Organizing kids' Daily school papers
Whether school is starting or ending, you need a system to manage your kids’ daily school papers. You’re probably asking yourself::
“What do I do with the tidal wave of papers that kids are constantly bringing home?”
“Do I have to keep ALL of these papers?”
“Am I a bad person if I throw them away” (the short answer is “no”)
NOW is the perfect time to set up a system to organize your kids’ school papers and establish a system to manage these efficiently in the future.
These are the papers that typically come home every day, taking overyour kitchen table, mudroom, desk, and living room. Some need to be read and trashed. Some are homework, worksheets, or school work for you to see progress. And some require your attention and response.
Here is how you can set up a system to keep what you need for the future.
Get an Inbox for each child. This could be something that sits on a counter or is attached to the wall. Or it could be a pretty basket or bin to be the landing spot for your kids' incoming papers. Think rectangle, open top, no taller than 3" high. It should be flat and open on top so you can add to it easily
Put the inbox close to where these papers come in to your home. This landing spot might be on your kitchen desk or wall near the back door. Every home will have its own.
Label the inbox with his name so everyone knows who it belongs to. Each child can put his own papers in there. As they get older, there will be fewer papers to process but it's great for them to know where their stuff is.
Now that the papers have a home, you've got to set aside time to go through them.
Anything that requires your attention or signature needs daily action. Add any important event dates or appointments to your calendar immediately.
Once a week, at least, go through any remaining homework, school work, and art. Put a To Do on your calendar as a reminder. Be judicious in what you keep. You can't save everything!
Assignments that they've written about themselves or something that interests them is good to keep. Art that shows their personality is also worth keeping. Also, save some samples of their handwriting from each year. It's fun to see it mature as they do.
It’s ok to throw away excess papers. You don’t have to keep everything!
Here are suggestions for Organizing Digital Information for you Kids:
FOR DIGITAL information, create a folder in your inbox called *Child's Name* School Notifications. You can have a separate folder for each child and school.
Move relevant emails to the folder once you read them so you can find them later. Delete when you no longer need,
Add future events and appointments to your calendar immediately. Add them to your paper and digital calendars if you use both.
Make a weekly date with yourself to go through your kids' inbox(es) and process it fully. Call it a "School Papers date" on your calendar with a weekly repeat.
Don't be afraid to throw emails away.
Got questions? Let me know by emailing me carrie(at)neatsmart(dot)com.
Happy organizing!