How to Create a System for the Piles of School Papers and Free Printables!

Does anyone else feel like they are literally D R O W N I N G in school papers by the end of the school year? Trust me, I was there. I would empty the boys' folders every night and add the papers to the growing stack stuffed in the bottom of the coffee cabinet. Because if I can't see them, the problem isn't there. Eventually I knew I had to tackle this issue, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw any of their genius work away. I mean, what if in 20 years I want to look back and see them add 2 + 2 fifty different times??My boys are only in first grade and Pre-K so if I didn't tackle it now, what would it be like when they are Seniors? I envisioned an episode of hoarders.

I am happy to say that I created a system for organizing my kid's school papers that actually works! I am not an organized person by nature, so if it works for me, seriously anyone can do it! It just takes a little bit of prep time, but I promise it's worth it.

The first thing I did was purchase some 1" white binders and clear page protectors. My goal was to condense all of the papers from that year into that one binder and throw away (eek!) the rest.  As I sorted through the papers, I just kept 1 of each kind.  So if there were 50 math papers where he added single digit numbers, I just kept 1. If there was special artwork or something unique, I kept it. Everything else got trashed. Let me tell you, my husband had to pry it out of my hands and throw it in the trash can, but I haven't regretted it. 

Next, I created the title pages for each book and printed them out. Each year, I purchase one 5x7 school picture to go in the book and forego the whole picture package. It's way overpriced and we have professional family pictures done every year anyways.

 

I just love this picture that Levi drew on the back of one of his school papers. He loves drawing pictures of cowboys :)

Now I can easily see the highlights of each year and its something that we can look back at in 20 years and appreciate.

I'm including links to the cover sheets and binder labels I created, so you can download them for FREE!

Click HERE to download 1st-12th Grade Cover Sheets

Click HERE to download binder labels

I'm working on getting the rest of the printables listed in my Etsy shop, so be sure to check back soon for those!

I'd love to hear from you! Do you have any tips on organizing your kid's school papers?

Happy Organizing!

Family planner freebie

By nature I am not a very organized person. Just ask my husband and he will tell you! But in my defense, he is on the complete opposite spectrum almost to the extent of being OCD so according to his standards, most people would be considered disorganized! I really want to be organized, its just that I always start out that way, and well, you know what happens. So a few years ago I started making my own family planner.  I just finished making mine for this year and its hot off the press so I thought I would share! This has been such a lifesaver for us and it is one portion of my life that is organized! Here is the link to download your own copy.  The set includes a title page, monthly calendars, meal planners, a project to do list, notes and a back cover. 

Here's some pics of the finished product. I had it printed and bound at Office Depot and it looks really nice!

monthly calendars 

project planner

weekly meal planner

Hope you enjoy!!

Printable Week at a Glance Calendar

One of my goals this year is to become more organized.  I created this Week at a Glance calendar to put in my family planner and thought I would share. Enjoy :-)

click here to download.

Meal Planner Freebie

As a welcome to my new blog, I am including a FREE meal planner that I designed! Just click on the link and enjoy!



click here

P.S. There will be more freebies to come!