My mom recently attended our state homeschool convention, and one of the booths she discovered was Sue Patrick’s Workbox System booth. Mom went to one of her mini-workshops and ended up buying the book. The Workbox System is a method of organizing a student’s work, and it intrigued me, so we had to check it out. 
The main core of the system consists of a grid and a set of boxes. Twelve clear plastic boxes (like Sterilite or Rubbermaid shoeboxes) per student sit on a low shelf (typically a shoe rack). One assignment/task goes into each box, along with all of the information necessary to complete it. (For instance, a math book along with a sticky note that specifies which pages to complete.) The boxes are numbered on the front from 1-12. Meanwhile, the grid has numbers velcroed to it. The box numbers are there, in the order they are to be done, with other instructions interspersed – for instance, a small image that denotes working with a “center” (“geography center,” “science center,” etc.). The student completes his work by using the grid as a “to-do” list. He looks at the first block, pulls the number off, and matches it to the appropriate box. He then pulls that box out, completes the contents, and sets it aside. As he progresses through his day, the work “disappears.”
There are a number of benefits to this program. It makes the work very concrete and the instructions very visible. It keeps the child focused on only one thing at a time. (This is especially good for those of us with ADD-type tendencies!) At the same time, it teaches working from a list, doing things sequentially, etc. Filling the boxes has served, for many moms, as a reminder to include those “fun” activities that we keep forgetting about. The child’s progress is clearly visible to him, so he feels that he’s accomplishing something. And because the boxes are clear, he can see and anticipate those “fun” activities that Mom has planned.
It has some drawbacks, as well, though. The biggie is space. Especially if you have several children, those boxes can take up a lot of space. (If you have a large family, with eight or more children, you’re talking about nearly, or more than, 100 boxes!) All of those boxes can also contribute to a large expense.
Although the author strongly discourages varying from her specific way of setting up the system, many homeschool moms – being the innovative homeschool moms that they are – have created variations to solve these problems in their various homes. My first thought was to use magazine holders. They’re the same basic concept as the boxes, but vertical rather than horizontal. I don’t know if they make clear ones, but this could be the best of both worlds – filling all of the author’s original aims while still saving considerable space. A number of moms have done just this. I haven’t seen any clear magazine holders, but I have seen some very creative ones. Many have been made from large cereal boxes, and some have been decorated with pretty paper. One mom has her children clip a clothespin to the top of each magazine box when it’s been completed, so they can see their progress. (The same could also be done in reverse. By the way, if any of these examples are you, please let me know and I’ll gladly link you up! I don’t seem to have bookmarked these blogs. 
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Another option is to use one large box – like a file box – and use manila or vinyl envelopes, file jackets, or something along those lines for your “boxes.” This removes some of the benefits of the original system (especially if you are using something that the children can’t see through), but it does take up considerably less space.
We are probably going to implement this system for the coming school year, but Ariel will be using a filebox with envelopes or something. (I haven’t decided on exactly what to use for the inner containers yet.) Sophia will have clear plastic shoeboxes, but she will start with three, and “graduate” to six. (The aim is for her to learn to “read” left-to-right and top-to-bottom along with matching up like numbers.) Hopefully, pictures will follow at some point later this summer.
(reading chronologically)
