Organizing my students' work system

[momee]

I would love advice on how to be more organized in how I assign work, how my child receives it and how her desk is set up.

 

We have this lovely new shiny new school room and I am overwhelmed and at a loss as to how to improve our workflow (and a little advice on setting up our spaces). Moving from subject to subject when we get to it in our day is NOT going to work this year.

 

You would think after homeschooling for 9 years!!!!!!!!! I have enough experience to figure this out. I'm using workboxes with the new kindergartener :) but those aren't quite what I'm looking for with my middle and high schooler.

 

I want to be as prepared as possible, so doing as much as I can in advance.

Help me please :scared:

 

I don't know where to start. The hard surfaces are set up. Pretty desks that allow crafting as well as schoolwork. Plenty of shelves. Horizontal slot thingie to hold papers and books. Hanging file folder holder on the wall. Ikea ledges hung for display. Picture frames and magnet board all done.

 

...its the what goes into the hanging file folders, where she is to keep her daily schedule, how to be more accountable to me in terms of checking up on projects, storing just the things she needs so she's not distracted, etc that's giving me trouble.

 

I need a system.

[Mnemosyne]

:bigear:

[coffeegal]

I post the quarter's syllabus and the weekly reading assignment sheets from TOG on the kitchen wall. The children then use their planners and create their own weekly plan. I sit down with my 10 year old, and we create his together. I then double check my teens to ensure nothing is being forgotten. Sheets handed to each child tend to get lost unless I'm on top of things, plus I have to print out 4 copies. However, posting the assignment sheets keeps them visible and if the kids misplace their planners, they can still check on what is assigned for the week. We complete all planning the Friday before so the children can begin work first thing Monday morning.

 

Each child has a crate to store their individual school items. It keeps colored pencils, math textbooks, science books, the working binder, planner, etc. Each morning, the children grab their crate, sit down at the table, and have most of what they need to complete their schoolwork.

 

Does that help? :001_smile:

 

ETA: The kids are funny in their planning. My 10yo loves to have a light Wednesday, so very little is planned. My dd prefers to work extra hard on Monday - Wednesday so the end of the week is light. My older sons enjoy an even workload throughout the week. It's been fascinating watching the children plan their weeks and workloads.

[happypamama]

This is what works for me/us:

 

-One workspace per kid. The only things that are in each kid's workspace (with the exception of the 4yo; he has a few more activities at his space) are a clipboard and a pencil box, which holds pens, pencils, scissors, colored pencils or crayons, gluestick, and an eraser. They can easily take their stuff to co-op or in the car or to a different spot in the house if they need quiet.

 

-One workbox per kid per subject; each of my older two has 5 workboxes -- one each for math, reading, writing, random rotating skills (copywork, logic, Bible study, stuff to fill state-required subjects like fire safety, etc.). I fill those every night. (Rulers and graph paper stay in the math workboxes because they don't fit in the pencil boxes, and all other supplies are on/in my desk.) For things that require electronics (like days that they do Mango language via iPad), I'll put a card or something in the workbox. Each kid gets a stack of workboxes. As they complete the work in the box, anything that got written on (and therefore needs me to check it) goes in a separate box on my desk, labeled "Inbox." Anything that didn't get get written on goes back in the workbox, and the workbox goes back in the stack for me to refill for the next day. They know that if the workboxes aren't put back, they don't get credit for finishing that subject, and failing to finish subjects means no screen time. We also have workboxes for group subjects like science and history; those stay on my desk. Having the workboxes last year helped me tremendously, as well as the kids, because everyone could see what still needed to be done.

 

-Everything's on my Homeschool Helper app, including things like typing and music practice, which don't get workboxes. So as they finish subjects, I'll check them off in the app.

[IrishMum]

 

We have this lovely new shiny new school room.

 

Oh, do show us!!

[MrsMe]

Can't help, but I hear you. We're approaching middle school where we have a lot of ongoing work that I don't know what to do with and large binders open that require a larger work surface. I just don't know what to do with it. Anyway, school room pics always help. :lol:

[PeterPan]

Well it's just like your kitchen: store everything at the first or last place you use it. So you go through each subject and you ask where she's going to DO to the subject. If she does her reading in her bedroom, then you'll store that differently from math done at her desk or the computer. Each notebook gets stored at point of use unless generally. So my dd will typically have a pile in her room of things she does in her room. She has on her desk things she does at the desk/table. At the computer she has her math notebook.

 

We keep our checklists in a Staples Better Binder (1/2 size=bitty size), kept open with the current week on top, so the paper never gets ripped up, lost, spilled on, buried, etc. The wall idea sounds nice if it works for you. The bitty binder is nice because it floats around from place to place but is big enough not to get lost.

