Once children get into school, the papers start FLYING in. They come either daily or a whole pile at the end of the week. The kids are growing up and showing off all of the things they are learning or the adorable pictures. It can be challenging to know what to do with all of the papers. The school filing boxes I put together for my four children have saved my life – or at least my counters from getting too cluttered.
I am so glad I came across this idea when my oldest daughter started kindergarten. Since, I love organizing, I set off to put the boxes together. I decided to assemble four, since I would some day have four kids in school and need to organize all of their goodies too.
Why have a filing boxes?
The filing boxes aren’t too big. They are easy to see and store away. There is a file folder for each grade which will hold all of the precious papers we need for that one year. It can be challenging to only select a few, especially at the beginning. We, as parents, have to come to a point where we do not need to keep everything our child makes. We probably won’t even look through it or need all of them. With practice, I select the most important, adorable or priceless pieces. Sometimes this is grades. Sometimes it’s great improvement in one area or awards. Other times it’s a hilarious drawing or a note from the teacher. I do always add their school photos in the yearly file. Mine are up on the wall during the year then migrate to this folder when we get the next year’s photo.
I am in no way a minimalist. But I have learned that I need to keep things to a minimum in our small house and with six people! These school filing boxes are perfect.
How to assemble the filing boxes
First, we need to gather all of the materials for the filing boxes.
- One filing box per child
- 13+ hanging files (depending if you add preschool) or cute ones like these!
- 13+ file folders or cute ones like these!
- I purchased these labels from Etsy
- Sticker printer paper
A heavy duty filing box is necessary. I love ones with a lid and snaps to keep it shut. Next are hanging files and folders. I used generic green and manila. I added files and folders for preschool, as I taught homeschool preschool and had many pieces. You can go as fancy as you like here! Then, I printed off labels on sticky paper. I found these ones, loved them, and used them. Again, I’m so glad I assembled all four at one time and didn’t have to go back and find everything to make them match. I literally ordered all of these items and put them together the next day. Easy peasy.
Keeping the most precious pieces
The next part is the hardest for me. Only selecting a few pieces per year. At the end of each year, I would go through the pile I accumulated, and make a final decision on what needed to be saved. As my oldest gets older, the papers are fewer and fewer. This makes it a bit easier.
What a great thing to have when our kids are seniors! An easy and organized system to look through for school photos or awards.
Organized and ready to go
School filing boxes are well worth the money and time to assemble. They hope organize your life in an intentional way. Keeping only the most important pieces of work of your child’s each year. And having them organized and easy to add to at any time.
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School paperwork can really pile up, but having a system makes all the difference. The idea of using filing boxes for each child is brilliant and keeps things organized. It’s hard to choose which papers to keep, but focusing on the most meaningful ones works best. The system sounds practical and manageable, especially for a busy household. How do you decide which papers are truly worth keeping?
It’s a challenge for sure. But I collect papers throughout the year and choose special ones at the end of each school year that will fit in the file folder.