Organizing School Paperwork without Losing Your Mind
One of the greatest challenges for parents during the school year, is organizing the never-ending flood of paperwork that comes home in those completely stuffed backpacks!
Having four kids myself, I recall several stressful nights searching for the missing permission slip or report card to be initialed and sent back.
In addition, each child had paperwork that had to be sent back to school, as well as paperwork that stayed home. Often, the paperwork that stayed home was necessary to refer to again later, when studying for year-end exams, etc.
Instead of letting all that paperwork pile up on your kitchen table, try these simple steps towards managing it:
1) Find the Paperwork. Open up those stuffed-to-the-gills backpacks, and pull out the paperwork to sort through. Yes, you may find half-eaten lunches in there and other mystery items, but it’s important to know what you’re dealing with. This is a good project for your child and will teach him/her the importance of taking care of their important paperwork. After all, if the permission slip isn’t signed, they may not get to attend the fun activity they were looking forward to.
2) Sort the Paperwork. Using C-Line’s Classroom Connector™ School-to-Home Folder daily, you can conveniently sign and enclose the paperwork that needs to go back to school, and pull out the paperwork that stays home. Simply check the Classroom Connector™ Folder each day, and handle the paperwork as soon as it comes home, instead of frantically searching for it later. The Classroom Connector folder is available in a variety of colors. Check out this short video for more information:
3) Store the Paperwork. If you have a designated place to store paperwork for each child, you won’t have to frantically turn your house upside down to find that missing paper you are searching for. Once you’ve determined which papers you absolutely need to keep (be sure to regularly purge and toss paperwork you no longer need) we recommend using one of these storage items for each child to keep paperwork and supplies separated and organized:
C-Line’s Storage Box with 3 Compartments Color code each child’s stay-at-home notes and supplies by storing them in one of these colorful storage boxes by C-Line. In addition to holding small notes, the Storage boxes hold pencils, erasers, and other small supply items. They make an ideal homework supply storage station.
C-Line’s Poly Expanding Files. These durable poly expanding files are ideal for older children, who need to save papers based on school subject. Again, we recommend one for each child to keep paperwork separate and easily accessible. Files may be labeled for each class subject for quick reference.
With just a little effort and a few minutes of daily maintenance, you can manage the flood of paperwork and effortlessly “ride the wave”!
Have you found a great way to manage paperwork? We’d love to hear about it. Let us know, and you could WIN one of these great storage items from our friends at C-Line.