A Simple System for Managing Kids’ School Papers

Are you overwhelmed at the mountain of school papers that come home each day?  A simple system for managing kids’ school papers will keep the clutter at bay and help you find the papers you need!

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When kids start school, it is an adjustment for everyone.  By the time it was our turn to join the ranks of parents with school-aged children, I knew that kids produced massive amounts of laundry.  What I was NOT prepared for was the enormous amount of paper that would also enter our home!  Sheesh!

I realized quickly that I needed a plan. 

There was no way that our home was going to function well and that papers wouldn’t get missed unless we had a strategy for how we would handle all the kids school papers.  That became clear almost immediately. 

With some inspiration from Marie Kondo and some other ideas I’ve seen online, we’ve found a simple system for managing the kids’ school papers that I believe we’ll be able to maintain for quite some time. 

Our kids are currently in third grade, first grade, and pre-kindergarten and we’ve had this system in place for a few years now. We may need to tweak it later, but I’m hopeful that this will work for years to come.   

If you are tired of kids’ school papers getting lost or taking over your home, then it’s time to create a simple plan for how you will handle kids’ school paper.  It will keep your home more organized and reduce stress, I promise!   Let’s get started!

A Simple System for Managing Kids’ School Papers

SORT INCOMING ITEMS IMMEDIATELY

After the kids get home from school, one of the first things they do is empty their backpacks and hand me their binder/folder.  I consider this part of their afternoon routine.  And yes, I’m that mom who doesn’t allow her kids to have a snack until their afternoon routine is complete (I’m so mean!!). 

I look through each child’s binder or folder and get to work sorting their papers!  The vast majority of my kids’ school papers get recycled right away. 

I review and discuss the papers they worked on during the school day, but a sizable amount of it gets recycled right away.  I also try to add any upcoming events to the calendar so that informational flyers can be discarded as well.    

After reading through Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I no longer feel guilty for discarding most of it.    

DETERMINE WHAT TO KEEP & CREATE A SYSTEM FOR THEM

Even though I discard the majority of the kids’ daily school papers, we do keep some.  Those items might include: 

• Artwork
• Special selections of their work
• Weekly newsletters
• Field trip forms
• Info sheets

While we don’t want paper clutter to take over our home, we also know that some papers are very special and needed, at least for a little while. 

DISPLAY ITEMS NEED A HOME & A TIME LIMIT

When artwork comes home, we display it temporarily, for about a week.  I’ve seen some fun options for displaying artwork, but we keep ours very simple and typically put it on our fridge. 

After about a week, the artwork usually gets recycled.  If it’s a very special piece, then we do have a process (I’ll elaborate on that later) for storing it long-term.

TEMPORARY STORAGE & ITEMS THAT REQUIRE ACTION

As with artwork, there are some papers that are needed only temporary.  I place these in a tray on my desk.  These papers might include weekly newsletters from my child’s teacher or field trip papers that will require action later.  I can reference these and take action as needed, and then discard them once they are no longer needed.

If I’m in a hurry and can’t process the paper right then, it goes into my inbox on my desk.  I make a point to review my inbox at least once a week.

SHORT-TERM STORAGE

Papers that are needed for the short-term (ex. the school year) go into the child’s folder in my filing cabinet.  Each person in our family already has their own folder in the file cabinet, so this is a quick process.  I set up these folders back when I organized papers using the KonMari method.   

Some of the papers I keep in this short-term storage might include:

• Class schedule
• Teacher contact info, etc.
• Reading lists for the year

I make a point to go through each child’s folder at least once a year and get rid of any papers that are no longer needed (hence why this is short-term storage)!  This typically happens in the fall when we gear up for the new school year. 

LONG TERM (INDEFINITE) STORAGE

There are still some papers that I like and/or need to keep indefinitely.  Those papers get filed away in the child’s school memorabilia box. 

Some of the papers I keep in this long-term storage include:

• Report cards
• Special writing samples
• Favorite pieces of art
• Special certificates
• School pictures

When I list them all out, it sounds like I keep a lot.  In reality, I’m actually pretty rigorous when determining what we keep for the long-term.  We only keep the best of the best or those very special items that I think the kids might appreciate having later.

I created their memorabilia box with the idea that I would give it to them when they move out.  I keep some items for myself in my own sentimental storage box, which will stay with me.  This box, however, is designed for me to be able to use in the present, but will eventually go to them. 

A whole post is coming about how I set up this box, but one of the things I love about it is that it’s just one box.  The size of the box forces me to be very diligent about only keeping those really, really special items. 

So much of one’s childhood memories are treasured in our hearts, but I want the kids to have some special keepsakes from their school years when they leave our home.  I do realize that this entire box could end up in the trash once they leave, but at least I have done my part!  😉

ROUTINE CHECKS AND CLEANOUTS

There is no perfect system for managing kids’ school papers, so make sure to do routine checks and clean outs.  Papers either don’t get pulled from the backpacks or they end up in their rooms or desk drawers. Sometimes I wonder if the papers multiply like rabbits while we sleep!

I try to go through the kids’ rooms once a month and we clean out any papers that are no longer needed or weren’t needed in the first place.  It can actually be a fun time to connect with the kids and work together.       

Once you have a system in place for managing kids’ school papers, the stress of opening up backpacks at the end of the day vanishes.  Enjoy connecting with your kids after school rather than stressing about all the mountains of paper that come home!

Do your kids’ school papers stress you out?

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If you are interested in more about organizing, you can check out some of these posts:

• The KonMari Method: Organizing Papers
• The KonMari Method: Organizing Komono in Living Spaces