school papers

[Sophia]

I am trying to deal with the sheer volume of papers that we accumulate in a given school year and want to know how other people handle this.

 

How much do you keep, and for how long?  I am under no state requirement to maintain a portfolio, but I have been hanging on to most of the kids' stuff just because I think maybe I will want to refer back to it someday.  I'm getting ready for a new school year, and am in the process of moving last year's papers and workbooks to another box, and realize that if I keep this up I will soon have no place to store these things. 

 

My perfectionist nature wants to just chuck the whole lot, but I worry that some day I may regret it.  I have my own grades and records, as well as the results of their standardized tests.  Is that enough? 

 

A related question- what do you all do with artwork?  My kids can generate a gazillion works a day (or however many supplies I let them get their hands into.)  How do you decide what to keep? 

[Gloria1]

Dear Sophia, I think you've got a treasure in those boxes.  I'd ditch only the most useless stuff, and keep it until there is no place to store it.  Then I'd make a decision.  This is a wonderful archive of your life.  The amount of art is great!  I would especially keep that.  Too bad you can't copy everything onto disks-but maybe in a few years it'll be easy and cheap to do it.   Of course you need all "official" works, whether they are required or not, because that situation could easily change.  Sounds like you've got some delightful students.

[Liza_Do_A_Lot]

Dear Sophia, I think you've got a treasure in those boxes.  I'd ditch only the most useless stuff, and keep it until there is no place to store it.  Then I'd make a decision.  This is a wonderful archive of your life.  The amount of art is great!  I would especially keep that.  Too bad you can't copy everything onto disks-but maybe in a few years it'll be easy and cheap to do it.   Of course you need all "official" works, whether they are required or not, because that situation could easily change.  Sounds like you've got some delightful students.

That is a good idea for the exams etc Gloria1.....why not scan them and copy them onto an individual disk for each child (you can usually keep adding files to the disk if you don't finalise the disk).

Otherwise, I have got for each child (only two so far - at school), a A4 plastic sheet folder.....
 

I have started to put in their important certificates, birth, baptism, communion, etc.....then their report cards, and school photos... That way once they get older and leave home.....its all there for them.   They also fit nice and snug in the file cabinate.  (The Disks of copied exams could fit in the folder too)!

As for Art work, the amount of things that end up on my notice board, brought home from school, is never ending.....I usually keep the really good ones and throw the others out (after they have been up there for a month or so)!  I haven't come up with where to actually store these yet....at the moment they go into the child's work draw.....hmm this is something to think about.

[Gloriamaria]

I'm in the same quandry.  My mother still has my math papers in a closet in her apartment (I'm in my 30's now, Mom...)!

 

I was going through some things today and found a letter my son had written for mothers day when he was still going to the N.O. school.  I thought it was kinda sweet, but he said, "Oh, that was just a school writing assignment."

 

The stuff they've done spontaneously is more important to them.

 

I live in the great white north, but from what I understand school records are absolutely NOT important until 9th Grade, and in some places 10th.  I heard this from a woman at the local school board in a hush hush sort of way.  But I don't think it's a secret.  Definitely keep the sentimental, and the report cards and standardized tests.  I just invested in bankers boxes (sturdy file sized card board boxes you can buy in Wal-Mart) and I'm busily sorting.  We move a lot, and the sheer amount of junk (including paperwork) is bad for the soul!

 

Anyway, God Bless You for the dedication you have to your kids.  And just remember, throw out for each one evenly!  If you have a lot from one child and not from another that is what will be remembered!  Much more than if you saved nothing!

[introibo]

Grade school, I keep for a couple of years.  High school, I'm hanging onto for a bit longer, but we'll see how that goes.
Christina

[liliaagri]

I was homeschooled for seven years, on and off, and I don't really have any schoolwork saved from grade school or middle school; the truth is that there isn't much use for it after it's finished. I kept a better record of highschool stuff, mostly for my transcript, but I also just wanted to hang on to some things because I put a lot of work into them. The last two years of highschool are the most important in terms of record keeping, I think, but the truth is that now I don't really need any of the stuff. I don't think my siblings kept much of their work, either.

 

I've helped tutor a homeschooling family who are all still in grade school and they sometimes kept workbooks from one child and then erased the answers so the next one could use them, but this was mostly with books for very young children and kind of a bother.

 

 

[Marybonita]

Sophia: I agree that there is no necessity of seriously keeping track of work until about Grade X but there is a certain satisfaction in seeing a progression in work.

 

Here's how I settled the problem: Each course that my child took is recorded. The date started and the date completed. If there are tests the marks are listed by date.  If you are ever in a position wherein you need a transcript made up this helps.The work - scribblers, workbooks, whatever - are discarded.

 

This was all done on looseleaf using labelled separators for each subject and kept in a binder. The binder was good because you could insert or remove pages as necessary or rearange the order without too much trouble. And the materials are cheap and available. Each child then ends up with a binder as a record of work completed.

 

At the same time I kept on file a description of courses and the materials used in case questions arose. I even indicated where I purchased the course and how much. Just for my own information. I would also write up why a course was discarded in favor of a better one. (You forget these things!) 

 

It's fascinating to go through the binders now and see the amount of work each child completed. Their extra curricular activities were also included with the awards noted.  This helped with resumes later on. 

 

As for the artwork, you could just keep the best ones and discard the rest. I had my children work in a wire scrapbook and that stands as their art record. They can do with it what they wish.

 

Yep, you can certainly overdo the keepsakes.

 

~In JMJ

[mysterium]

I have everything (that teachers actually returned) from K to college, except for some 5th grade stuff I accidentally threw out a couple years ago.  It is all in chronological order by subject.  I have all the art projects, awards, etc.  Then again I'm a packrat.

[Sophia]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I think for now I will hang onto the school papers I have (although I did purge most of their Saxon assignments-whew!) You are right about the progression, Marybonita.  I showed the kids some of their writing assignments from two or three years ago and they were pretty amazed at how far they had come (and so was I!)

 

I'll probably hang onto them all until another move forces me to consider our possessions.  Most of the art goes in the trash, but it pains me especially considering all the love they put into some things.  I have kept many things, but their names aren't always on them- someday they will open up a box and say, "so THATs where that went!" or "remember when we made this?"