How much schoolwork should I keep?

[oogieboogie]

I'm trying to declutter my house and I find I've got about 2 boxes of DS1's schoolwork from Kindergarten, and 1 box from first grade. I have some options:

1. Keep all of it - it's precious memories

2. Keep some of it - what to pick, though?

3. Throw it all out - there's no reason to keep them

What would you do? I need some opinions here.

Thanks

 

[jrydberg]

About one tenth of one percent of it

 

[MerryPoppins]

Keep the things that are special. The stories in his own words, some art work, a few examples of handwriting. Some of their early work can be so funny! Everyday busy work type papers can be the first to go.

I found a few years ago that it is helpful to take pictures of my kids with some of their projects. That way we have a record, but can throw them away. Trust me, after a number of years, you can be taken over by all the shields, models, etc that your kids make.

Maybe you could make a scrapbook with examples of art work, writing, etc and a few pictures from each year. That would mean much more than a box full of papers.

 

[TheGottis]

I've been taking pictures (digital) of my daughter's arts and crafts projects. What about scanning stories and examples of writing and such? We move around too much (military) to tote it all with us. Eventually, I will sit down and put a scrapbook together for her...

 

[Jobomom]

I wonder this myself. DS6 is in 1st grade now and everyday as I clean out the backpack, I try to decide what to keep and what to discard.

I do tend to recycle all the daily work papers, but I keep the special projects and some of the tests. I'm hoping to have samples of writing from the begining of the year and the end of the year, just to remember how far he's come (gosh I hope!)

 

[LoraJ]

My mom put together 2 huge scrapbooks for me when I graduated high school. She saved some of my drawings, stories, all my report cards and class pictures as well as other special memories.

No need to save it all, but definitely keep what is most special.

 

[Micca]

As one is currently engaged in clearing out 20 years of clutter from our home, and having cleaned out my mother's house last year when she moved to assisted living, my answer is: save as little as possible! Maybe one picture or page from each grade level.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have only kept things that were great art or a story that is special. I have 1 box for each of my kids.

I decluttered ALOT this summer. But I did go through it with them and asked them if they want it. They said to most stuff.

 

[VALDAN]

i kept some artwork from their early grades. Now I keep a few tests from each year, so they can go back years later and see what they learned and well they did.

 

[MerryPoppins]

I love the scanning idea. You could fit a lot of pages onto a CD.