Handling Your Children's School Paper Clutter

Handling Your Children's School Paper Clutter

As part of a new year, all of us like to tackle the projects in our home that need to be organized. Part of that organization goal is to address the paper clutter that magically collects in our homes. Take this opportunity to teach your children about dealing with paper clutter. Children bring home all of their school papers for us to look over, check or to hang up and enjoy. Before you know it, these items are multiplying and our fridge doors or filing cabinets are overcrowded.We get overwhelmed with the decision of which of our child's masterpieces to let go of because we want to recognize and encourage our child's talent, but we can't keep everything! The ladies at Flylady.net have several ideas that can help with this struggle. Allowing your child's papers to pile up for a whole year and then trying to decide what to do with them is the hardest way to go. Establish a time each week to go through the backpacks and notebooks to clean them out. Friday afternoons at the end of the school week or Sunday evenings getting ready for the week ahead is a great time to do this. Take 15 minutes to clean out the backpacks and folders and then take the items to save and one or more of the following:1. Establish a Wall of Fame. This could be a bedroom door, a bulletin board in the family room, or anywhere in the house that can be seen by the child. This "wall" has a limited amount of space, so you naturally have to choose to rotate things on and off the wall to make room for new displays. Allow the child to decide what to do with the paper once it is time to come off the wall. Is it time to throw it away, save it or pass it on? Let your child participate in the actual removal of one paper and putting up the replacement. 2. Pass It On. This is an opportunity to teach your child how to address an envelope and mail a letter - the old fashioned way. Choose a friend, grandparent or other relative to mail one or two of your child's creations. This is a way to keep those loved ones included in your child's life and teaches your child to bless someone else. If you have a relative or family friend in a nursing home or care center, they might enjoy a cheerful drawing or picture in their room too. 3. The Special School Box. This is a reasonably-sized plastic tub or cardboard box. Help your child decorate the box using stickers, paint, markers, etc. The point of decorating is to make the box a special place for your child to place those papers that are the most important to him or her. This allows your child the ownership of a decision.4. The Scrapbook. Don't get carried away with the idea of the perfect scrapbook! This belongs to your child! Get a simple three ring binder and some 8 1/2 x 11-sized construction paper. Punch holes in the school papers are that are full size and use the construction paper to mount smaller works. Let your child use scissors that cut in cute shapes on the papers and mount several on one piece of construction paper. Do not tell him what to do or that what they are doing is not right. It is their book!5. Technology. In the digital age we live in, we have a great opportunity to use scanners and digital cameras to capture those projects that may be too large to put on the wall or in a box or scrapbook. This allows your child to see that they don't have to hold onto the actual project that is large if they have the pictures that will remind them of that special creative moment.Once you establish your wall, box, or book, you can do the weekly routine in 15 minutes and be a part of building a basic weekly practice for you and your child.While you are working on your own paper clutter this month, include your children and take the time to teach them not only by example but by spending time with them and showing them while they are young. Then they don't have to learn it the hard way like we have done! There is no better gift in the world to give to your child than your time!

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