School Paperwork-Let’s Talk
School Paperwork-Let’s Talk
I am continuing our segment on School Paperwork. If you missed “What to do with all that school paperwork – Part 1”, Check it out here.
How do you handle School paperwork? It’s overwhelming at times, isn’t it? Previously, I discussed delegating the task of cleaning out the backpack to your children. Provide each child with a box to collect their items. Save these items until the end of the quarter, semester, or school year. Then, together, you can go through the box and evaluate what memories you’d like to keep for your child.
For this session, let’s talk about the paper from school that you need to review, act on, or keep.
Your children are proud of their work and want to share their accomplishments with you. Usually, the younger student brings home the most paper. A preschooler may have finger paintwork, a pasta necklace, or stars for a job well done. This is a great opportunity to teach them that things come into their lives and are important to them. However, over time, they may lose their importance, which allows you to replace or let them go.
A good suggestion is to find a place in your home to honor the work that they’ve done.
Most of us have placed it on the refrigerator for all to see, or maybe on a bulletin board in their bedroom. Some even have a gallery wall descending the stairs to a basement family room.
Prioritize these items so that as new items come in, your child can decide which older items to place in their box. These items should be evaluated at the end of the quarter, semester, or school year. Your child is learning to understand the process of decision-making. What is most important to them, and what can they let go of?
Designate a spot to set permission slips, cafeteria menu, school events, weather-related schedules, etc. It needs to be readily accessible. At the beginning of the year, you are inundated with paperwork, so have a spot in your kitchen or mud room where you can access it easily. Label the paperwork with each child’s name as another easy way to find it. Sometimes, the inside of a kitchen cabinet is a great place to tape papers with phone numbers or school closing information. A decorative box will also work. Anything that helps you get the information needed easily.
Consider how you are doing during the first month of school, reassess and manage your paperwork. Consider how easily you could manage your paper to save your sanity.
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Sue
I think parents sending their kids to school for the first time are especially surprised by all the paper that comes home. Trying to figure out what to keep for reference, how to show respect for kids’ work but not be overly sentimental about art and “homework,” and getting a handle on things that need to be signed and returned are all overwhelming, especially when parents are used to going digital in their own lives. Having a plan in place makes all the difference, and gives families a system to build upon as/if their family grows.
I agree Julie. It’s a lot to deal with, especially with the emotional aspect of the beginning of the school year. Routines are so important.
I appreciate your recommendation that a child’s work be kept, but only for as long as it’s meaningful. If you keep everything, not only does it take up more space than it merits, but none of it stands out as being special.
Confession: I still have a few things I created in elementary school.
I once heard Pete Wlash say “if everything is important, then nothing is important”. Meaning that if you save everything then nothing stands out as important.