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Organizing Papers
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I’d love to hear tips from seasoned homeschoolers about setting up a filing system or any other approach to storing papers and school materials. Hopefully I can start off with an effective system so I don’t have to re-do it down the road. 🙂 I’m specifically envisioning the materials the kids create – art, writing, etc. Perhaps a box or drawer per child with folders for each year? What are your ideas?
I am not a seasoned homeschooler….we are entering our third year, however what I am planning for this coming year is one of those milk crate hanging file folder boxes and I am putting hanging file folders in them. I am going to label tabs on them for the work the kids have done. We are required to keep them for 2 years so I am going to label the boxes and stack them and just put them on the shelf in my closet to store. Just an idea.
Looking forward to hear more ideas!
I tried file folders – but with 3 now school age and 1 starting “preschool,” it’s out of control for art stuff. Not to mention, with CM-style, there’s not a lot of worksheets TO file. So I am going to start a binder for each year, with tabs for subjects. For artwork, they each have an art binder. If it fits, they put it in there. If it doesn’t, they either hang it on the wall, give it to someone, or take a picture and toss the original. Much better than the many copy paper boxes I had been using… 😛
I have been using a binder for each child for each year.
I’ve seen a suggestion of having the work professionally bound, with a link to a company that does it quite inexpensively (about $20 I think) – that I am tempted to do… but is still a bit out of our budget right now….
So far, I’ve been keeping almost everything… so I have 4 binders for my son, and 2 for my daughter so far… but I know with 4 kids it is going to be way too much. I’m just trying to figure out how much to keep. (Gosh, I know that if they were in PS, that most of the papers would be trash ready before it even gets home…. )
I also know of a suggestion of an expandible file… they come with 12 pockets… 1 per year. I may get some of those. Obviously it is best for once you don’t need everything…
We use notebook binders – some for several years in a row such as for history and geography. Some we empty out and put in a file cabitnet each year and then reuse the next year.
For math we just keep the tests (dated) from each section and unit. We keep these in a notebook and file at the end of the year as well.
Hope this helps. We have experimented with several systems
I use the expandable files for artwork. Each of my children has one, and they have a slot for each year. I TRY to streamline what I keep, which is really hard! I have a feeling I will end up going back and weeding some things out; you know, like the several dozen pages of orca whales my daughter drew when she was in the orca phase. 🙂
I have considered doing the same thing for our school work, but I think I want something a little more “presentable” in case we would ever have to let someone see their work (we live in TX right now, moving to Alaska, so no reporting). I may save things throughout the year and then go back and pick and choose what to put into a binder portfolio. This could perhaps be done at the end of each term/semester to save work at the end of the year.
For artwork I just use an expandable file. I have several of those rubbermaid-type 3-drawer storage containers (drawers fit 8 1/2 x 11 sheets). I put their artwork quickly in there as it comes, then at the end of the year put in the expandable file labeled by age (legal size file). One file lasts many years.
I hate dealing w/stray papers and try to discourage as much as I can by encouraging the use of art journals when they want to draw, composition books labeled for copywork, dictation, and other language arts exercises, etc. For the rest, I just have a growing stack of papers on my bookshelf to be filed at the end of the year in a binder for each child. Each summer, I simply go through the stack, 3-hole punch, separate by subject, and insert. I’d like to say I insert into labled sections by subject, but don’t always get to that:) Since CM-style doesn’t require a lot of worksheets, it’s pretty manageable. HTH some:) Gina
Oh, and I just keep a large rubbermaid for each child that I put all the binders, completed math books, etc. in as they complete them. They hold a lot….my 12yo only has one container for all her years.
the expandable file folders are a great idea for my daughter who has a lot of artwork. My boys however really don’t want to draw or do artwork at all, LOL.
I could spend hours on this lady’s blog if I’m not careful, but she does have some great ideas. Her children are not homeschooled, but I think she is in agreement with us that she wants to keep a snapshot if you will. I like this post for papers, though I’ve not implemented anything similar. At the moment, what I’ve kept from the last 3 years of homeschooling are in fed-ex kinko boxes and piles on the floor. Sad, I know, but the truth.
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-paperwork-storage.html
And then on another post, she shows a cheap way she made displays for kids art. I don’t have a playroom like hers, but at the top of the post, she links to 8 different ideas for saving artwork. Some great ideas in there. I love this one: http://www.thegreatremember.com/products/196-2/
But … ahem … I certainly don’t have that kind of money laying around, but I’m thinking with photoshop and a scanner, I could something like it maybe and have it printed at mpix. Still thinking on it.
Anyway, I like the iheartorganizing blog for getting my creative ideas flowing and the fact she is into repurposing and reusing which really appeals to me for money sake and just makes sense to me.
LDIMom, I have just spent 45 minutes enjoying that organizing blog! Wow! I love that she shares how she does all that, but oh my, I have a lot of “stuff.”
We use the PROCLICK BINDING MACHINE, available from Amazon. It’s the BEST thing I’ve bought for home school. It costs around $80 I think, so expensive to start with, but once you have it you just have to occasionally stock up with spines and covers. I use cardstock and plastic sheets to cover back and front (look at what other customers bought – you’ll see what I mean).
The reason I love this system so much is that, for a small child, it’s so much less bulky and easy to use than 3 ring binders. All my children’s papers go straight into these binders – DONE!
They have binders for: Art, History, Science, Geography (map work), and anything else I think of.
Hope that helps a little.
Ruth
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