How to Organize School Papers and After School Stuff?

My son has a large basket for his backpack, lunch box, coat, papers, library books, etc. The stuff doesn't have to be organized, but it does have to go in the basket as soon as he walks in the door and after he finishes his homework. I, also, have a school calendar(calendarsthatwork.com) on the bulletin board in my kitchen for all school-related things and a seperate calendar for all nonschool things. As soon as we get home my son puts everything in the basket, except his hw folder and he sits down with that at the kitchen table and has a snack while I look over any papers in his folder that are for parents. After snack, he does his hw, puts the papers back in the folder and puts it in the basket. While he is doing hw, I get his lunch box and clean it and prepare lunch for the following day. We started this schedule his first day of kindergarten and it has worked well.

You didn't mention the ages of your children. That makes a big difference. How you handle it for young elementary kids is going to be very different from high school kids. My kids in school are K and 3rd grade. Here is what we do and it's worked well for 3 years. It may sound complicated but it only takes a few minutes a day to keep my kitchen table and counters clear of school papers.

There's a small hanging file next to phone in kitchen. Everyone in family has a folder there. I'll get back to that in a minute. Each child has a plastic storage bin that has hanging files inside. There's a folder for each grade starting with 3 year old preschool. Each child has a folder that goes back and forth from school with all the papers they bring home (and take back to school like homework and permission slips).

When the kids get home, they bring their backpacks to the kitchen table. They take out their folders and put them on the table. I check the backpacks (especially the K's) to make sure everything is out that I need to see. Then I empty the folders. Homework goes in a pile on the table, permission slips in another and completed/graded work is looked at and put immediately into that child's hanging folder in the small file next to the phone. Permission slips are read and signed and put back into the folder. Kids sit down and start their homework (they get themselves a snack/drink while I go through the papers. When homework is done, it goes back into the folder, folders get put back into backpacks and the backpacks are set on the floor by the front door.

Every few months when I have 15-20 minutes, I empty the hanging file next to the phone. I go through everything and decide what to keep and what to toss. Most of it is tossed (it's cute but will they really need to keep 20 pieces of paper covered with practiced "R's" or "T's"?). The stuff that is kept is put into their big bin, in that grade's/year's folder. During the summer, I go through that folder in the big bin and decide what to keep and toss. By the end of the process, they have a somewhat small/manageble folder for each year, all contained in one bin. There is room in the bin behind the folders for small 3-d artwork/crafts. But usually I just take a picture of those items, print it out on our printer and put the photo in.

There are times when they have artwork that I don't care about keeping but they want it. I tell them to keep it in their rooms - most get hung on their walls with tape. Some piles up in their rooms. Every so often we go through their rooms and clean and toss old papers and remove toys they no longer want. But the rest of the house is remaining pretty paper-free.

I also have a folder for each school and activity the kids are involved in (girl scouts, boy scouts, preschool, elementary school, etc). All phone lists, rule books, etc are put into that folder and they stack nicely in a drawer in kitchen under the phone.

I struggle with the same thing. I have not managed things totally yet, but found a great book to help give suggestions:

Let Go of Clutter by Harriet Schechter

I ma 2/3 of the way thru...it is informative and entertaining to read. I got it b/c I feel like our household is totally drowning in paperwork! We have more paper in our kitchen area than we have food or supplies to prepare food.
I hope to implement the steps in this book soon and NOT be going crazy.

Training children to follow some simple rules sounds like what is needed here. There needs to be time for this to happen when it fits your schedule.

Start taking away privileges when they even start to hand you a paper. You are the parent and they need to respect your telling them not to do this.

When homework is going on this is the proper time to talk to parents about school stuff. If they are not doing their homework at a time when you are mentally available then perhaps you can rearrange your schedule to do this.

This is a good opportunity to sit at the table with them and open the floor for discussions about their day, what is going on, who their friends are, what they did at recess, what they had for lunch, etc...talking about papers and upcoming events in a calm environment is needed time.

