What Can You Do With The Artwork, Newsletters, And Other Papers From Child Care?
How can you organize everything your preschooler brings home from children's daycare? Between newsletters, artwork, and everything else your child brings home, you have a mountain of pre-k papers sitting on your table that you're not sure what to do with. Take a look at the top tips that can help you to organize everything your young student brings home from child care.
Talk To the Teacher
Are there papers that you will need to keep for reference? Some child care centers send home paper schedules, newsletters, or letters about upcoming events (such as a holiday party or a school play), while others have transitioned to an online-only information option.
If your child's center only uses or also uses a paper-based notification system, ask the teacher which items are important and which ones can go into the recycling bin. Even though everything may seem important, it's not necessary to save notes that contain information you already have, have an email about, or won't need.
Talk To Your Child
Before you toss your preschooler's cherished family portrait or finger painting, ask your child if they want you to keep their artwork. If they say "yes" to everything, ask them why they want to keep the painting, crayon drawing, collage, or other piece of art. This will help your child to think about what is important to them and help you to organize the growing stack of papers in your home.
Digitize the Papers
You don't always need to keep a paper copy of every item your child brings home from daycare. To reduce the clutter, snap a picture of the papers and organize them digitally in an app or in your phone's photo folder. This strategy works for art, newsletter, notes from the teacher, and anything else that is on paper.
Create A Folder System
What should you do with the papers that you can't or don't want to recycle/throw away? Instead of leaving these items in the middle of your table, on a desk, or anywhere else that is out in the open, create a folder storage system.
The specific system that you use depends on your personal preferences and what makes sense to you. Easy options include a by-year, by-child, by-month, or by-subject system. You can also color code the files and add labels to make storage simple. After you file everything in a folder, place the folders in one cabinet or into a box with hanging tabs.