https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:36:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825138 Tue, 29 May 2018 09:17:28 +0000 irene 2825138@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JCCovi: I am your in-laws from the future, nice to meet you and thanks for letting me know what you think about me. Hahaha just kidding :silly: But yes, that makes sense.... I like the idea of a digital photo book each year too but that will take me an extra week to do, grr.</p> <p>@lioneyes: I also FRAMED his really great pieces and hung them in his playroom! They are genuinely great. You know how modern art and toddler art has just a hairline of difference? it was that good, and it isn't coming down anytime soon. I am with you, some reason after pre-school / early parts of pre-k, DS also refused to do extensive art / painting projects, or even when he did them it wasn't as great. What is up with that?! The toddler magic has gone.... </p> <p>A lot of you have talked about taking pics and trash the original.... some reason I can't come to do that because my phone's memory is always maxed out with pictures! If I were to do that I will need another phone for just his stuff. And no I don't use cloud storage, I don't trust the internet with my photos... Yes we have hard drives to store pics at home, but similar to a box, once it went into the hard drive and off my phone I will never look at them again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825119 Tue, 29 May 2018 08:23:48 +0000 lioneyes 2825119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have been saving his actual art from this past year in our dining room (not his worksheets) and will probably cull it down to a few things and maybe frame them for his hallway? Honestly for me, it's more that last year he refused to participate in any art project so the fact that now I have all this art makes me so happy.<br /> I have seen on Pinterest saving a folder of work from each year, and each kid gets their own box. I like that, if it's like 10 pieces or less from the year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825117 Tue, 29 May 2018 08:16:00 +0000 JCCovi 2825117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My in-laws moved a few years ago and presented us with boxes and boxes of DH's elementary schoolwork. It had to have been culled (some) but it was still a massive amount of paperwork. We spent maybe 10 minutes looking at some things and then chucked it all in the trash. We have limited space and very little interest in that. I felt pretty terrible that they had store it for 20+ years and we couldn't be bothered to really go through it. I kept wondering what they had been thinking.</p> <p>With my daughter's preschool art, I did take pictures of my favorite pieces. We just moved and in the old place I had a clothesline of their art, but I chucked everything when we moved. I only saved one painting on canvas my daughter had done. I put it in my office space and she immediately came and claimed it. I had to tell her that if we were going to keep it, Mommy wanted to keep it safe. I haven't saved anything DSd has done so far. 🤭</p> <p>I like the idea of making a photo book every year (a thin printed one, not an actual scrap book, no time for that.) DD starts K this year, so I guess I will be put to the test! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825114 Tue, 29 May 2018 08:02:25 +0000 irene 2825114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you all for sharing! </p> <p>@oldschooolmama: Thanks for the link! It is refreshing to see that's how LITTLE people collect for their child, 1 folder for each year. Yikes! It is a good reference. </p> <p>I agree with all of you, I don't care about whatever "a"s I practiced when in pre-k. Argh. I thought I was done with purging the stuff, but I guess I have to get it further down! Probably have to do it behind DS's back or he will not have it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825090 Mon, 28 May 2018 18:40:45 +0000 ALV91711 2825090@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS starts kindergarten in the fall and this is my plan. I'm going to get a large binder and protective sleeves. I want to make a page for each year that I can put his teacher, best friends, favourites etc and then keep half a dozen of my favourite from the year. This way we can flip through it and doesn't take up much space. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825089 Mon, 28 May 2018 18:28:15 +0000 ElbieKay 2825089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't really keep anything. I can't imagine caring about it in ten years, and we don't have that kind of storage space. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825087 Mon, 28 May 2018 18:04:44 +0000 DesertDreams88 2825087@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: I really, really enjoyed looking through my stuff from when I was younger, and I sorted through it and took the most sentimental stuff when going to college. Most of it is in under-the-bed storage and every move, I go through the box, enjoy the memories, and purge. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825085 Mon, 28 May 2018 17:53:03 +0000 ShootingStar 2825085@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I throw it all away. I’m kind of baffled that so many people save so much stuff. What’s the point of saving boxes and boxes of stuff if all it ever does is sit in a box? </p> <p>This past year my parents sold their house and wanted to know if I wanted stuff of mine they saved from elementary school. They had memories of me making those things that I’d long forgotten. I had no interest in and the last thing I need is more boxes of junk around the house. But maybe I’m just not sentimental. