What is a Workbox?

Now that back to school is in full swing for most of us. I get asked questions about how I handle homeschool organization. Well here goes. WORKBOXES!! Love the idea but I refused to pay the high prices for the actual Workbox system. So off to Hobby Lobby I went with 40% off coupons in hand. I bought these bins and they have worked well for us for a few years. And so why change a good thing! Plus having a small home it works great in keeping clutter down and things in their place.
I used my Cricut machine to label each drawer. I like to have about 6 weeks of material ready to go (I know in a dream world that always happens....lol). Things are in a disarray around here right now as we started school and then our son's birthfamily came to visit for 5 days, so we had vacation time from school. I'm needing to get a planning day together and get organized.

Each drawer in my workbox system contains what is needed for each subject. That way things are NOT strewn about the house. (I'm learning a lot of things from reading the Too Much Stuff book by Kathryn Porter). Once Science is done, it goes back in the science drawer or math, it goes right back in the math drawer. If I'm sick or I have to be gone for the day, it's all right there. No comments like "I can't find my history book." "I can't find my math test." It's all right there in the drawer. The 3 middle size drawers to the left of my Workbox system contain flashcards & class games, craft supplies are in the 2 bottom ones. The smaller set of drawers to the left of those contain packages of pens, pencils, markers, sticky notes (anyone else have an obsession with sticky notes? I lol........I have like 10 million pads of those crazy things!).

So that my friends is my Workbox system. Works for us and we love it! Share what works for you!
Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!
Moe

Recipe for Labor Day Weekened!

Herbed Turkey Burger w/ Zucchini Buns

 

Recipe for Labor Day Weekend!

 

This looks WONDERFUL! I'm thinking with Labor Day Weekend coming upon us that these will be on the menu! Stop over at Queen Of Quinoa's blog to get the recipe, there is no Quinoa in this recipe  ;0)   She has a nice listing of recipes and they are all gluten free. Many can be easily made corn free and dairy free too.

 

Enjoy!

Moe

LEGOS, LEGOS, LEGOS!!!

Can any child have TOO many Legos? Well with having an only child, I'm thinking that we have too many here! lol.
This week was the 'cleaning of the Legos' here. They were all dusty and really needed cleaned up. Our son likes to keep his Lego creations out on display, well guess what? Dust loves Legos and we have dust mite allergies around here.

So into the bathtub went the Legos.

 Now they are all drying, this is just one small batch......LOL.

Through all this we learned about buoyancy and how things float or sink. We learned just how much dust can accumulate and how dust ends up acting like mud in water.

There are some great learning opportunities for our only children that we homeschool, in regards to Lego products. There are Lego 4-H groups, Lego Robotics 4-H groups, Lego Library Clubs,  and so much more!  There are also some cute builds to make over at Lego.com. Join the mailing list and they will send you a monthly item to build: make sure you print out the instructions when you get them, since the build will become locked after that month and you can't print it out after that. And of course there is the field trip of a life time LegoLand!!!  We have been to one of the LegoLands and had a lot of fun.

How have you incorporated Legos in to your homeschooling? One thing that we have done is purchase one of the Lego Sticker books such as Lego Minifigure Ultimate Sticker Collection.

We then take a notebook and our son puts stickers on the notebook paper and then writes a Lego story about the Mini-figures. It's been a lot of fun for us. And it helps with spelling, handwriting, creative writing and grammar  :O)       All in an easy fun format, it does not even feel like school. Yes, hahaha, it's that sneaky homeschool learning that our kids get in and don't even know it. Sometimes I will just have him grab the notebook and put a few stickers in and take off in the car on a busy day. I don't grade for penmanship on the days he is writing in the car though, as it's hard to write neatly in a moving car. Sometimes the stories conclude that day and other times the stories continue on. Why not write out a Lego lesson plan today! Surprise your child with some Lego fun.

  

Now for the million dollar question, how do yo organize all your child's Legos? We have been just dumping them into Rough Tote containers. But we are looking for something new and different. Our son wants those Lego drawers, but I refuse to pay $40 for them!

I can't wait to hear from you and get some organizing ideas.

Have a great week!

Moe



Book review coming your way soon!

Book review coming your way soon!

I just received a copy of Too Much Stuff from author Kathryn Porter and will be snuggling up with a warm blanket to read up on how I start "Winning the War Against Clutter." Stay tuned for more on this! It was also exciting to find out that Kathryn Porter and I have a lot in common, just a few things are chickens and homeschooling. What a small world.

Have a great week!