MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

So what do you keep?
what do you throw out ?

I dont wanna have a ton of stuff, but I definitely like to keep a decent amount to see progression in their work.

Ive already filled a box from preschool (A huge clothes box )

anyone else care to share ?
and then deciding what to keep and what to toss. I feel bad tossing anything really, but some simple workshets, dont tell me anyone keeps every single thing

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

I'm saving everything so far. He's just started nursery school 3x a week. As me again in 6 months and I am sure my answer will change.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

i keep crafts and other thing that its obvious some actual work went into. The sheet with some scribble go right in the garbage

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

Trish
I started that way too, you can imagine with 2 in school now

Karen- thats exactly what me and my hubby have said. things that they actually put their own little hands and effort into, we keep, things that teachers cut and paste (nursery school mostly) and nothing "original" about it, we toss.

ok, I feel better.thanks girls !

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

My advice...what works for me...

Kids aged 13, 8 & 8...(stepdaughters aged 9 & 4)

I have a bin that I keep in the hall closet. In this bin goes all the things that we have decided to keep throughout the year. Sometime between the end of the school year to the beginning of the following year all "memories" get put into an accordian file with the childs name on it and stored away.

As the children get older you can start explaining to them that you cant keep EVERYTHING. I tend to keep...Holiday artwork, exceptional pieces of artwork, funny things, anything that really shows that childs personal interests, and things that say stuff about "when I grow up"...teachers comments etc.

Sometimes when its time to put the items into the accordian file we decide that we really dont need 7 pictures of our new kitten or another pumpkin thingy....

This, by the way, reminds me that all of last years stuff is still sitting in the hall closet bin!!!! One more thing that hasnt gotten done...UGH!

Message edited 10/17/2007 8:03:17 AM.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

I have an under the bed plastic container... I put things in there that are important or things they put a lot of work into... The REALLY cute stuff gets hung up around the house.. a few paintings I've had framed.. everyday homework and stuff gets tossed... I must admit that at first I kept everything.. but now with 2 in school I realize that it's just not practical because they bring SOOOO much home

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

My older son is in 2nd grade and I just this year threw out actual work he did ( like dittos and such ) from kindergarten. I still have all of 1st grade and now this year... I don;t know why but I have kept it!!!!!

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

I saw on TV one day (might have been Martha) that they scanned the pictures and then made a photo book of their favorites one. A bonus is you have them all saved on your computer so you can throw them out after you scan it.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

Worksheets I've kept...from Nursery, Pre-K, and Kindergarten (so far). I like to see the progression in his work. I will weed through the stuff and just keep a few things probably after this school year is over.

As far as projects, what I do is I have a section in the basement where I hang up all the prejects. I hang a sentence strip (a narrow strip of paper) across the top of the projects with the school year. I take a pciture of all the projects together then one with Nicholas standing in front of them. Then I SAVE ONLY THE PICTURE...takes up NO room at all. That way I have the memories, and not the clutter.

Then Nicholas chooses who to give some projects to (grandma, great grandma, aunt). That way...everybody is happy!

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

ok not school age yet but she does a ton of things at daycare. I have used an old scrap book and put things in the pages on the scrapbook. IMO easier to store than a box. If she did 5 Thanksgiving themed things I saved 3 1 to hang in her playroom, 1 for her scrap book and one went to Grandma's

I also read somewhere someone that used to take pictures of all of her child's work because pictures were much easier to store.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

Anna,
i have file cabinets.. tall metal ones in my garage.. you can separate the years with those folders.. i saved everything from kindergarten and preschool and just some of the work from the other gradess.. also, i put their school class pictures in there, and their report cards.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

I have a hat box filled with artwork. Other awards and stuff like that I put in this spiral bound "Through the School Years" book I got from a school fundraiser a long time ago. I feel bad throwing stuff out but I can't keep everything.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

Obviously not up to this yet but I do have two stories to share about this.

This past June my niece graduated from elementary school. Two months earlier the 6th grade teachers announced that all students were to make a portfolio of all of their past years work, starting from kindergarten This was the first any of the parents were ever told of this project.

Well, my SIL saved everything. My nieces portfolio was AWESOME!! Many times the teachers would assign a similar worksheet from one year to the next to show the progression of work... well, she had all of them. She was so proud of it she brought it down when they visited this summer.

She said many of the other kids barely had anything as their parents through out most of their work.

While it was a wonderful project, parents should have been told, from day one, to save stuff.

Another story...

I was graduating from college and my housemate's, mom came to attend the graduation. She asked us all to gather in the LR as she had a present for Dave... she presented him with a tower of four boxes.

He opened the bottom box to find work and keepsakes from elementary school... so cute.

The second box, contained work and keepsakes from middle school.

The third... high school.

Fourth... His grandfather's gold watch that she was now passing down to him

It's been 16 years since that night and I still remember him opening those boxes and seeing the look on his mother's face as her baby boy was going off to law school. So emotional and what a wonderful gift.

Those are my two stories/arguments for saving stuff

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

i save almost nothing. I do keep her school journals though. I also keep Mothers day and father day stuff each year. Other than that i throw it out. I hate keeping things. I am the queen of throwing things out!

Message edited 10/17/2007 12:34:59 PM.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

We use this:


Fits everything they bring home.
Website


I throw out the stenciled things because that's just coloring. I throw out things that were obviouslymore made by the teachers. I throw out all of the drawings from their friends. The girls draw flowers for each other all day long. The other day there was a box filled in Maddie's cubbie. The girls were busy making me drawing for my birthday (um, it's in May ). If it's a very good drawing, I put it in the friend's cubby for their mom.

Message edited 10/17/2007 12:50:29 PM.

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

DEFINITELY not saving everything. Jeff takes pictures of alot of the stuff and then we give some away to the Grandparents, to hang on their walls/fridge and other stuff goes straight into the circular file.

As was already mentioned, we save the very special stuff. Like the VERY first craft they each ever made...and the "when I grow up..." stuff, personal favorites, funny stories, etc. That is priceless.

What kills me is all the BS paperwork that the school sends home ON A DAILY BASIS. Honestly, I wish we could get a weekly email instead...we'd save a WHOLE lot of trees!!!!

Re: MOMS of School-Age kids.. Keeping their school stuff

I'm having a hard time with this too b/c she just started to come home and I'm too sentimental to throw it out. I hang my favorites on her bedroom wall, secretly throw out the scribbled ones and I'm hoping to buy an artwork portfolio to keep the rest, and as I "refresh" the wall lol. Ala the stories above. I would love to do that someday!