OT - organizing school papers - any tips?

[millerpjm]

Hi! My DS will be heading back to school soon, going into 1st grade, and I have a question on all the papers. How do you keep them organized? In kindergarten, DS brought home tons of papers/artwork/seatwork, etc. I had a really hard time keeping the house from overflowing with papers.


So.....What papers do you keep, and for how long? I'm not talking about the art project it took them 6 weeks to do....just the ordinary worksheets, handwriting practice papers, etc. TIA!

 

[stsomewhere]

reg work. The kids bring it home on Fridays. They get recycled immediately (after we look at it)

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Unless it's artwork or something they are particularly proud of it goes in the trash immediately or if it's two-sided I will keep it in a bin for scratch paper or for my 5yo to doodle on and cut up. It's it's a letter with a date or other info on it I need I put it in a letter tray on my desk after writing the date on the calendar.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I remember when dd was in kindergarten, I wanted to keep every single paper!! Then I realized that by the time she graduated our house would look like one of those hoarders you see on tv.....not so good!! Now I look at everything and sort it immediately. Some things get saved only until dh gets to see it....tests and that kind of thing..then trashed as soon as he sees it. The only thing I keep is things that they have written...stories and things that capture their personality at that age...and report cards or awards. I have a basket on the top of the fridge and I only allow it to fill up once a year. Both dd and ds have a plastic tote in their closet that everything goes in...I'm really picky about what goes in there. I figure I'll add to that tote their whole school career. Anything more than that would be too much to reminisce over when they're grown.

 

[dizneechic]

I'll start by saying I hate school paperwork. I have 3, this year going into 2nd, 1st, and pre-k... stuff comes home all the time. Thankfully our schools try to limit sending things home until Fridays, but this year I will have 2 that get weekly homework on Mondays (comes home Monday, due Friday).

For homework and reading logs each child has a clipboard (they each have their own color) that gets stored on one of our kitchen counters, this way they always know where to find it and I can check in on progress. I have a rule that there is no ds or computer time until the homework for the day is finished, and if we have a play date or activity scheduled during the week they need to do that days homework before the scheduled date.

For the weekly piles, I read everything as I go through backpacks, and honestly toss most (not in front of the kids of course!). Any art project I take a picture of so we have a digital record of it and they can pick 1 special thing to go on the playroom wall if they would like. If the walls get too full, they can pick one of their older pieces to come down and be replaced. Some artwork does get saved and turned into grandparent cards or gifts, but not too much (goes into a small storage basket in the kitchen cabinet). Each child also has a 3 ring binder filled with sheet protectors that certificates or very special work goes into. I have in there awards, hand print art from each year (preschool+), karate belt promotion certificates, etc as well as samples of their writing over the year (beginning and end only). In my older ds's notebook I also have saved a story or 2 that he's written in class (usually about his brother) to torment him when he's older.

The last thing I started last year which really helps me, is I put up a cork on the wall behind my computer monitor (where I am most prone to look at it ). On there I put the school year calendar, birthday invites (x3 there are SO many!), and school notices I need to keep track of (field trip forms, PJ day, etc).

On a side note, with all of the digital art... You can use a simple photo editing program and do a scrap book type of layout and print up calendars of the random art for you and the grandparents each year.

 

[allyphoe]

Regular work? Goes in the trash the moment DD is in bed that night. Big projects go into her art drawers, and go into the trash (while she's in bed at night) when I get around to cleaning the drawer out.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have a simple system - classwork, homework, tests, and worksheets go immediately in the garbage. Some artwork might make the front door or fridge, for a few weeks, and then it's garbage. I save about 5 or 6 things of each childs' out of the year, journals or special stories. When they were in preschool, with no backpacks, some never made it into the house! I just cleaned out ds11's backback - mounds of garbage!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Last year, I would hang the best work, or special holiday projects, on the fridge (I had 4 clips) and the rest would go into one slot of my desk tray. At the end of the week, I'd sort though them and keep what I considered "representative" stuff (especially writing, like a PP said) in a folder, and recycle the rest.

So...sounds good, but I was a softy about keeping too much. - I outgrew the folder and had to pair down again at the end of the year!

But I think I'll have another go this time. - I do like the system in theory, and I only have to secretly toss stuff once a week, not every day.

 

[deva]

I toss worksheets/tests every night too (otherwise too many papers were piling up). Certain "special" stuff (handwriting, books they made, cool science papers, report cards, certificates, pictures etc.) go into their school box. I get the box from the school - it is what their school supplies come in (purchased through PTA) - so one box for each year at school. At the end of the year it is a nice box of memories and the kids like to go through them every so often. For art projects or larger papers, I purchased an accordion folder from Toys to Grow On for each kid. It holds the larger 11X17 artwork. One slot for each grade starting with 3yo preschool. I try to keep only our favorites from each grade - maybe 10 or so. Nothing with any type of food or messy stuff glued on (glitter, fruit loops, noodles etc.) goes in the folder as these are for long term keeping. These go on the fridge or door for a while then trash.