 

I love rearranging our stuff, and I do at least once a year. That's the thought process I go through. I just think about where I want to use the stuff, then I store it there. My dh says furniture for women should come with wheels, because we move stuff so much! :)

[MrsMe]

Well it's just like your kitchen: store everything at the first or last place you use it. So you go through each subject and you ask where she's going to DO to the subject. If she does her reading in her bedroom, then you'll store that differently from math done at her desk or the computer. Each notebook gets stored at point of use unless generally. So my dd will typically have a pile in her room of things she does in her room. She has on her desk things she does at the desk/table. At the computer she has her math notebook.

 

We keep our checklists in a Staples Better Binder (1/2 size=bitty size), kept open with the current week on top, so the paper never gets ripped up, lost, spilled on, buried, etc. The wall idea sounds nice if it works for you. The bitty binder is nice because it floats around from place to place but is big enough not to get lost.

 

I love rearranging our stuff, and I do at least once a year. That's the thought process I go through. I just think about where I want to use the stuff, then I store it there. My dh says furniture for women should come with wheels, because we move stuff so much! :)

 

Me too! I couldn't imagine spending 12 years in the same hs room with the same setup!

[Mandy in TN]

Hey, momee-

Your set-up, how to improve our workflow, what goes into the hanging file folders, where she is to keep her daily schedule, how to be more accountable to me in terms of checking up on projects, storing just the things she needs so she's not distracted, etc very much depends on what you are using and what you have to put it in. We would all love to see pictures of your school room. ;) If you could let us know what you are using or what exactly you want organized, that would also help.

 

If you are using workboxes with your k'er, do you want to do a file folder system with your middle and high schooler? Are your middle schooler and high schooler far enough apart in age that you want to do two separate systems? File folders for the middler. and a weekly checklist schedule for the high schooler?

 

Mandy

[momee]

Here you go - it is still in process. Trying to think/pray through the way I want our room to look and feel. The room is far from done, but isn't all of life?

 

http://tochoosebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/environment.html

[momee]

Sorry, duplicate post.

[PeterPan]

This is a little nutso, but have you thought about turning those two student corner tables so they face toward the window? It will make your pictures better, because they'll have light. Then make another counter like on your teaching table and put it *between* the two student tables. Is that sorter unit under the window to hold paper, etc? A counter between the two desks would extend their work area.

 

Then I'd consider moving your super neat teaching table into the center of the room as an island. I'd look for a 2nd, adjustable height table to run parallel to it, creating an island. That way your younger would have a lower height surface to work on, which she appears to want. (notice her playing). The inboxes could go on that surface, her crafting supplies, that sort of thing. So she'd craft, do puzzles, play with toys from the play area, etc. on the center island.

 

I assume you'd need to move the bookcases to another end of the room in order to have the width in the middle for that teaching/play island. If they're by the toys, that's cool too. See for us, play, recreation, reading, they're all one in the same. So your hammock being near bookshelves just makes sense. I made a reading nest for my dd when she was that age, same idea. You could also put a moon chair there for your teen (if he doesn't fit the hammock).

 

That may not have been at all what you wanted. It's fun to rearrange, so it's what my mind goes to. It just seems like your issue is going to be keeping your work surfaces clear. So instead of a checklist in a notebook, you might hang it beside your whiteboard on the wall or on the side of your stack of drawers.

 

Enjoy your new room! :)

[momee]

"Then make another counter like on your teaching table and put it *between* the two student tables. Is that sorter unit under the window to hold paper, etc? A counter between the two desks would extend their work area."

Loved the idea of changing the desks. Did that, looks great, but why put a shelf between the two? If they are at their desks, how would that extra work space help them. I would think they would have enough with the middle island???

 

***Actually it may not happen because we are building a large addition on to that side of the house and that window is slotted to go and become a door to the over addition space. It basically will be a huge walk in room unfinished for storage (happy dance).

[MerryAtHope]

I actually still use workboxes with my middle & high schoolers (soon to be both high school!). I find them very effective. It stores their things by subject whether they are doing daily work or working on a longer project like a research paper. Here's pictures and a description of ours. You can use hanging folders like the boxes. I'd make the front one the place to put her schedule. Let her put her actual books in the others. In my teacher box, I have hanging folders and I'm always surprised that they hold up even with big, text-book like answer keys/teacher guides. Occasionally I put something really big (like the Easy Grammar Plus TG) between two hanging folders. But I've actually used the same hanging folder for my Math-U-See guides 2 years running, and one is just starting to show signs of needing replacing. So...you could use a crate or a flip-top box with hanging folders just like you used workboxes. Here's pics of what I use for a Teacher Box. Adults use things like stacking trays too, if a more visual type of organizational system is needed. You could try those as well. Workboxes are just 3-D planners, and the vessel can be changed up. HTH! Merry :-)