Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Preschool Happenings


Maybe this post should be more aptly titled "Preschool is Happening!" Of course, I know kids learn so much without us directly teaching them, however I wanted to be more intentional about the activities I did with Trenton. He loves doing "school" like his big sisters.


I had to get organized or else the days, weeks and months just fly by and I'm left wondering where the time went. Many of my ideas came from the new-er homeschool 'buzz' word:: workboxes. Click on the links below to learn more about them.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System--the official site of Workboxes. (To tell you the truth, I've not read the book yet. Mainly I've just borrowed ideas from others who have read her book.)
Walking by the Way--I've linked to her before because of her posts on activity bags, preschool and workboxes.
Squido talks Workboxes--good stuff
Joyful Mother of Six Children
Homeschool Creations--Jolanthe has some really neat downloads and ideas. I like her blog especially for preschool and workboxes and work folders.

Okay, so those links will give you some information about the workboxes themselves. I'm still tweaking the system to work with our kiddos. (I'll share about how I am using the idea with Bethany in a later post--but to give you a hint...Jolanthe's work folders!)

Basically right now with Trenton, each night I lay out what I want him to work on the next day. I haven't invested in the containers to hold the activities yet, because I really want to buy the 12x12 plastic drawers--and I need at least 6 drawers for Trenton. So, back to what I'm doing right now...laying out what I want him to do each day and then he goes through and does each activity. During the month of December I spent a good bit of time printing and laminating pieces for the system. I'll have more pictures to post later this week.

I am working on a list of activities that he can do and mostly I will just go through the list, pick out 6 and put them in the workboxes. So you can see, it is still a work in progress. He looks forward to seeing what I've picked out for him to do. These pictures were taken yesterday. I found these wooden magnetic numbers at the Dollar Tree over the weekend. I also picked up an ABC pack. I'm excited because I know that workboxes are going to help me be more organized as well as allow Trenton to learn and grow.

2 comments:

  1. He looks so proud of himself in that top picture. :)

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  2. Thanks for reading and for commenting. You inspire me with your homeschooling and your blog!
    Yes, he was excited and had a good time. It's fun to see him go through his workboxes...almost like Christmas morning--without all the wrapping paper! :)

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