In today’s post: Learn how to organize school papers with a simple school memory binder. Keep all of your child’s favorite artwork, homework, report cards, etc. in one tidy place!
Anyone else drowning in school papers? My kids bring home loads of drawings, writing samples, math tests, etc., every week, and they don’t want to throw away ANY OF IT. Not even one piece. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve tried to throw it away when they’re not looking, but then I forget to take out the trash and one of my children saw her beautiful artwork in the garbage and then there are tears and I felt like the worst mom ever… And just in case you think I am the worst mom ever for throwing away any of my kids’ precious artwork, take a minute to imagine what my house would look like if I kept every single piece of school paperwork that each of my FIVE children produced every year.
Obviously, I don’t need piles of school papers accumulating in every room in my home. Frankly, I don’t even want a whole box for each child, because no one is ever going to look through an entire box-worth of school papers. I promise. What I want is a nice tidy binder (or two) for each child that holds their very favorite work from each year of school. Something that’s organized and pared down enough to truly be a keepsake that will be fun to look through in years to come.
So that’s what I’ve made! Today I’m going to show you how to organize those piles of school papers into one tidy school memory binder.
How to organize school papers
Step 1: As school papers come home, save special drawings, writing assignments, reports cards, or anything else your child is attached to. Use a filing cabinet or a shelf in a closet to keep anything that feels special. Don’t worry too much about organizing things now, just collect anything your child isn’t willing to throw away.
Step 2: Create a school memory binder. Get a 2 or 3 inch three ring notebook for each child and place 25 page protectors inside it. Then download the free year in review divider pages for each grade by clicking here. The set includes preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1-12. Print it out at 100% on cardstock. Slide each divider page into a page protector. You can also download a cover page here.
Step 3: At the end of each school year, have your child fill out the year in review printable for the grade she has just finished. She can write her name, record the year, and fill out some information that will be fun to remember later: names of teachers and friends, favorite books, favorite field trips, and favorite activity from that year. Adhere a 5×7 photo to the divider page as well.
Then pull out all the papers you’ve saved from that year and ask your child to choose 10-15 that are her absolute favorites. The favorites go into the binder, and the rest can get recycled. It’s much easier to convince kids that it’s ok to throw away some of the paperwork when they see you are saving their favorites in a binder they can look at any time they want!
As the years go on, you’ll continue to add to the binder. If there are lots of special papers you’d like to keep, you may end up using two or three binders for each child. This is the easiest way I’ve found to organize school paperwork.
What if your child is already in fourth grade and you’re just starting this project now? Well, no problem! Pull out all the paperwork you’ve saved so far and start dividing things up into grades. Help your child pare down the papers to 10-15 from each grade, and have him fill out the year in review pages for each grade as well as he can remember. Get the binder current up to now, and then it will be ready to keep going in years to come.
Even if you don’t want to create a binder to organize school papers, it’s still fun to print out the year in review printables as a way to document the last day of school each year!
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Diana Jenkins says
Hello, I printed the older version you created when my son started school. I need to print them out for my daughter too. Do you have the older version available still? If you do and are willing to send that to me I would appreciate it, they are adorable! Thank you!!
stephanie says
Hello, Thank you so much for the printables. I have printed your original downloads from a few years back. I have pre-k through 6th grade. Is there any chance you can send me 7th-12th? I would so appreciate it.
user experience agency says
Very interesting ideas for schoolchildren, thanks for sharing, now my daughter will have something to do on holidays 🙂
Christina says
These are by far the cutest school memory binder sheets out there! I just love the layout, font and colors!! Thank you so much for sharing them. I am wondering if you might consider personalizing and/or changing the bottom questions? Friends can be such a touchy area for kids as they get older especially girls and not all kids like reading or have a favorite book. Perhaps a “Favorite Subject” and “When I Grown Up I Want to Be” might be a nice alternative.
essays online says
It’s really a great idea! Having made such a notebook, the child will always have good memories of school times. After all, when he grows up, he will be very pleased to recall the time when he was little. I really want to offer my youngest son to make such a notebook. Thank you for sharing such interesting and useful tips for children and their parents. Now I think that it would be very cool if I had such a notebook when I was a child. I hope that you continue to share this type of content.
Hillary Carlson says
Would you be willing to make a template that is for Pre-Kindergarten? Where we live, kids go to preschool for 3 going to 4 years of age, pre-kindergarten for 4 going on 5 and then start kindergarten in the fall of their 5th year.
Malissa says
Hi! Do you have the older version of these available. I need to print more out and of course I would like them to all match! Not sure if I can look it up somewhere else. The new ones are really cute but I just need a few more of the other version if at all possible. Thanks so much!
Cryl Geltmaker says
These are perfect! Thank you for sharing the downloads. I’m finally getting everything for my 15yr old son’s book together. LOL
Cathy says
Could you also do a page for Tot School too? (before preschool)
Tiffany says
I love this idea. I’m in th UK; would it be possible to get the printable to have Year 1, year 2 etc instead of 1st grade, 2nd grade? Or do you know of someone who did?
Organization Junkie says
These are all great tips! I can’t wait to try these out!
Orga says
This is great organization ideas! I really can’t wait to put your tips to the test!
Edna M WALKER says
You can also take a digital snapshot of the child’s work or projects and create a school portfolio. There are ways to store and display for later the work. In class I often took photos of papers that parents had to sign and return to the office. Some times the papers got lost in the office and I would have proof that the paper work was turned in. At the end of the year I would delete everything and start again with a new class the following year.
