I’m the kind of mom who saves most everything my kids bring home from school. I know there are things I shouldn’t bother saving, but when I take things out of their folders, I tend to want to keep everything. Here is what I’ve done the past two years to organize and condense the paper piles.
These boxes sit under the desk in the kitchen. For the whole school year, I toss mostly all of the papers my kids bring home into the box with their name on it. (The box to the right is a recycling box – before you do this, tell your husband not to throw out the boxes of your kids’ schoolwork. Why yes, this did happen to us.)
My supplies include an empty recycling box, a file organizer that I bought at Walmart, and hanging file folders.
I sort out everything by subject, removing things I don’t want to keep. (Left: Recycling. Middle: Empty box. Right: Full file box).
Lastly, I label the file box with the child’s name and the year and put it in the basement.
Now my boxes are empty for the next year of school! Do you keep your kids’ schoolwork or toss it?