Back to School Binders

I've mentioned a few times that I need to get my act together for the school year. For someone who is a self proclaimed "organizing expert," I'm definitely still learning the ropes of keeping a family functioning. Hats off to all of the parents out there with multiple kids in multiple schools. The paperwork is really a river deep enough to swim in.

So, after posting my torn paperwork in all of it's glory, I realized that I needed to actually come up with a functional system. An organizing project for me is usually an excuse to go buy something new and pretty under the guise of "need," but back to school "needs" for the kids are taking on a life of their own, so I decided that Sept needed to be a "make it work" month for home projects.


My home binder post is by far the most popular post on this blog. Every day more people read that post than anything else. And here's where I have to confess and say that over the last year I've totally let those binders fail me. The binders haven't failed me, I have let them fail me by not keeping them updated.

I like to think that the thing that makes MY binders special is that I refused to follow someone else's checklist of what's supposed to be in a home binder. I honestly do not need, nor will I ever need, a freezer inventory checklist, so why would I make one? I figured out what type of stuff was cluttering up my counters, and attempted to make a binder system that would give me a place for everything that needed a place.


Over the last year and a half those binders have held up amazingly well. But my needs have completely changed. In Feb 2011 I had one folder devoted to "school." Now I have a whole binder. And here's what's in it:


-{Preschool}-This part is still only one folder because let's face it, preschool paperwork ain't got nothin' on Elementary school.

-{Elementary reference}- You know all of that information that they send home "for your reference" that you are scared to death to throw away? This is where it goes. I plan to keep school phone numbers posted, but anything else they send home regarding policies, general info, etc. will be filed here until I run out of room.

-{Kindergarten specific reference}- Only 2 days in I had to add this folder in because there is SO much stuff specific to the way their classroom runs, my "Elementary reference" folder was overflowing.


-{Elementary dated}- Whenever something comes home that needs to go on the calendar, I try to do that ASAP. But lots of times those sheets have tons of other important info on them- what to bring, what door to enter through, who to call if you can't make it, etc. These are the papers that take over my fridge because I can't throw them away until the event passes. This folder is for these papers- and will be cleaned out as events pass.

-{Sign and Return}- Similar to my policy of putting events on calendars ASAP, my rule for this year is to sign and return immediately. There is no reason to wait until the "sign by" date to return a form that can be returned early.  But sometimes stuff comes home that needs a signature and needs to be returned to a special place or person. Anything that cannot be immediately put back into the backpack will go here (along with a note on my calendar to grab the form when needed).

-{Blank}-I have two blank folders because school just started and I know my needs will change once extra curricular activities start.

When I made my initial home binders, I actually made 2, and the other one is in the midst of a similar revamp to hold all non school related essentials, which I will post about shortly. But for now, let's keep talking about school binders. If you have kids and you haven't shared already, how do you manage your kids papers and schedules without losing your mind and your countertop?