Stephani says
I love this idea! I dated a guy briefly in high school and his mom had something similar to this displayed at his graduation party. I’ve wanted to do this for my future kids ever since! My oldest will start kindergarten next year. Thanks for the printables!
Molly Petsch says
I LOVE these- thank you so much! I’ve already done my oldest son’s and just need more years for my second kiddo.
Is there any way you’d be able/willing to update the years, going up to 2040 (how OLD does that make me feel?!)?? I have a little one on the way who will graduate in 2036.
Thanks so much!
autumn says
Hi Molly! I am planning to update these pages within in the next month or two, so keep checking the blog. Thanks for commenting, and congrats on the little one on the way!!
Robin says
I’m also curious if you’re planning on doing another update. My kiddo just started preschool and will graduate in 2033.
jamie Sand says
Hi! I love these printables and am using them for my oldest son’s memory book. My middle son is starting preschool this year and I would love to use these again! Will you be updating the file to include the year 2031? Let me know! Thanks so much!!!!
Molly Campbell says
I absolutely love this idea!!!! How do I download the files? I clicked on, “click here download preschool through 6th grade” but it isn’t doing anything.
Sarah says
I love these! Thanks so much! I also have a lot of toddler artwork to save. Do you have a printout with a toddler layout similar to these?
Thanks
Sarah
Karyn says
Hi I could not get the download to open up properly. Could you please email them to me?
CD says
Did you receive a response? I cannot get the PK-6 files to open, either.
Erin says
I have had these pinned for so long and never realized the dates on them.. I just had a daughter, I was just curious if you ever thought of updating again lol
Jenn says
Hi, I love your school memory printables. They are my favorite of all I’ve seen! I know you have already extended the dates once but I have 2 little ones that haven’t started school yet. The dates (up to 2030) won’t quite make it. Are you considering doing another revision in the near future? Or is there a way I can alter it myself? Thank you so much for sharing your great ideas
Megan says
Me too! Looking for dates beyond 2030, thanks for considering or sharing an editable file:)
Joy says
Autumn – as always, you always come through! I have looked, and looked, and looked for many different versions of these, but I just love your style! And thank you for extending them through to 2030 – that will cover DS who starts school in Fall of 2017. Thank you so much – you have no idea!
Molly Bolinger says
First I have to say I love your printables for the school memory binder! Its exactly what I have been looking for! But I was wondering – Do you have a PreSchool page in the original version (older dates)? I would to add all of my children’s preschool years too – but my first born went to preschool in 2005. Thanks for your help!
Molly
CHristy says
Thanks so much for these! They are lovely! I love the colours.
I was just hoping to change the line from “favourite field trip” to “School”. How would I go about doing that?
bernadette says
I was happy for the updated 7th-12th grade, thank you Autumn!!!! I love it!
Leilani says
Thank you so much for these! I appreciate it and look forward to using them.
Carissa says
Love this idea!! I am having trouble opening it…any ideas?
Tiffany says
Any chance to get some girlie colors? I have twins, so I like to do a version for each. Pinks and purples are her favorite colors.
sara says
I just found your post on pinterest and I am printing them now 🙂 I had photographed all of the papers and made soft cover books from shutterfly and kept just the best but now i can put the best ones as well as the book and these pages all in a binder and that will be perfect! Thanks so much for this wonderful free printable!
NaTalie says
Silly question but do you fill this out at the end of each school year or at the beginning? Thanks!
autumn says
We filled them out at the end of the year, so they can record their favorite things from the year.
Jackie says
I absolutely love this idea and can’t wait to get started. Do you have a Pre Kinder one somewhere or would you suggest using the Pres school twice? She attended both and I have a binder from both I would LOVE to condense. Thanks again for the great idea and any suggestion.
Gina says
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! This is exactly what I have been looking for! I plan to get organized this summer.
Valerie Lee says
I have a 3 ring binder where I keep all the kids pictures and awards through the years – so I LOVE this cute page that can be a great cover page to start each year!!! THANKS – great work!
Kate says
I love this idea & final outcome. Thank you so much for sharing!
Sarah says
My son was just enrolled in Pre-K today to begin in August. I’m going to LOVE having these. I already document everything about his life. Both of my parents passed away before I finished my 20s, the only things we truly leave behind are memories in photo form. There isn’t a whole lot I possess and there are memories I won’t ever know about because I don’t have either of them to explain photos I’ve found of my brother and I. I want to make sure James always knows what went on in his past 🙂
autumn says
Hi Sarah! I’m so sorry you lost both your parents early, but what a wonderful thing you are doing for your son as a result! My parents always tell me “if you didn’t write it down, it didn’t happen,” which turns out to be so true once the people holding the memories pass on. Thanks for commenting – I really appreciate it.
Sarah says
Do you happen to have ideas for cover pages? I got started on James’s tonight because we just had a parent/teacher conference with his daycare (no page for that but I’m using the pre-K one since he gets tested every few months on how he’s progressing with writing, math, and memory like pre-K so it works!).
Lara says
Thank you for these. I’ve been using the Artkive app to take a picture of my kids with their artwork, keeping only the best ones, and throwing the other’s away. I also have 8-1/2 x 11 frames from Ikea (1.99 ea) in various colors to put some artwork in and hang on the wall. I don’t have as much hanging around.
autumn says
That app sounds like a fantastic idea – thanks for the tip!
Sorahart says
Our oldest is in preK and I’ve been trying to decide what to do with everything that comes home from school. Thanks for the inspiration and printables!
kathy says
Such a good Idea Autumn!!!!!
Kristie says
You are awesome! Thanks for sharing this great idea, and for providing the awesome printables. Definitely will be doing this with my kids!