It’s that time of the year again. My kids finished school on June 26th but with leaving for holidays last Saturday I didn’t have time then to deal with all the papers, workbooks, supplies, duotangs, art, etc that comes home at the end of the year. So I gathered everything up into baskets (one for each kid) and put it aside to deal with later.
Today is later.
Thankfully as the kids get older this process does get easier and easier. All the years of training is finally starting to pay itself off. I don’t say this lightly. Letting the kids have a say in what stays and what goes at times has been painfully traumatizing for me. But each year as they practice their decision making skills they get better and better at quickly filtering out what is truly important to them and what is not.
My daughter’s is the green basket and as you can see it’s not as full. She actually did a pre-sort all on her own, tossing the stuff she knew she definitely didn’t want to keep. That is huge because my daughter is normally a pack rat (like you wouldn’t believe) and usually doesn’t want to part with anything.
Anyone else still have the school clutter to deal with?
Start by consolidating it into baskets and then as you get a moment you can pull one out, do what you can and if you don’t finish then it’s easy enough to tuck away again. I’m a big fan of breaking projects down into manageable steps. For example one step could be to just sort it all out into various piles first then worry about tackling each pile as time allows.
Using the basket system makes for slightly less twitching, just don’t get too comfortable with it there :)
For more info about what I do with what ends up staying please refer to these related posts:
Organizing all the school clutter
Connect With Me:
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Somewhere I saw a cool idea–scan the artwork you want to keep and then reduce the size and print it [1-6 on a page depending on the type art work] and store it in a nice, neat labeled binder!
My MIL bought my kids portfolios with enough sections for each year of school, they are huge, so will probably store work and art that the kids want to save. As far as school suppliese, I have a clear tote that I labeled the top of for learning supplies. This has worked for preschool stuff and someday will be used for our school agers, I’m sure!
I keep a 3-ring binder and pick and choose what to keep throughout the school year.
Wow! Your schools go late. When do the kids go back?
Karen the kids go back to school in September, the Tuesday after Labor Day.
I keep my kid’s artwork in a huge, over-sized envelope (ones you get with those huge greeting cards) and store them behind the computer desk.
My kids are sentimentalists and drama queens, so they don’t allow me to throw any of their work away, except school announcements and math papers. I am a pragmatist and a purger who hates clutter all around my house. Our compromise is this: I keep all my kids school stuff in an under the bed box all year long. Special art projects are displayed on the fridge for a week or two, then into the box. Then, at some point in the summer, we pull them out and go through them. I keep maybe 10 things. By the time we go through it, they have lost a great deal of the sentimental attachment that makes it impossible for them to dispose of ANYHING!
Love your memory binders! And you’re right that as the kids get older, it gets easier. I finished this two days ago when I tackled the school supply/craft closet.
Wow, I just discovered your web iste, and I love it. I am adding you to my favorites that I read everyday!
Michelle @ momisbroke.com
Wow, your kids do go to school late. In GA, school start July 31st-August 4th. We get out May 31st. So we have June and July. I am already starting on Back to school shopping trying to get ahead of some of the others. I better get a move on it and see what can be salvaged from this past year. I would love to see more back to school ideas. Thank you! I love your site.
Laura,
Being the mother of high schoolers my kids love to invite their friends over the weekend after school is out for a big bonfire where they burn all their papers. I think it is somewhat therapeutic for them plus it gets rid of all the clutter for me!
Um, do I still have school clutter… YES. YES. I was happy to see this post because the kids’ papers (three in school) are definitely my #1 clutter problem. Kids have been out since June 17 too *embarrassed*
Later hasn’t come yet to deal with the supply clutter. I went through and weeded out the art and threw everything in a box. I’ll have to go through supplies in the next few weeks before school shopping starts.
I am a big scrapbooker and one of the leaders in scrapbooking is Stacy Julian. She gave me the idea of rubber maid file boxes and hanging folders. Each of my kids (I have 2) has a box with a folder for each school year (Pre-K to 12) As they bring home papers, I decide what to keep and put the folder for the year (my DD just finished 1st and my DS finished his 2nd year of Preschool)This summer they will further weed what to keep and what to toss. I keep the boxes in my scrapbook storage room.
This is the other hot spot in my house. I homeschool my 5 kids, so there’s lots to organize! I’ve got pics on my blog on my “progress”. Why does it seem to get worse before it gets better?!
Katy
http://mynutvillage.com/