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825073 Mon, 28 May 2018 12:42:47 +0000 808love 2825073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also have something similar to the Keepsake album but pouch size is limited. That’s for the really really good stuff like annual pics and Dd’s personal memories. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825072 Mon, 28 May 2018 12:24:30 +0000 808love 2825072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetCaroline: You can also order from Amazon but I don’t think you can get it personalized. If you are looking to meet minimum shipping, order more as gifts. Lakeshore is a teacher go-to store but shipping can be high. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825064 Mon, 28 May 2018 11:42:23 +0000 SweetCaroline 2825064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 3 and has been in FT daycare since 3 months old. I hang her art work from 5 clothespins in the kitchen. I rotate it out as she brings more home. If it's more than scribbles, I take a photo of it and toss it. If it has a good, clear handprint I save a hard copy. As she gets older, I'm sure my criteria for each level of preservation will change. I take the photos and make a 8x8 Shutterfly album from those free coupons.</p> <p>@808love: Great recommendation on the Lakeshore portfolio! This will be awesome for the few things I save. I've never ordered from there before, any other must haves? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825050 Mon, 28 May 2018 07:59:46 +0000 oldschooolmama 2825050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've also seen this idea-https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156218680807556713/</p> <p>Edit- I don't think the link worked but it was a box with files from each grade to put saved papers in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825049 Mon, 28 May 2018 07:56:02 +0000 oldschooolmama 2825049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I really only plan to save a very few things like a worksheet that had a funny answer on it or maybe a picture I loved but other than that everything gets trashed. I might even take a picture and throw the original away. I know some families hang their child's artwork up in the playroom or child's bedroom and then take it down at the end of the year. As adults do you really care about your old school work? I know I don't. I threw away so much old shit that was saved for no reason. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825045 Mon, 28 May 2018 06:30:59 +0000 looch 2825045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel like I have a reality and a fantasy answer to this question!</p> <p>My son's preschool work is rather bulky, so my husband and I have committed to taking photos of it and then making it into a photobook. It's mostly art projects and I recognize that most of it isn't really art that he did, but I still can't part with it. That's a project we are going to complete by the end of this year. It requires the light box and two people to stage the stuff, so I figure we can set it up in the study and knock it out in a couple of hours.</p> <p>Now that my son is in elementary school, the majority of his "good" work is in composition style notebooks. What comes home on a daily basis is mostly his morning work, which is a worksheet with the math and writing lessons. I don't even save those any more, they're all quite similar. I do save his reading and math assessments though, plus some of the more interesting work, particularly when it is also illustrated. I like to save the math work that explains how he solved the problem, I feel like those are interesting to read. I have decided that those pieces will go in a scrapbook with his class photo. I made the executive decision not to buy the year book so this is kind of all we have, but I look back at what I have and I am fine with it. I recently had to go through my childhood memorabilia and I got rid of almost all of it, including my huge scrapbooks. I just don't have the time or space for them in my current home.</p> <p>As for his art, the program has a great art teacher, but it's not very prolific. If he has 4 pieces that come home in a year, that's a lot. They work on the pieces for a very long time and then they're mounted on colored paper and displayed around the school. I keep wanting to get some frames and put it up in the playroom, but I haven't yet. I do need to decide what to do with it long term. I have a wall in the kitchen that has frames with cork board in it and i display the nicer pieces in those frames. Then, because the doors to the bedrooms are old and crappy, I let him tape up whatever he wants. The hall to the bedrooms is like an art gallery. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825044 Mon, 28 May 2018 00:33:26 +0000 bhbee 2825044@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I need to do better but here is what we do. I like the idea of scanning on iPhone!