Hi Moms! Two of my 3 children started school on Friday - Daughter in 1st grade and son in Kindergarten. Last year when they were in Kindergarten and preschool, I saved all their worksheets, homework papers, artwork, etc, etc, etc. I'm thinking if I continue to save everything for each of them each year (I also have a 3 yr old about to start preschool), I will soon be run out of my home by an overload of paper! I have their stacks from last year and I am wondering what to save and what to toss. Any ideas on what to keep from year to year and ideas on how to organize it all would be greatly appreciated! I do have School Scrapbooks for each child, but they only have 3-4 pages to scrapbook on and one pocket page for awards, etc per grade year. Don't think it will all fit in that!! I'm anxious to hear what all of you are doing to keep school papers organized! Thanks for your help! C. M.
Get a cardboard file box and label files for each year. If they need more than one file for each year, do that. But that's how my mom kept all my school papers. I think eventually she got rid of them....but when I was like 12 I loved to look back at how much I learned! And it was easy to find, because it was in a file! :)
I would definitely keep all awards! I would also keep projects - research projects, reports, etc. If you have a scanner, you could scan papers as well and keep them electronically, and then you can get rid of the actual papers... for less important things, but things you're not sure you can really part with permanently. If your children have art projects that are, of course, adorable - but too difficult to store - take a photo and keep an "art book" of photos of art projects throughout their school years.
My sister uses a school picture and glues it to a label, then labels a box "First Grade" and whatever fits in the box is what is kept - along with photos, and activity things for events outside of school as well (vacation keepsakes, ballet programs, etc.). She gets the boxes at the Container Store - they're clear and they can hold about 2 inches of depth, but they are wide and long enough to hold quite a bit (maybe 15" wide, 20-24"long, and 2" deep) She stacks them in her kids' closet like a tower with kindergarten at the bottom and they go up from there. It's amazing - and it is easily accessible when projects and such come home and need to be put away.
It's always tough to figure out what goes and what to keep - weekly assignments go, projects and special stories they write or poems, etc. are ones to keep. Also keep report cards in each year's box as well - a keepsake for each school year.
Good luck - great time to get organized!
I keep all of my daughters papers as well. She is homeschooled, so she has a little less, but tons of artwork too. I use her papers as backgrounds in her scrapbook. It is a great way to reuse them, rather than stuffing them in a corner where they will never get seen again!
Good luck,
Take care,
C. B.
Hi C.
I hear you on wanting to keep everything however your right you will run out of room. Here is what I do, I have a scrap book for each of my kids that has a sleeve in the top of the sheets that allows me to slide in papers. That way it is organized by grade and with other pictures of the year. To decide I go through and keep the stuff I like the best or shows the best of her only like 5 and toss the rest. Then I read a great idea that I do now. I take pictures of all the kids art work and then make that my screen saver. That saves my walls from displaying every thing they bring home and I love that I can see them on my computer. As for the art work the same thing I have a big birthday bag that I slip around 5 pieces into a year and that is in the closet so far my daughter is 10 and a I have a 2 year old and we still have plenty of room, the bag is sturdy and it is out of the way. So if I display the art for a while and decide it is a keeper when it comes down in the bag it goes.
Hope that helps a bit.
So far I have kept everything for each child for each year in a paper storage box but I have heard of other ideas I may have to try soon. So far I have 5 boxes. I have heard of using one big bin to hold all their years in school and if there was a special craft or project just to take a picture of the child holding the item and putting the picture in the bin. You could also do the same and put the pictures and most special papers in a notebook for each year or two. Then it would be at least a little better for space saving.
Hope that helps and good luck. I need to try these myself because I like to keep everything.
Hi C.,
What I decided to do was keep a few projects in a scrapbook from each grade and I took a digital pictures of all the other artwork. That way our girls could still look back at their artwork when they get older and we're not over run with papers.
M. :)
My daughter just started Kindergarten last week as well and I'm already wondering what to do with all the "fluff" that's come home. I certainly plan to keep big projects and extra special art work, but one thing that I did when she was in preschool was I created a "bulletin Board" in my garage. I bought bb non-fading paper from a school supply store and a cute border. I made a label for the school year and then taped or hot glued her art work, special papers, etc. there. That way our garage was really colorful and fun to look at every day, and it made her feel good to have her work displayed for us all to see! I have 3 years of bulletin boards in my garage now and Im planning to take a picture of each to save in a scrapbook and let her chose one from each year to save in a special pre-school box. I am planning to make a new one for this school year for both of my kids (one starting preschool also). Good luck! I've enjoyed reading some others ideas as well! Thanks for asking for advice!
I heard somewhere to go to your local pizza place and get a clean pizza box for each child at the start of the year and keep things in there throughout. They stack on top of each other so they don't take up a whole lot of room, but I like the idea of taking pictures of the stuff with the kids so you don't have to keep EVERYTHING.
Hi C.
Your right if you save EVERYTHING your house is going to be overtaken. I take a picture of all of my sons projects with him holding them and I also take group pictures of all his paperwork so I can fit 5-6 pages on one picture and put it nicely in a scrapbook...I know it sounds harsh...but after I take a picture I dump most of the stuff. I only save the really special ones.
I keep a memory box for each kid. I would hold onto the family drawings. Their first attemps at their name. Their drawings of cars/animals and such. Those are the best!
