How To Keep School Papers Organized in Your Home

It's the beginning of the school year for your child and with it comes a constant flood of school papers. Permission slips, progress reports, newsletters, book orders, graded homework and artwork all need to be managed. Keeping this mass of papers organized can help you and your child be prepared every day. Here's how to keep all of that paperwork organized.

1. Begin by purchasing a packet of large (10" x 13") manila envelopes, a roll of brightly colored duct tape and some self-adhesive Velcro tabs. For each child you should make two envelopes.
2. Cut the fold-over flap off of the envelope and discard, then duct tape around the edges and top opening of the envelope. In addition to adding color, the tape acts as reinforcement. Next with markers, crayons or colored pencils have your child write their name on each envelope and the word "IN" on one and the word "OUT" on the other. Let your child decorate their envelopes with designs if they like. When the decorating is complete, stick the Velcro tabs on each back corner of the envelope and adhere the envelope to the inside of a cupboard door. The "IN" envelope should be the top one, and the "OUT" envelope the lower one. Your envelopes are now ready to use.
3. After school, have your child put ALL paperwork brought home for you in the "IN" box. The papers are now waiting for you in an out-of-the-way, organized space.
4. At your leisure, take the papers from the "IN" box and separate them into piles.
   • Graded homework/artwork
   • Newsletters and progress reports
   • Permission slips and other papers needing signatures
5. Papers that need to be signed and returned to school, sign and put in the "OUT" box. Forms such as book orders or picture orders, complete and also place in the "OUT" box. Check all graded homework and decide what you want to keep and what to recycle. After a proper amount of time displayed on the refrigerator, laminate those extra special drawings, reports and projects and store them permanently in a transparent plastic container. Papers such as newsletters or memos that are blank on one side can be cut in half and kept in a paper tray to be used as note paper. School handbooks, calendars and letters with critical information such as website login information should be kept in a separate folder or file marked "School," information ready at your fingertips should you need it. Papers that you don't want to keep can be put in the shredder to be recycled for packing material.

On school mornings, anything in the "OUT" box goes in your child's backpack to return to school. You'll have no more frantic mornings or missed school functions once you implement this system to keep all those school papers under control.