Tips for Dealing With School Paperwork

Does the sheer volume of school paperwork coming home with your kids make your head spin?  Before we know it lockers and desks will be emptied creating a mountain of paperwork in our homes.  Just the thought of that would give me a splitting headache until I took control.  This may be my hardest challenge I have as parent who likes to save everything my kids create.  It goes against everything I teach as a professional organizer.  I tend to want to save much more than necessary, however, my goal is to have only one bankers box per child to hand them when they move out on their own.  Below is how I handle day to day work, notices and what to save each year.

Day to Day

For school notices and reference papers I have a thin file box on my desk.  It could also be kept on the kitchen counter.  It is important to have it in a place you will be every day.  In it I have several manila folders.  Each child has one for papers that need to be referred to throughout the year.  Then I have one for current notices.  I enter the information in my calendar but keep the sheets with details here.  This gets purged each month.  My girls also have specific folders for the bands they are in and another for sports.  In the box I also keep my Note to Teacher notepads, a pen and envelopes for sending in money and permission slips.  One key tip is to make sure your kids empty their backpacks each day so you can handle each piece of paper right away.  If you don’t already have a system like this set up I recommend doing it before the fall.  This will make the beginning of the school year paper work a little less daunting. 

What to Save as Memorabilia?

For all that artwork that comes home I keep a few of the best then lay the rest out in groups on the floor and take photos before tossing them.  I print the photos and make a note of the child’s name and year.  I have even had a few of the pieces I’ve kept professionally framed.  I keep one or two tests and writing assignments from each grade.  I think keeping one item from the beginning of the year and one from the end is a great way to see their progress.  What I do is during the year I keep a file with what I think is save-worthy then make the decisions at the end of the school year.  The keepers go in the box and the rest is tossed!  I always include my children in this process.  It makes me feel better knowing they are keeping what they think is their best and it teaches them how to keep clutter under control.  Scanning is always an option but be vigilant here as clutter can easily collect virtually.

I would love to hear any tips you may have.  I know learning the tip about photographing artwork changed my life.  My girls are forever creating pieces at school and home and the thought of parting with any of them made me sad.  There is only so much wall space in my office and my husband’s.   I take great comfort knowing I have captured everything in photos and that those photos take up very little space.