To workbox or not to workbox~City Mom

A couple years ago I was introduced to Sue Patrick's Workbox System.
I really love the concept. I love boxes. I love storing things. I love the illusion of things being neat & tidy.

I did them for awhile. With my own little twist:

This is where I stored all of JuBe's work.
These bins are ITSO's from Target.
I heart them.

I labeled folders instead of "boxes" because
I wanted to use ITSO's in pink/purple and blue/green

The night before I'd set up the work for the next day
or sometimes I put ALL of the work for the week in the folders on Sunday.

When the kids finished their folders (boxes) they put their work on a clipboard for me to look at
and then they put the empty folder in a crate for me to refill at night.

This was fun for awhile...*maybe* three days. Then I decided I am not the kind of person that will keep up with the intensity of this kind of project with four kids.

I really like this new set up. Maybe some of you ladies who have similar temperaments to mine will appreciate this approach to our homeschool organization. I found this interesting mom's organizational tool here.

And now I will show you mine!

I got this great little tool at Staples for $25 (not $45 like it is online).
It spins. And you can fit OH.SO.MUCH.STUFF in it.

Inside is a file folder for each month of the year.
My school planner for 2012-2013 fits in the big top with a tray for supplies like paper clips, etc. as well.

Inside each file folder is a folder for each week of school.
For each week, there is a set of school work for each kid, paper clipped and labeled to whom it belongs. I simply tore out all of their worksheets and put them in the week that it needs to be accomplished. It is a little work upfront, but to have this done for next year, September-December feels like a huge relief to me!
There are also "thematic" to the time of year activities that we'll do as a group in the monthly folder. For example, in November, I have some Thanksgiving craft ideas I got from pinterest, printed out and sitting in that month.
My planner has labeled in it all of the things I'll need to have on hand in order to make those activities happen. 

On Monday morning, after our  calendar time, I pull out the "weekly" folder. I pass out the work that needs to go in the folder shown above. Each child has their own. They put math in one folder, spelling in another, handwriting in another, and so on. They may work at their own pace. If they want to get a lot done in one day, they have the freedom to do so, because they have all of their work for the entire week set before their little finger tips. But they file away their work for the week in their folders on their own. No more trying to get it done on Sunday nights (or scrambling on Monday mornings. We work together to get this done!)
One thing about the workbox system that was too hard for my abstract/random mind was that there was some "order" as to when someone had to do something. My two oldest "concrete sequentials" would get totally thrown if I went out of order and it made things miserable for all of us and we started to clash. Doing it this way, there is no set order for when something needs to get done. We simply work through our work and we flex around each other. I know workboxes are s'posed to work that way, but they didn't for me. Besides, when it was a box, I felt pressure to come up with things like a random toy or snack or whatever to put in the box. Now, I can be more spontaneous about that kind of stuff...because  hey! that's my personality!

When the kids are done with their work, the finished product goes into a section in one of these sturdy 3 ring binders. They each have their own color coded binder that goes in our big Expedit (which is from Ikea but I got on craigslist).

Is all of this making sense? Probably not. I should have split this into a couple different posts, but I'm going to keep going since I've gotten this far.

Want to see the rest of the spinny desk organizer that I love oh so much?

I can keep all of my teacher manuals in here. There are even spots for those supply items you need as you go about the day. My 3-hole punch fits in there. My special "sharpies~just for mommy" have their own home. Our Bible time materials, the math manuals...it all fits in this little special desk. No longer do I run around wondering where I put MY manuals and supplies. Have I mentioned how much I love this thing?

I sat down with my kids a bit ago and asked them if there were some areas where they wanted to GROW in their relationship with the Lord. I had picked out a hand full of verses that I thought might apply and shared them (Peebs was the only one who picked a different verse than I had thought through, so we used the one on his heart). We then prayed about some areas they thought they'd like to grow and then they picked the verse they wanted to focus on for the year and the areas where they wanted to actively pray and seek God in which to grow. JoJo was too little to confer on this, so I simply chose Ephesians 2:8-9 as her verse, so that we could pray about her understanding of the free gift of the gospel that Jesus has for her.
We're focusing on Ephesians 2:10 for all of the kids and we talked about areas where the kids wanted to serve God now. I have been explaining to them that they don't have to wait to become an adult to serve God and others. The big two picked areas in their live where they wanted to pursue service. I didn't pick anything specific for the littles, but wanted this concept in front of them during the year.
I typed up their verses and the areas of growth they shared they wanted to pursue and laminated them and attached them to my spinny desk. This will be a visual reminder of the ways in which each child wants to individually grow spiritually during the year. This is our number one goal in homeschooling and I wanted to keep it on the forefront of our materials so that it wouldn't get lost in all of the wonderful curriculum/ideas/plans that the Lord has put before us.

So...any questions? I'd love to hear how you are organizing your school. Share how workboxes work for you. Or what other system do you use to stay organized and keep on top of it all?