Storing School Papers

[TiredX2]

I don't mean permission slips and things, I mean long term storage of art work, special papers, projects, etc...

Right now I have each year stored in a LARGE cardboard type pocket (maybe 18"x24" or so).  I'd like to cut it down.  Something we would actually look at sometime, kwim.  Can't be too small.  I'd prefer one storage ____ for each child (I only have two, so not too much).

I'd love to hear what others do.  Feel free to spam me.

[HollyBearsMom]

I am SO not sentimental so I am probably the last person who should be posting, LOL

I have a spiral bound book similar to the one linked below.  There is a large "envelope" for each school year K-8.  The outside has a place for a photo, notes about where we lived, best friends, pets, favorite things etc. The only paper work I save is what can fit in the envelope, which is not a lot. The rest gets tossed.

I do have 2 magnetic picture frames on the fridge and two hanging frames in the breakfast area that I routinely swap in new art work that comes home. Once it comes out if its good enough it goes in the "envelope" otherwise it gets tossed.

http://www.calendars.com/Memories-of-My-School-Days-Organizer/prod126654/

[TiredX2]

That looks really cute.  I definately will have WAY more than that I will want to save.  One thing is that DD for two years did rather large "books" of work on a specific subject. that she spent hours and hours and hours on.

[GearGirl]

Well I think your first line of defense is to really decide what to keep, I think you are on a path to keep too much, at least from a decluttering, organizing, and simplifying standpoint, but for some that works.  My step mother in law (dh's step mom) is very wealthy with a large house, and very, very well organized.  She kept all of the kids school art and probably other reports and stuff.  It was always clearly labeled by child's name and year (I think in clear storage containers), and stored in a room on their lower level (I would say basement, but really it is nicer than our house down there...).  Both of her children are now older and graduated from college so they are downsizing and going from the huge house to a huge loft.  99% of that stuff needed to be thrown away.  The kids do like a few things, but they didn't want all their old art work, just a few things.  They didn't care at all about their school work.  I think at least for my FIL it was a big pain to have all of that stuff.  The best system I saw was my neighbor who scanned everything and kept computer files.  They have a great back up system or two as well since her dh is in computers.  They probably held onto a few pieces a year, and if you pick say three a year then you have about 40 special pieces of the child's work to share with them when they are older.

[PeacefulSeams]

I am so not sentimental about that stuff.  I keep 1 really good piece per year...if DS wants me to save any. My mom saved some of my stuff from school and I ended up tossing them out becasue they were taking up space. I have a small shoe box that I keep pics in and others are on my PC.

[doubledutch]

so far, my kids are only in preschool and i keep the cool art they make at home (the best of it), but most of their school projects are really hokey and non-creative so i haven't needed to keep that stuff yet.  don't tell my kids i said that.

my mom kept that stuff in an under-bed storage box.  that's not a ton of space and it doesn't allow for sorting by year, but it does encourage you to look through it once in a while - both to put things in (since it's all in one place) and take things out (to make room, since you don't have much!).

[clutterwarrior]

I have completely changed my outlook about this stuff.

I used to be a real hoarder of every single thing my kids created, and I mean EVERY single thing, like tiny scraps of paper with little squiggles on them.

But recently I realised that keeping all this stuff is pointless and is actually holding us all back with making the house liveable, so I made a decision to photograph all the artwork and toss it all except for those I think are extra special.

I had boxes full of all my daughters schoolwork from ten years ago, and I asked them if they wanted to keep any of it, they didn't, so I just kept a few that had really nice drawings and stories they had written. It felt great to throw away all this stuff!