Taming Your Child’s School Papers

The back-to-school season is here. Are you prepared for all the paper your children will be bringing home? Do you have a system in place? It’s time to finally tackle this project and have a smooth, stress-free school year. You’ll be able to sit at your dining room table and not have to look at mounds of papers. 

Many people have difficulty with paper management. Get your kids in the habit of controlling their paper now so they will be able to have a handle on it through their school years, college, and throughout their careers. Start now by having them participate in the process. 

Here are five ways you can tame the paper clutter:

Organize school binders. When purchasing back-to-school supplies, dedicate a color to each subject. For instance, for English class, have a green notebook, folder and/or binder. All paperwork for English stays contained in the English folders. Get your children in the habit of once a week cleaning out their subject folders and filing papers in their file drawer. Start these routines now and make it a habit of following up with them.

Develop a child-friendly filing system. It can be a filing drawer, cabinet, accordion file, portable rolling cart, or any other filing system that will work for them. Do not let paper take over the kitchen, living room or dining room table. Have a designated area in the bedroom or office for their papers. Label the files and have them store important documents in the files throughout the school year. You can label them by subject and color code to match the colors you dedicate to each subject. Store class projects, papers, and any other important documents in these files. At the end of the school year go through the files and purge whatever you think you may not need for the future. Store the documents you want to keep in a separate file, label with the school year and keep everything together in a separate storage box. Start each school year fresh by continuing to rotate the files. 

Contain to one area of the home. When creating these systems, keep them contained to one area. You will never again find paper in the kitchen, in drawers, in the den, under the bed, on the dining room table or taking over their room. Choose one area in the home and organize and contain the paper to that area. 

Handling memorabilia. Develop a system for any artwork, achievements, and any other paper memorabilia they bring home. Don’t stuff it into a drawer or leave it in a pile on the counter. Purchase and label a container to hold the memorabilia. Make a habit of maintaining the system.

Maintain the system. Your children should have a good handle on their papers if they have a system. If the system works, you won't have papers stuffed in drawers all over the home or their bedroom. If the system doesn’t work, keep working and tweaking the system until it works for you. All paper will be contained and have a home. Create routines, follow the routines and they will form habits. 

Work with your children to put these systems in place and you will be one step closer to becoming organized for back to school. This organizational skill set will stay with them, and they will grow up to be efficient and productive adults. Make your plan now, even if it’s a to-do list to get started in the process.