So this is just the latest installment in the ongoing saga of “figuring out the best way of organizing Flipper’s schoolwork so that he actually does it.”  We’ve tried every iteration, from completely unschooling let-him-choose-his-own-path, to rigourous school-at-home complete with a bell and a separate desk “just for school” — I should say, that particular one didn’t last long, but it was worth a try, right?  Some kids thrive on more structure, rather than less.  Flipper does seem to be like that, but this was TOO much structure.

Lately I’ve been intrigued by the whole Workbox craze.  There are things about it that I didn’t like, just because it wouldn’t fit with some of our philosophies or would be cumbersome or whatever.  I wanted to keep using what was already working for us — don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.  But I liked the visual aspect of the workbox system, and the velcro chart used to visually track what you’ve done.

We don’t have the space for a big rack of boxes, and several months ago I’d started using a system with index cards for each subject that he seemed to like.  I decided to take the elements about workboxes that I liked, and apply it to our index cards system.

This is the index card itself:

You’ll see what the sticker is for in a minute.

Basically, each subject gets a card.  On the upper right I write what days of the week I hope to do this subject.  This is a guideline more than a rule, but it helps keep me on track.  “Core” subjects like math get done every day, history might be two times a week, art two different days each week, etc.  Then I write the date and the assignment on one line.  Once it’s done, I cross it out.  This helps me keep track of where we are in each subject — and if something didn’t get finished, I know next time, and if it’s been awhile since we’ve done this subject, I can see it right away.  This way I don’t lose track.  I can think of many times when I’ve realized “holy moly, we haven’t done French in at least 3 months!”  Not anymore!

Spelling is “core”, to be done every day — it’s a very quick lesson, too.  You’ll notice that we didn’t do all that much in July.  It’s summer, after all, and he was at Camp and visiting friends and playing outside… But now I’m not left wondering, “gee, how long has it been since we’ve done spelling?”  It’s right there for me.

Once I’ve settled on which assignments are to be done, I make up a schedule which includes breaks, snacks, outside time, lunch, etc.  There are 16 blocks for the schedule — or just 12 if it’s a busy day (if we’ll be out for several hours, for instance).  I assign a sticker to each activity — the Spelling lesson above has a bird sticker — and paperclip it to the index card and place it in the pocket at the front of our schedule book.  Or if it’s a non-carded activity like lunch, I paperclip it to the pocket itself.  This can be seen in the picture at the top of this post.  (Ignore where it says “heavy”, that’s left over from a previous use for this notebook lol…)

A key feature of this system for us, is that several activities will have the same sticker.  This gives us a little more flexibility than the ‘pure’ workbox system does.  If it’s time to do a “smiley face” card and there are three “smiley face” cards, he can choose which one to do.  This gives him some degree of control and choice, and keeps him engaged.  I also have full control, because I decide which activities are grouped together and where they will go in the schedule.

So, for instance, if there’s an activity that has been neglected or unfinished and I want to be sure it’s done today, I’ll give it its own sticker and schedule it relatively early.  Then I might group “work with mom” activities with the same sticker type, so I’ll know where in the schedule he’ll be needing me, though he still chooses which one happens when.  Often I’ll group more difficult, time-intensive activities together, and light, easy, or fun activities together.  This way, I can alternate light activities with harder ones, yet he still chooses from among each group.

There is an index card for “chores”, and one for “morning routine”.  I recently read a blog that called it “family service” instead of chores… I might steal that…

Once the schedule is planned and the stickers are paperclipped, I make a little chart in the notebook, with tiny sketched sticker-shape cues.  Things without index cards are described in the box.  As he completes each activity, he puts that sticker in the chart.  Once the chart is filled in, he has free time for the rest of the day.

Here’s the chart ready for tomorrow.  Er, I guess that’s today already, isn’t it?  Silly midnight blogging.  He has gym training all morning, and since it’s Tuesday, we’ll do Tuesday Teatime.

He should be finished all this by suppertime.  Considering he’s out all morning for gym, I think that’s an acceptable time for “school” — especially since this also includes “non-school” things like chores, playing outside, and snacks.

Here’s his finished chart from today (er, yesterday):

It was just a 12-box day, since in addition to gym all morning we also went to the local pool for a couple hours this afternoon.  He still finished everything by suppertime.

I’d like to say this has been a resounding success with Flipper.  So I’ll say it: this has been a resounding success with Flipper.  We’ve been doing this for just a week so far.  There have been a couple days that he didn’t finish everything, but he didn’t freak out that he didn’t have “free time”, he just accepted it calmly.  Whoa!

And the days that he did finish, he was focused and on-task nearly all day.  He has never whined or complained about the amount of work — rather, he’ll say things like “whoa, I just realized I’m half-finished my work already!  Woohoo!”

In fact, he has said to me “I really like this new sticker thing mom.  Thanks!”

That just says it all right there, doesn’t it?

If we stick with this long-term, I may try to come up with a more permanent kind of chart, maybe with the velcro number things like with workboxes, rather than having to write this all up from scratch every night.  But we’ll probably still tweak it a bit here and there so I don’t want to do anything permanent just yet.

Oh, I’ll also mention that while he was away at Camp in July, I re-organized his bedroom, including finally finding a way to keep his schoolbook wall shelf tidy.  (Bookends didn’t keep everything from falling over, but a series of magazine racks does the trick!)  Since getting that done, and implementing this system, he has actually been putting his books away when done with them. Every time.  Honestly, I wonder where “my” Flipper is these days…

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