Workboxes!!!

I was so excited today to try out our new workbox system. I have read a lot about it both on the web and in Sue Patrick's book. I had everything set up and was just waiting to show Maddie how it would work. When we looked out the window we saw this:

Hmmm...I thought, this is not going to be good, I'll never in a million years get her to concentrate today! Things started right off too...
Maddie: I don't feel too good. I don't think I can go to dance class.
Momma: If you're too sick to go to dance then you are too sick to go sledding.
This meant that Maddie made an immediate recovery of course! So she went off to dance for the morning. We ate lunch then Maddie went outside for an hour and a half before we got going with schoolwork.



Inside I set up Maddie's new "office" and made sure the boxes were ready to go. Here is the new office or work station:

Its a trifold display board that I painted with purple chalkboard paint. At first I thought we could use it as a chalkboard but then decided that since it needs a wet cloth to really get it clean that wasn't a good idea. Maddie is quite pleased with it anyway! We have a pink dry erase board, calendar, number line and clothespins to hang things up. It gives her space of her own at the table during day care to work. She has been using it all week and loves it. We also have a wonderful new art bin that holds all of Maddie's pencils, colored pencils, crayons, ruler, alphabet chart, hole punch and page up stand(a necessary item for my lefty girl so she can copy things).


We tried to win one of these online but didn't. Mamaw Mary found this box that belonged to my grandmother and had someone add the compartments. We love it and cart it all over from the attic to the dining room.
These are the workboxes themselves:


Its a rolling cart with 3 additional drawers on top. Each drawer has a number. The number corresponds to the numbers on Maddie's schedule strip.

Hot pink of course because, girly girls need hot pink!

Maddie clocks into school...

Then she starts matching her schedule strip numbers to the numbers on the boxes. Each box is a different activity. Everything for that activity is in the box. Some of the boxes she needs to work with Brian or me. I still need to make cards that say "work with Momma" or "work with Daddy" that will attach to the front of the box. I wanted to have actual pictures of us with her which is a project for tomorrow! If she needs help on an independent box she has "Help Please!" cards to use. But she only has 3 that she can use for the day. Hopefully this will make her more independent.

And the good news is.....Maddie LOVED it!!


She sat down, got to work and finished in a timely manner. Yay!! There was no arguing, moaning or bargaining about what we were doing when. I put a princess painting set way down at the bottom...drawer 7 I think...so she knew there was something fun if she got through the rest. Of course its only the first day and we will have to see if it stands the test of time and day care but I am very hopeful! Now I am working on making "centers" that have games to reinforce things she is learning that can be mixed in with the workboxes and be done independently too. Fingers crossed that this experiment turns into a permanent solution!!