A Thoughtful Place blog has always been a favorite read of mine because Courtney is so sweetly sincere and always does such a lovely job sharing brilliant yet simplified ways of creating a thoughtful home and life. I am honored to have her here today to share how she manages the papers that her children bring home from school each day.
I found these darling binders at my second home, Target. Just to be clear, this system is how I organize things such as: report cards, school photos, testing results, writing samples, and important assessments {vision/hearing, etc}. I have a different system for archiving all of that cute artwork they create.
As soon as I opened the binders and saw that they have polka dots I was sold. So two of these came home with me along with white dividers from Staples.
I busted out my label maker to create labels from Preschool - 8th Grade. Yes, I fully plan for my children to go to school beyond 8th grade but I think this binder will be good for up until the big time!
I must admit that I first started keeping their school records in these file folders. I didn't have the space for a large file box, so while this system was not working well for me, it was a pretty easy transition into the binder system. I was able to hole punch and transfer the papers straight into the binder. If there are items you do not want to hole punch, you can always use a clear sleeve or pocket.
Here is a breakdown of what I have behind each divider:
- School Photo Printable {Thank you, Jen}
- School Days Interview
- Class Photo / Soccer Team Photo
- Report Cards
- Assessments from teacher conference
- Writing Sample
- Vision/Hearing Screening
- Copies of health physicals needed by the school.
- Any other important records that we should keep.
I also put my favorite gold bookplates to work on each binder. Anything to make organization pretty! These have adhesive on the back and stick so well. I always scoop mine up at Staples.
Each grade begins with the printable Jen created. I just adore it. There is a space for a school photo as well as naming the year, teacher, grade, etc. If there was a sport photo that year, I include that as well.
Following the photo page, I include an interview that we conduct with each child at the end of the year. My daughter couldn't wait to answer the questions. You can also have the kiddos write out the answers once they are writing, but I chose to interview them and write the answers myself.
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| {Click HERE to download and print the School Days Interview} |
I keep the binders near my desk in my work space. I just like that they have a dedicated spot and I always know where they are. It's been really fun to sit down with the kiddos and see how they have grown. And bottom line, it's a huge sigh of relief to have all of those papers neatly organized and easily accessible. And when my son is 21 and making major life decisions, I can look back at his 1st grade report card and see what his teacher said about him. . . all glowing comments, of course!
"Do you believe in love at first sight? I sure do because when I first stumbled upon I Heart Organizing I immediately fell in love with Jen's mad organizational skills. I think we all long for a calm, organized, well styled life. I am the author of A Thoughtful Place blog where I dish on all things related to decorating, organizing, entertaining, and of course DIY-ing! To be quite honest, working on making my house a home is my happy place. It fulfills my need to be creative and I love sharing ideas {both big and small} with my readers. Along with my blog, I am a contributing writer to House of Fifty and have recently started my own decorating firm, Casey Grace Design, LLC, with my talented sister. I call Orange County, California home where I live with amazing husband and two children. At the end of a busy day, I love to enjoy an ice cold beer on the front porch with my hubby while we watch our children ride their bikes or run around. Life is sweet and I am thrilled to be a part of the IHeart Organizing Team."
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