First is my Binder System. To keep things simple and clear, I set up a binder for each boy - one green and one blue (these are also their "colors") - and this is for papers that i need to hold onto throughout the school year. Papers such as handbooks, lunch receipts, schedules, etc. Rather than a pile pf papers, I have a binder I can quickly flip through to find things.
I made tabs for inside each binder to separate the papers by category. For Elementary School I included: Classroom, School, Aftercare, Lunch Program and PTO. For Pre-School I included Classroom, School, Health and Welfare and PTO. As the kids got older, I just adjusted the tabs and added any for new activities (like band) or took away ones I no longer needed (like after school care).
When the kids bring home papers I may need to refer back to - I punch holes and put them in the binder, behind the relevant topic tab. At the end of the school year, I save anything sentimental (welcome letter from the teacher) and toss the rest in the recycling!
Another thing that really works for us, is our homework cart. We don't have a big house, and I don't want the kids doing homework in their rooms. To keep homework mess to a minimum in my dining room (where we do our homework) I bought a multi-drawer plastic cart on casters at an office supply store. I made labels for each drawer (Current, Supplies, Writing, Games and Puzzles, Math, and Reading). School supplies are separated according to subject and the top drawer remains for current homework and projects. Library books go in a bin on top.
How do you stay organized for the school year?
As an update, I want to tell you that I am STILL using this system - the boys share the homework cart and one of them is going into High School and the other one is in Elementary School. And the Binder system still works as well.
catch you soon -
This post is linked up at Way Back Wednesday.
Well since we missed that the first day was a half day, I think I need a new system. Yours looks pretty good. I think I will head to Staples tonight.
ReplyDeleteLove the homework cart! This is on my to do list to have done before this school year starts in the fall! Thanks for the great ideas :)
ReplyDeleteFor the during the school year papers I have 3 magnets on the fridge on the side, one for each kid, where all the school work goes that still needs to be looked at, all the rest goes in the trash. The kids like that they can go to the fridge and get this weeks homework assignments or get their spelling words, etc and it stays right there and doesn't take any counter space.
I also have 3 binders for them that I use for their school work I want to keep, special stuff...and will start new ones when the current ones are full. They have page protectors in them and I slide the papers in. Got this idea from pinterest and wrote about it on my blog too :)
Kim
http://www.myheartandyours.org/
Great ideas! I'm about to post my Homework Tips in a couple weeks, and this is exactly one of the things I recommended. It's super-handy, right? (Stopping by from the Way Back Wednesday link up!)
ReplyDelete