I found out the K had not eaten lunch at school in over a week this way. They had run out of PB&J every day by the time she got to lunch and she had nothing to eat. She is a picky eater, and no...she doesn't eat if she gets hungry enough, she goes without and pukes from hunger then they make me come get her because she puked.

I ask her in front of them if she is sick or hungry...she says "I am so hungry", we take her and feed her and she is never sick again but has to miss that day plus the next since she threw up during school hours and it has to be 24 hours since the last vomiting.

If I had not been having quiet time during homework I might not have picked up on this pattern.

My kids put their backpacks next to the island in the kitchen away from the stove. It is their responsibility (10 and 13 - has been for years) to take the lunch box out and put it on the counter. We jointly fill the lunch boxes after dinner for the next day. They have planners and a "Friday Folder" in their backpack given to them by the school. I look at the papers in the Friday folder on Friday night. If there is something more urgent they need to let me know or suffer the consequences. They keep track of their homework themselves (sometimes it is in the planner, somtimes in the binders for the topic). I do check the planners after dinner to make sure they did all the homework - we have had a few last night "project" sessions when one child "forgot" that there was a week long project assigned.
I would suggest: 1) if the kids are in the same school, that you call the school and ask them to only send home duplicate stuff with youngest child (policy at our school). 2) make the kids more responsible for stuff in their own backpacks 3) don't sweat the details too much - most of the papers I recycle instantly after a quick scan. 4) check with the school if they can do more online, our school saves tons of money sending less papers home and instead sending one broadcast phone message (Connect-Ed they call it) to let us know the newsletter is on the school website. That way I can check one website for all the events about to happen, sometimes even from work during lunch.
The more you can either not let it get into your house or have the kids responsible for it if it does, the easier it will be on you now and teach them organization for later. Good luck!

I got each of my kids their own colored crate and put it on a cabinet I was not using really. They put their stuff in their own color each day when they get home. They are not allowed to take anything out of their folder on their own. I have to sign their folders daily, so after I check homework, I sign their folders and take out the papers they don't need anymore. They all have their own 'memory box' where we put anything 'special' that they want to keep. Everything goes back in their crate ready for school for the next day. They also have their own 'cold box' where they put everything for their lunch for the week on Sunday in the fridge. They have a 'dry box' for the pantry also. So, all we have to do is make their sandwich and grab what they want from the cold and dry box each morning, grab their back-packs, and leave! So much less stressful. The hard part is getting them to understand that they are not allowed to take anything out of their folders on their own- that part is for me to do.

In their bedrooms put a hook for the backpacks, and they should be there before going to sleep at night. Shoes below the backpack too if that is an issue. My son never knew where his shoes were!

As far as the papers I am certain you are not alone. I'd say get yourself stackable office inboxes. One box for each child. Whatever they bring home goes in their slot. Then have one day a week for each child that you go through. That way you aren't too overwhelmed. Just know Monday night is Johnny, Tuesday night is Mary, and Wednesday Night is Tommy, etc... Have a 4th box on the top for urgent things. Like "i need this signed by tomorrow" for a field trip. Then every night before you go to bed check that top box. Do what you need to do and put it with your child's backpack with a sticky on it that says where it needs to go....."give to math teacher"

The secret is routine. become a little obsessive about making sure the backpacks are on the hooks at bedtime and that you keep your appointment with yourself to check your inboxes.......then the rest of the week forget about it......just direct all paperwork to that inbox.

LOVE Deb T's system, I think I'll implement the hanging files myself! I do have hanging files in my file cabinet as well for them where I store state test scores, etc. What I have found is that if I allow homework to go upstairs in their rooms, it, or part of it, stays there. Mornings are too short!

We have organized a former too small laundry room into a mudroom. Any space on the main floor or near where the kids head out would work. I purchased an inexpensive "locker" system, aka Pottery Barn, from Target for around $200. I noted the one they have now is double that price.

