How do you decide what school papers to keep from your kid?

[shelleyd2008]

What do you keep? My son has at least a couple hundred papers from school--pictures, work, etc--and wants me to keep them all. I, and I'm sure most of you, don't have the room to save it, so how do you decide what to keep and what to pitch?

He is only now going into kindergarten, and already I've got piles of folders with papers in them! Help!!

 

[Laurajean]

I hope this doesn't disqualify my advice, but I don't have kids. Having said that, I WAS a kid, and my mother kept giant cardboard folders of papers and drawings from my childhood. I think it isn't so much which ones you choose, as much as it is that you choose some. Years from now, you're going to love looking through them, and it will be special, and you won't remember the ones you didn't keep. I think it's a symbolic thing. Whatever you keep will be precious; there's no wrong choices.

A suggestion: for drawings and artwork: Put them all in one stack and quickly go through them putting them in a pile on your table. Any that stand out of any reason, set aside. Do it quickly, so your subconscious will take over. Another way might be to only keep drawings from holidays, special occasions, school events, etc.

For school work, pic a few for each subject (if there are subjects yet). Something on the alphabet, something with numbers, something with animals etc. I scrapbook, and I think what you are doing must be similar. I can't save EVERY special moment of my life in a book, so I just sort through and save ones that make me talk out loud (like if I find myself saying out loud "Oh, that's a good one!", etc). You can't save every moment, so just try to choose moments that represent many other moments, if that makes sense.

Hope that helps.

 

[patnjess]

I have kept keepsakes. Like cards, awards and such. I have too many kids and hate clutter. All that i save better fit in their baby book

 

[saddina]

I keep art work, and anything that's outstanding, like the poem he did for english, or photos of science exparaments.

 

[DuckLady]

My mom kept everything we did, even the teeth we lost all labeled and dated and how much we took the tooth fairy for.

She passed away almost 8 years ago and I still roll my eyes thinking about all the stuff she saved.

Just get a box and save it all.

 

[Camelot Farms]

I keep final report card for each year, Mothers Day things, One Christmas ornament from each year and other special 'stuff'.

I have a rubbermaid sweater box for each of them and thats what I put it in

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

For now, keep it all. Sit down with him and sort the things into types of work, and by date as much as possible: art, writing, math, etc. I put my kids work in albums, folders or binders. It will give you a reference for what levels he is at when he starts school again next fall. If will also show you what he needs to work on over the summer. Sometime after school is well underway, go through them again, eliminating things that are repetitious and don't reflect on the child's individuality: spelling packets or math papers where they didn't do any original work. Certainly keep any that had teacher comments written on them that may seem meaningful. For now keep all artwork or stories or poems or projects. If your child has one absolute favourite subject, keep all the papers for that subject--at least for now.

Every year go through the previous years' work and eliminate the things that no longer spark your interest. You will never lose your interest in the poem he wrote about fireflies or the research paper she did on dendelions, or the mosaic of your family pet, but your interest in subtraction practice sheets and spelling tests will fade before long.

I remember reading in a parent magazine to take digital photos of artwork before tossing it--I understand the concept, of clearing out clutter, but somehow it is not at all the same. For years I had my son's artwork framed and hanging all down the hall--anything that somehow expressed him to me.

You could take some of his papers from every subject and have him make a collage of the year. Or you could take the work papers and have him collage them onto mats to frame artwork, stories or poems (wish I'd thought of that one years ago!)

 

[PineappleMama]

We pile everything they bring home (their work wise, not flyers) into a big copy paper box. At the end of the six weeks we go through it. Obviously lame-o workbook pages are seen, commented on, then tossed. But artwork, we review. Decide what stays here, what's hung up, what goes to grands, etc.

This is also handy in case it turns out that your absent-minded sixth grader didn't turn something in... look in the box and you can find it.

The art, certificates, etc. that we keep are displayed for a bit and then put into the kids' Memory Box... each has one of the big totes full of those sorts of things. Later, when they're adults, they can decide what they want to do with it... I was thinking maybe give them the box when they have a kiddo, OR perhaps on their kiddo's first day of school.

Ways We Display are Magnet ala fridge, dry erase, etc. Sticky tacky stuff on the walls. And my coolest idea I think, two thumb tacks and a bit of string to make a clothes... err... ARTline. Use clothespins to hang up the work... fit's quite well at the top of the wall, gets in no ones' way and is easy to swap out with very little (2 holes) damage to the wall.

 

[cheri222]

I go through everything when it comes in and weed out the junk, then I weed again every 6 months. all papers get bundled by year. We use large rubbermaid totes. Our 10 yr old just started his 2nd tote. You can fit everything in. clothes, trophies, papers, art work.
Then label and store. We had fun going through his 1st tote this winter. Yes there are some baby teeth, first hair cut and favorite rattle. Our 5 yo came from China last year so his started from the first picture we got of him.