School Bell: Before School Starts- pt 3

No pictures today because it is 5:10 a.m. as I start to type and I must leave in a5 minutes to drive my kiddo  to his big summer adventure.... which happens to be an almost 8 hour round trip for me today. Sorry bout that but I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone type, and not enough time to google search for images. [The catch of going to bed early instead of writing this morning's blog ahead!] Today's project is building a Homework Box for your kids [and for your sanity later].


Homework Box

Think back to last year's homework battle. Make a list of ALL the things they would use as an excuse to get up from their homework tasks and wander. Add anything helpful to homework tasks that your list might be missing.  This becomes you shopping list or your "scavenger hunt" list for a home scavenger hunt with a small prize or reward for whoever findds the most items from their list.

Hold a scavenger hunt and Assemble all the found items in one spot and then scan once more to see if anything crucial is missing.

Find a cardboard box that will hold everything. Have the kids work their artistic talents or flair on it.  Paint with poster paints, cover with colored paper or contaact paper, decorate with saying or pictures cut from flyers, whatever they like.  [If you insist you can buy a fancy plastic tub to use I suppose.]

Once school starts this box is kept wherever your kids do homework.  [My house it is the dinner table.]
If you have properly stocked your homework box, all you need to do is add a healthy snack nibble each study session and you are ready... Hint: The more involved they have been in the process the more willing they are to use the Homework Box.

Ideas of what to include:  [choose what fits the homework ages of your children and your family rules]
Kleenes, cough drops, habd wipes, chewing gum, timer, sticky notes, Pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, ruler, compass, protractor, calculator, dictionary, paper, scrap paper, stapler, bookmarks, paper clips, atlas, times table, 100's square, and modeling clay.

Note: 
I have also found these helpful to keep on hand if not in the box: bag of pennies, small bag of change, bag of counting tokens, an old magazine with lots of pictures, an old advertising flyer with prices and pictures, a sheet or two of poster board, and a sheet or piece of foam core. This has saved many a last minute need for a trip to the local drug store to avoid a crisis.

Well, my minutes are up, my eyes are finally open, and we are off to his adventure! Maybe I'll add some pictures when I get back home.   Have a great day everyone!