organizing school stuff

[sophiesmom]

This is probably not a normal topic here.. but was wondering if anyone had ideas on how to keep kid's school stuff (mainly all the papers!) organized. I tried a thing that stood on my counter, had three slots, but I would just forget about everything. One slot held 2nd grade papers, another K papers, and a 3rd papers to be signed/filled out.

Any other ideas?
Thanks!

[g-mama]

I'll be watching for any good ideas. We are completely drowning in school papers here, too. My 2nd grader has forgotten to turn in a couple of assignments this year and somehow, it's my fault. I need to find a way to have him share the responsibility of due dates. But the paper issue is taking over my kitchen - and my life!

[egoldber]

For my second grader, I have a bin that sits in my laundry room (right off the kitchen) with her school papers. This year I am *much* more ruthless than I was last year and as soon as something comes in the house that I *know* I will not want (including art work and school papers) it goes right into the trash. Homework gets done that day and stays in the backpack. The homework folder only comes out to work on it and then it goes right back in. Any papers to be signed go back to school the next day. That's my only hope of staying on top of things!!

[g-mama]

The homework that comes home one day and is due the next is not a problem. It's all the long-term projects. This is new for us this year. DS has three different projects due this month and they give about 3 weeks for them to be done. Not only is it a hassle getting him to sit down and work on it here and there when he knows it's not due right away, but remembering all the different due dates. Ugh.

[WatchingThemGrow]

What about putting them on a bulletin board with a dated post-it attached? On that post it, you could write a "plan" for getting the project done. Like 11/10-11/14 - gather books, 11/15-18 - read and take notes, 11/18-11/22 plan and assemble project

Just tossing an idea out there...

[SnuggleBuggles]

I go through what he brings home same day, write the date on it and chuck it in a bag in our dining room. When the bag gets full (or if I get inspired to do it sooner!) I will pull out a few keepers and ditch the rest. Last year I took pics of all his art work with the intention of tossing the hard copies. So far they are still in bags in my basement though.

I try and handle any things I need to sign or do immediately and put it back in his backpack right away.

On my fridge I keep his schedule, his weekly newsletter and his spelling/ vocabulary words tacked up.

When I comes to projects I will probably clear off a shelf in our dining room to store it.

I don't have a great system for memos and reminders yet.

Dh is my biggest barrier to being organized b/c I keep things out for him to review but he doesn't do it daily. Things pile up sometimes.

Beth

[niccig]

Can you put due dates on a calendar? Not school related, but DH and I were arguing over getting things done around the house and regularly scheduled things. I bought a big calendar and it has a notes section on the side. We've written in appts, things that have to be done (eg. change water filter) and in the Notes section listed what has to be done this month.

I have a ring folder for DS, and it's on the shelf with a folder for me, folder for the House and folder for Projects I'm working on. I've got all my papers filed in there. I know where to find phone numbers for preschool class (DS's folder), my gift certificate to the spa (my folder), details of my city's recycling program (house folder) and the quote for the window replacements (Project folder).

Maybe your DC could have a folder of school projects, and all the relevant paperwork that will fit, goes in there and perhaps a basket for large sized items. A place where it should always be returned will make sure you can find it.

The trick with whatever system is to put papers in it immediately and clean it out when no longer need - I'm still working on doing this regularly.
HTH

[egoldber]

The homework that comes home one day and is due the next is not a problem. It's all the long-term projects.

Interesting. Sarah hasn't had any long term projects yet. Do the long term projects get written into his agenda?

She does have her own calendar on the wall though, so I would probably write any long term due dates on there.

[g-mama]

Interesting. Sarah hasn't had any long term projects yet. Do the long term projects get written into his agenda?



Beth, I know we're both in Ffx Cty so I'm surprised about the differences. We started long-term projects in 1st grade and they've really increased in 2nd. They get book reports that are things like decorating a can to look like a character in a book and putting strips of paper w/ the story inside the can. Now they have to create a board game based on a non-fiction book. They get packets of optional enrichment work for both math and language arts that I require my ds to work on, if not complete.

On a daily basis, we get worksheets and a 'word study' notebook with different exercises to do with that week's set of words and a spelling test every Friday - is that what Sarah gets?

[egoldber]

She had a couple long term projects in 1st, but none so far in second.

Daily she gets:

math worksheet
reading homework (usually read a chapter or two and answer some comprehension questions)
word study (every other week, with one week assignments T, W and TH with a test the following Tuesday)
Every Friday they get a 3 page math SOL practice packet which is due the following Wednesday.

Sometimes she has something a little different: a magazine, a science worksheet, etc. They have lots of science tests (crickets, spiders, life cycle) and she spends a little time studying for those.

[Momof2mess]

I don't have to worry about projects yet, because DS is in K. But for everyday things, I have two of the stacking Rubbermaid/Sterlite drawers on his homework table. One for him and one for DD in preschool. And on top are the school supplies. I would try a bulletin board for the projects. I keep school memos/lunch menus/calendars on the fridge in an organizer like this.

http://www.shop.com/FridgeMate_Magnetic_Refrigerator_Dry_Erase_Calenda r_Organizer-41948703-55578866-p!.shtml?sourceid=298

[sophiesmom]

Thanks for all the responses! I do have a whiteboard calendar on my fridge, that is a big help for remembering things. I think I may get a bulletin board for important papers... if i file them I forget about them.

We are getting a new kitchen, and getting a ss steel fridge.. am going to look for a combo white board/corkboard to hang on the wall.. something nice like pottery barn.. but maybe i can find it at target!

Next year we'll have preschool papers too! yikes!