 

[smcdaniel4688]

I have a DD that has just gone into 3rd grade. What I have foung that works best for us is to throw away homework, tests, etc immediately after I go through them. I keep out any artwork or special stories that she has written (like ones she writes about her Grandpa, who passed away almost 2 years ago) and put them in a folder labeled with the grade and year on the front. At the conclusion of that year, the folder goes in her plastic "school memories" tote in storage. I feel that this way, I am keeping some things that will be fun for her to look back on in the future, but getting rid of the clutter. Just be sure to be selective about what you keep. For us, it has to be special stuff and things that she is especially proud of.

 

[millerpjm]

Thanks for all the posts and suggestions - this has been very helpful!!!

Our house is pretty small, so trying to control the clutter is essential!

 

[crisi]

We have a rubbermaid bin. The vast majority of stuff gets tossed within a week that it enters the house. There is a pile for the rest. We whittle down the pile every so often, tossing 80% of what remains (most of it in the the other parent might want to look category - and didn't look until we hit this stage), just tossing the rest into the Rubbermaid box making sure their age and some sort of date is on it.

There is also a file folder for the "important papers we need to hang onto." Not report cards - those go into the box. The call tree. The information on PTO. The phone numbers. The week schedule - gym on Thursdays.

 

[PaulaSue]

I have 3 girls and I so have to do soemthing better. Paperwork is my downfall.

Last year I started a 3 ring binder for each girl's important papers. Teacher list, class info and special papers I kept. Not thinking I just emptied it and dumped it into a box down in the basement. I should start a file system for each year's work.

BTW, I keep art work/papers for a week then purge most of it but the best work that goes into the 3 ring binder above.

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

I have one child who is a saver,and one who is a pitcher...for the saver, we keep everything in a drawer in the kitchen until it's full, and then I have him go thru w/ me and tell me what he wants to save.

He's kinda particular and sensitive about these things he found some work in the garbage a few years ago and was upset!

We have rubbermaid bins (one for each) in the basement, where the "save" stuff goes.

We decorate the walls down the basement stairs w/ elem school art projects.

Don't worry, the amount will lessen as time goes by!!

 

[C.Ann]

DGD will be 11 soon, and since day one there has been a box in the kitchen where all of her papers go..

At the end of the year, her mom and dad go through them with her and the "best of the best" are kept (placed in a tote that is stored in the basement) to eventually be placed in scrapbooks.. The rest are tossed..

 

[annagirl]

Honestly, I save everything until the end of the school year. Then one quiet afternoon we sit down and go through it all - it gives us a chance to look at her progress over the year. Once we've done that (with much praise, etc) I give her a number of things she can keep - like, you can keep 15 pages or 6 pieces of artwork - whatever works for you. The kept stuff gets put in a folder marked with the year, the rest goes in the recycle bin.

 

[star sweeper]

I would have a binder for each child and keep things by 9-week grading period, quarter, etc. As a former middle school teacher, I know computer gliches happen. I once lost a grade due to a network problem, but had already handed back the quiz from the previous Friday. Most students simply brought in their paper and I plugged it back into the grade program, but a few retook the quiz. Some said they did worse on the retake, but without the paper to prove it, I had to record the retake. It's hard to get enough meaningful grades each 9-weeks what with state/federal testing, holidays, etc. so many teachers can't afford to scrap a quiz or test grade if most students can produce the original paper. JMO

 

[littleaussie]

I got this idea from a book I read about a mother who passed on while her child was in grade school.
Each year, my daughters pick out a new backpack. I know it is another school expense but we keep the price under $15 and look for sales. During the year, I collect their papers and art work and projects in a drawer. Over Christmas and at the end of the year, we go through the stuff and toss the less memorable things out. At the end of the year, they bring home their home-school folder and I stick the good tests or homework in them and everything goes in their backpack and it gets shelved in their room or hung up on their walls. They love looking through their backpacks from time to time and each year is conveniently put together in one pack.
Their backpacks look a little ratty at the end of the year anyways, so it isn't hard to retire them and get a new one.
So I guess I have to limit their stuff to what will fit in 1 backpack but it works for us and the visitors to the girls' rooms think it is a fun way to store their school memories.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

They come in the house and within a couple of hours, I review them all and most get recycled.

Occasionally there's something I want to keep and I put it in a special folder I keep in the kitchen for this purpose.
Then the next time I'm heading upstairs to my space (known as My office although I don't do much office type work up there), I grab the folder, file the paper in the accordian folder for the child in my office and when I go back downstairs, grab the folder and put it back in the kitchen. I've had the same accordian folder broken labeled by years for each child and have plenty of space left in each.

 

[palavra]

We have a filing cabinet in our office, and DD has her own drawer. We clean it out every 6 months or so.