But, I recently found a fab website where you can make your own - Ana White (knock-offwood.com). Mine has just 2 "lockers" (wish I had 3, just had a baby!) with space at the top for a basket (hats, mittens, etc.), two coat hooks in each, a shelf for the backpack, and a drawer below (shoes, extra notebook paper, hats or mittens for the little ones that can't reach the top basket, etc.). I also recently added an inexpensive shoe rack from Costco that is very sturdy made of metal and bamboo. Everything goes back to the locker and is ready to go in the morning. I also hook their lunches onto their backpacks (backpacks have a caribiner clip on them or built-in clips if that is the backpack style that year) IN their locker in the morning as my daughter used to put hers down if I gave it to her. lol This has made life SO much easier.

Here is a link to one of several lockers you could make if you are so inclined (there are others on her site, including a single one if you have space issues): http://ana-white.com/2010/08/still-not-locker.html

Good luck organizing!

I so feel your pain!!!!! I have three kids, only two in school but started to see how difficult it was going to be to keep up with homework, papers, cleaning, raising, LIFE!

I went a very simple route to keep track of everything. I did what you did and put hooks and a big basket right by the garage door where we go in and out every day. The first thing they do is hang their coats and backpacks on the hooks, and put their shoes in the basket. I have one son that likes to get on homework right away and one that waits until after dinner to do it. This of course creates a situation where I am getting bombarded with papers at different times so I created a homework/school drawer in the kitchen for each kid.

I do not have papers separated or organized in the drawers I just put them in there. I have also trained my kids to keep the homework they need help with or need me to check for them in a pile (all together) so I can easily sit down and go through it. Basically when they are ready to do homework, they bring their bag upstairs, sit down and do it, then leave me a pile of check stuff.

I typically do not have time right when they need to go through everything as I am doing dinner or bathing a baby or whatever for the night. by the time I get them in baths I sit down and hit the homework piles, it takes me about 30 minutes to check everything and then make sure they did all of their homework. Notice, I have not even looked in their school drawer yet.

Once I get them all to bed, and if I am not too tired, I will look through their drawers. This is when I can sign what I need to sign, read through what I need to read and add to the calendar any important dates. I am very much a morning person, so a lot of time I get up an hour and a half before they all get up so I can get showered and ready for the day and go through the homework drawers.

The one thing I cannot do is let he drawers go for even a day. I touch them every day so I don't miss anything. I also do not put too much energy into them so I don't lose a ton of time every day analyzing everything. One last thing I do is be sure to THROW AWAY!! I try very hard not to get too attached to anything and only keep what is REALLY important, as soon as it is outdated, I dump it. Otherwise the homework drawer will not be able to close by the end of the year.

Good luck!

Here is our system: We have heavy duty magnetic clips (one for each of our 3 kids - will soon have to be 4) on the refrigerator. Their papers get clipped in there (needs to be a strong magnet). Then, each night I go through them "leisurely". So, if I have a dinner cooking that has to simmer for a few minutes, I go through one of the kid's papers. Sometimes, I don't get to it though until just before I go to bed.

I also have a "touch it once" policy for papers. I take it out of the clip and skim it (I never have time to read them thoroughly lol) and do what needs to be done before picking up the next one. If it is not important or done, it ends up in recycling basket. If it needs a signature, I sign it and put it into the backpack (pen always on top of fridge for that). It is hard to get used to that, but that is the only way I could stay on top of all that paperwork and not have it pile up.

As far as the backpacks. My kids put them on the dining room table chairs until they are done with their homework and then, they hang them by the door. That way, they are handy while we need them, but out of the way after we are done. It also shows me who has their homework done and who still needs to do it.

Everyone is different. Every house is different. You may need to mix and match some of the suggestions to find what is right for you. Good luck. We all feel your pain. lol