labels out and simply place them in the Scotch™ Self-Sealing Laminating Pouches. Give a little bit of room between them so that you are able to easily cut them out.

The Scotch™ Thermal Laminator is really easy to use. Just let it heat up and then run your pouches through the machine. Bam! Done. Now you just need to cut out your labels. 

We used double sided tape to put our labels on our drawers but I have seen people use Velcro strips so they can rearrange their schedule. I decided that because we have a checklist we really didn't need to do that.

Next up, print out and laminate your checklist. 

We are now ready to start using our version of the work box system. Hoping that this little project will help us to stay organized and allow for some independence.

Now that you have seen how we are using our Scotch™ Laminating Products to get ready for Back-to-School, what project are you planning to use them for? I am heading over to Create with 3M to get more ideas. Homeschooling has got me in a crafting mood lately!

Click Here for our Free Printables!!!!