</p> <p>I have a flat document storage box for each kid in the closet. I throw in things that seem meaningful to me and every once in a while go through and throw stuff out as I get a better big picture sense of what’s worth saving. Mostly sentimental stuff. </p> <p>I didn’t find we got a ton of real artwork in kinder but we have 3 small binder clips hanging on command hooks in part of kitchen where I display art. So something new shows up front, the clip can hold more than that so I can kind of cycle things back and eventually throw away what’s in the back of the pile without a fuss. </p> <p>Same idea of cycling for papers. SO MUCH PAPER. I make her choose whenever stuff comes home in the folder what gets recycled - of course she saves way too much but at least it involves her a little. Then at someone’s suggestion from her school, I have a standing magazine file with kind of a first-in first-out system. So whatever she wants to save - I tuck in one side. I try (and forget half the time) to clean out from the “old” side as she forgets about things, but if she wants something in newer memory it’s available. Honestly she hardly asks she is just happy to see I’m not tossing it right away. This summer I need to get it down to just a few things that go in the memory box and the iPhone scan might get me there! I do want to remember how far her writing progressed this year as she learned to read, and I love the sweet things she makes while Mommy is still cool to her :grin: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825042 Sun, 27 May 2018 23:44:59 +0000 jhd 2825042@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yin: I didn’t know that about scanning with an iPhone. Thank you!</p> <p>We are only in preschool so I don’t have much experience, but art projects came home in a big bag every other month. I always asked LO to choose one for each set of grandparents to display on their fridge and I always put at least one piece on my fridge also. We took pics of everything and tossed most of it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825041 Sun, 27 May 2018 23:05:34 +0000 KT326 2825041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, most of it gets tossed and I don’t even ask him if he wants to keep it! Worksheets for sure get recycled unless he wrote a cute story. I save some of his pictures and put them up in my office. I hate having a bunch of papers around. I ask myself if this is something he would want when he graduates high school and 99% of the time probably not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825040 Sun, 27 May 2018 22:56:14 +0000 808love 2825040@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>take pics and put it in my album or for hard copies we put it in Lakeshore portfolio. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825036 Sun, 27 May 2018 22:27:37 +0000 yin 2825036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I scan and save it on the computer. It’s also backed up in the cloud. From there I am able to throw away 75% of it, and I try to be picky about what I keep. If you use an iPhone, you can scan documents in Notes. Makes it easy if you don’t have access to a bed scanner. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825034 Sun, 27 May 2018 22:18:11 +0000 Iced Tea 2825034@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m taking pictures of everything and saving those files together, so my LO can look back whenever they want. I keep the things that are most loved or that make the best display. I’m considering making a little photo album of the favorites some day also. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/plans-for-saving-storing-or-trashing-los-school-work#post-2825032 Sun, 27 May 2018 21:45:04 +0000 irene 2825032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What do you do with the massive amount of artwork, school work, work sheets, scribble scrabbles...etc. that your LOs bring home, especially for elementary school kids? Any strategy and plans, or wise advice / links to website...etc.?</p> <p>DS is 6 (k-1), and I am realizing the saving/storing of DS' school work is becoming a problem. I used to leisurely store everything DS brought home from daycare in a big box. We switched to a "real school" for pre-k, and I have a big IKEA cardboard box that stored everything that came in. The box was so full it wouldn't close by the end of year! We just graduated kindergarten and also ended up with the same big box of mess. </p> <p>We just spent almost a day to go through and trash quite a lot of things, and consolidated pre-k and k into one box. The process was quite painful. I first involved DS in the process, but he wanted to save everything and there was some unpleasant discussion (ahem argument) why we couldn't keep everything and why we need to pick out only certain things that meant a lot (as DS claimed everything meant a lot to him, including that 50 sheets of handwritings of "a", times 26 alphabets). Finally everything was consolidated (which is still a lot, but we trimmed around 50% for both k and pre-k). Then I realized there is no easy way to ever take out anything to casually reminisce, as, well, they are in a box. There are these really cool journals DS made for each month in K, where you can clearly see the improvement throughout the year (+ the hilarious things he wrote), and it will be quite hard to dig the box out from the attic to look at...</p> <p>I haven't even looked at everything before pre-k (the preschool daycare stuff). gahhh.</p> <p>DH said we need a plan starting 1st grade. I can imagine it will get worse with more books, subjects and tests...etc. I posted a thread here a few months ago about fridge organization and that was a complete life changer (now our fridge is organized with containers and pretty labels !! Unbelievable). So I thought I'd pick your brains on what to expect moving forward, and other tips and tricks on organizing and consolidating school work for the years to come. Or do you just trash them all as they come? hehe. Thank you so much in advance! </p>