What do you do with all their school papers?

coasterqueen wrote: I have been trying to figure out what to do with all their school papers for 2 years now. During the school year the girls put all their papers they bring home in a basket in their closets. At the end of the school year we go through the papers and weed out what they really think they don't need to keep....which honestly is not much....unfortunately. So then after they go to sleep I weed it out a tiny bit more, but I find I can't seem to decide what to keep or throw away. Then after I'm done I put it in a tub, write the year of school on it and store it. WELL it seems like it's one tub per year per kid and I'm going to be out of space soon. DH can't seem to understand why I keep it all, especially the regular homework papers that aren't such a big deal. I just can't do it, throw it away. I really know a LOT of it they would care less to see as they are older, but some of it I think they'd enjoy.

So how do you do it? How do you determine what gets kept and what doesn't?

luvmykids replied: I don't keep ANY of their homework, classroom worksheets, etc, they get thrown out the day I get them back home. I only keep special projects.....a paragraph they write about something, a project, etc. and I only keep the ones where they did a great job or something cute (like misspellings or funny/sweet/sentimental sentences).

coasterqueen replied:
Monica...can you come over to my house PLEASE!!!!!!!!!??????????? I know I need to be this way. If I did, we'd have a lot less paper around, lol. I definitely want to keep their monthly journals they do at school, art projects (the really cute ones, lol) and any theme project booklets they do. For some reason I can't get rid of the daily homework papers, though. Maybe I just need to let DH do it and then it won't be a problem for me anymore. He thinks A L L of it should be thrown away. I know I don't want to do that though. I recently found a few school papers from DH was little and there was SO CUTE to read through.

MommyToAshley replied: I think Cary said she scanned the ones that she wanted to keep and then pitched the originals ... that way she could look at the digital image of it any time she wanted.

I'm not that motivated. I'm more like Monica and keep a few specail keepsakes and a few things for scrapbooking.

coasterqueen replied:
Yeah, I remember her saying that. I guess I want something tangible, you know, right there in my hands to look at when they are much older -- so that's why I don't scan them.

coasterqueen replied: And Dee Dee, don't take this the wrong way, but I would have taken you for someone who would keep all of Ashley's homework. Ok, I'm cleaning out the bins tonight and only keeping the really special stuff. I'm gonna do it!!!

MommyToAshley replied:
LOL -- not taken wrong at all. I actually keep her papers for awhile throughout the school year just in case she needs to reference them. But, I don't really keep the daily work after the year is complete. From last year, I kept the journal that she wrote in everyday at school, an autobiography she wrote, a hardback book that she created with her mass buddy from 8th grade, and a few seasonal art projects. I am sentimental about the work to a point, but it just becomes too much clutter.

luvmykids replied:
You can do it!

I used to keep it all, back in preK and just got tired of running out of room and having to find more You'll feel great after you do it!

eta: For artwork type stuff, I laminate it and make placemats for the grandparents. I also have the cheap box frames that are super easy to switch pictures in and out of and they have a few of those in their rooms and a few on the wall going up the stairs....we keep the ones they love in those and change them out when we want to.

MommyToAshley replied:
That's a neat idea!

MommytoKKC replied: We order school supplies through the school and when we get them they come in these nice flat, rectangle boxes that stack really well. I just put their stuff in those boxes and label it with the year. I save all art projects or special things and I save homework that shows a new skill they devleoped or something they really improved on. For example, I saved their first cursive writing. I save a paper that showed mastered math facts. But the daily stuff I have to get rid of. I think they chop down a forest for each child in the amount of papers they bring home.

coasterqueen replied: Ok, you'd be proud of me ladies!!! I went back through the papers last night and got rid of a LOT more. I got it down to where two years will fit into one tub - the tub is the size of two shoe boxes, basically. So that's better than one year per tub. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be -- weeding it down more.

Thanks for the push....I need that often.

luvmykids replied: Good girl!

My2Beauties replied: Karen I'm like you it's going to be so hard to get rid of those things. I have a huge drawer filled with everything they've done in daycare so far and I can't fit anymore in it to be honest LOL! I know once school starts I'm going to want to save everything.

coasterqueen replied:
For some ODD reason I haven't been that way with daycare stuff. I don't know why. You come back here when they start school and we'll help you weed the stuff out -- give you that push they gave me.

moped replied: Good question. I have a wall in my pantry that really nobody sees but me when I am in the pantry and it is Jacks art wall. Anything he brought home from preschool that he liked as far as art is on the wall......the rest is thrown recklessly in a box - UGH.........MUST sort that out before K!