Play: Ideas for Organizing for the School Year
It’s almost time for the daily avalanche of papers. Coloring pages, art projects, spelling tests, book reports. Depending on how many kids you have, there’s a possibility for a ton of paperwork. If you are like me, one temptation is to toss it (I really dislike paper clutter). But, while I was at my parent’s house awhile back, my mom brought out this HUGE tub full of great memories from my past, including some art projects and school work. I had a blast going through them, and was really thankful she had done that for me. So, now I am motivated to have a system in place by the time our first starts school to organize papers my kids bring home.
Right now, for these preschool years, I just have a plastic tote for each kid, and I stick in things every now and then that I think are particularly interesting or show a jump in their developmental stage (i.e. first time they draw a “person” with a head and legs and arms instead of just scribbling). But, I’m going to need something much more robust if I am going to keep up with all these kids’ next 13 years of school!).
Here are a few things that I have found particularly interesting.
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1. The FileBox from IheartOrganizing.
This one is a great idea, especially if you are starting at the beginning of a school experience. For each year you have one file, and in it you keep the most memorable items. It’s kinda like making a portfolio for your kids. She has a few downloadable templates for the front page (where we can attach a school photo), as well as cute file tabs.
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2. Organizing via the tub (from Real Simple)
This method realizes that you may not know exactly what you want to save “forever” as it comes in. So, instead of only choosing the best of the best right away, you keep all the good stuff (including taking pictures of oversized items that may not fit in a tub), and then going through it at the end of the year to decide what to save for that school year. I could see this being used in tandem with the previous idea.
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3. Organizing Electronically
At the end of each week, scan or take a photo of the papers/artwork that you want to remember. Keep an electronic file for each kid, and you can add lots of different kinds of things- pictures from plays, videos, sound bytes, etc. This helps those of us who either a.) have a lot of kids b.) don’t have a lot of storage space, c.) move around a lot and can’t imagine lugging bins of items all the time, or d.) have a hard time “purging” paperwork.
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4. Make a book (from Zig and Zag).
After you’ve scanned everything electronically, make a hard cover book out of it! How fun would this be to give to your kid at the end of each school year? I love the thought of looking over past years’ stuff with my littles as they grow and mature. We do that already with scrapbooks, and I think this would add another fun dimension.
I started the idea of keeping those things electronically. I write on the front Miranda's age, the approximate date, and a descriptor. (Like, sometimes she'll tell me the story behind the picture: "This is a mermaid swimming in the sea with her starfish pets.") For originals I want to save, I was thinking I would adhere them to pages in an album, sometimes along with photos of her at that age. These are just ideas at this point–hard to do these projects with a toddler in the house!
I like the descriptor idea!
We keep an 'under the bed' box for each of our 3 boys. Now that two of them are a little older, they help weed out what they don't want and keep what's especially important to them. Now that they are at or near the halfway mark in the school career, we'll be getting them each an additional box as we are running out of space. These boxes are great because they fit all kinds of odd/large shaped art projects without squishing them.:)
We keep an 'under the bed' box for each of our 3 boys. Now that two of them are a little older, they help weed out what they don't want and keep what's especially important to them. Now that they are at or near the halfway mark in the school career, we'll be getting them each an additional box as we are running out of space. These boxes are great because they fit all kinds of odd/large shaped art projects without squishing them.:)
ah yes, love that your solution is EASY to store!
4 kids times 23 years accumulated so far. Each child gets a medium size transparent bin. Every year a 2 – 2.5 gallon ziploc with the highlights. Ziploc is labeled with child's name, homeroom teacher and school attended. artwork get child's initials and date it arrived home immediately or else I'll forget. Also class photos, bday party invitations associated with that academic year, writing that captures them at that time and special notes from teachers or special friends in theri lives. It gets stored in a large mail sorter like mail room has throughout the year and finally culled after the year is over. It's a worthy investment but admittedly not my favorite task.
okay, i think you're going to have to take pictures and I will need to interview you and write a whole post of your system. I haven't come across this idea, but I like it!
My mom had a cedar chest that she put our artwork and moments in. I’m not sure it counts as organized, but it was great for oversized items that we brought home. Now that I’m an adult my mom is giving these things back to me a piece at a time. Usually it’s marked by a milestone my daughter has reached so I can look back at how we are similar and ways we are different.
I use magazine boxes to store art pieces by year.
That’s a great idea!
When my children bring home school work, art, etc. I go through it immediately and only keep the good stuff. Everything else goes in a seperate binder for them to look through during the next school year. (That way the items I want to keep are safe). They love looking through their items. I keep the items in each binder in a protective sheet to protect it and print a grade page to slip into the front of the binder. At the end of the school year i trash everything from the binders they get to look through and use it for the next year. This has worked for me so far (my oldest is in 2nd grade) and I will continue to do it.
Ohh, I like this idea! Do you keep anything or are you cool with getting rid of it all?