Do you save school papers?

**AmyBoz** · 09-12-2005, 06:00 PM

I hang them on our bulletin board in the kitchen for a week. Then, they get tossed. Only if they are super-spectacular or if they are a handprint or tracing of a hand or body (something to measure growth by) do they get kept. Otherwise, I just toss them. I just can't save it all.

However, Julia and Patrick don't know what stays and what goes and I make a huge deal out of everything that they bring home.

(Don't want you thinking that if Julia brings something home I say, "Eh...it's alright., but I don't think we'll save it, sweetie.")

**guest000** · 09-12-2005, 07:07 PM

I have a box that I keep my preschooler's papers in. I marked it "Preschool Papers Year 2". This is his second year of preschool since he missed the cutoff for kindergarten.

It works great. Whenever his work comes off of the refrigerator, we pile them in the box. Now, of course, we can't keep everything, but the bigger projects, we definitely keep. We've also framed some of his larger pieces. Great to have artwork hanging on the walls that is a product of someone that lives there!

Just grab a box and pile the papers in there. Just be sure to mark it! Hope that helps!

**Hoosier Momma** · 01-20-2007, 08:56 AM

My dd (8.5) is in her first year of Catholic school (homeschooled up to that), and the number of papers she brings home is staggering! Fortunately, her teacher sends everything home in a 'Monday folder' that we have to sign to acknowledge we received everything (they include any important flyers, permission slips, etc.). But stuff is starting to pile up big time and I don't know what to do with it all. I have thought of keeping just the important things like tests and the weekly newsletter her teacher sends home, perhaps her art projects.

This is on my agenda for next week, BTW (along with decluttering my closet and making a trip to Goodwill).

What do you keep of your kid's school papers?

**lottaLove** · 01-20-2007, 09:27 AM

From my elementary and highschool days, the only things I have are report cards, and projects that I worked particularly hard on. My mum would keep everything for the year, and before the following school year started, she'd go through it, and weed out the useless things that I would never need again (ie...everything). I still have a few of my projects from grade school, and it's fun to look back through them. Other than that, what are you really going to use the rest of it for? Other than sentimental value, all of the "stuff" isn't really worth keeping.

**fernykins** · 01-20-2007, 11:40 AM

I kept all my kids rewards and certificates and report cards......... I have nothing from going to school. My mother threw everything away as soon as she got it.
Fern

**AheeK** · 01-20-2007, 12:20 PM

My mom kept absolutely everything from our school days, because her mother (my grandmother) threw EVERYTHING of hers away...she has nothing from grade school. Plus, my parents live in the country where they can just keep building sheds to store stuff in. She stored it all in labeled boxes and files. When each of us kids moved out and got our own house, she sent our boxes to us for us to decide what to keep and what to throw away. A filing cabinet might be the easiest way to keep track of the papers throughout the year, and then over the summer, you can go through it with your daughter and she can tell you what she wants to keep and what can go. Or, if the papers are threatening to claim your house, perhaps you could go through them on a monthly basis? That might help you keep on top of the clutter without accidentally throwing away something your daughter cherishes.

**halloweenfreak** · 01-20-2007, 12:39 PM

so far i have kept everything my son has brought home. and every few months i divvy it up among the grandparents and great grandparents and mail some to them. but he's only 4 (going to be 5 on the 26th, he's growing up too fast!) so they like to see what he's working on in school.

**bumplett** · 01-20-2007, 07:47 PM

I only keep certificates, report cards, awards & I frame the really cool art ~ that's it - everything else goes in the shredder to become kitty litter

((only once has the teacher asked for something back because she sent it home before recording the grade - I told her 'sorry, it's kitty litter already' and she just had to fluff a grade

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-14-2010, 04:47 PM

I know that people have given suggestions for keeping all those school creations from taking over the house, but I've gone back 4 years and can't find a thread about it

The only tip I can remember is to take a picture of big or bulky projects and save the picture instead of the project. What were some of the other ideas for saving, displaying, and purging children's schoolwork?

**JerryG** · 09-14-2010, 08:10 PM

This is what we did - here in the US, most students are required to carry a back-pack, cuz' they have so much crap they have to carry around. At the end of the school year, the 'kept papers' were stored in the back pack. Then before the next school year began, I'd weed out what I wanted to keep.

Did not keep things like permission slips, detention notices, lunch menus, overdue library notices, etc. Did keep completed assignments (good and bad), poems, essays, pictures and (some) personal notes. Then those kept items would be framed, put in photo albums or just kept OR sometimes the entire backpack would be kept. (Yes, I have a Ninja Turtle backpack from my son's 2nd grade year).

I've never done the digital memories as those options were not available to me at that time. I DO have a poem about winter from his 2nd grade class (which is pretty funny cuz' he's never really lived in snow) and a 100% Trig test from his senior year on the frig.

Dunno if that helps, but that's what I did.