Back to School!

I still can't believe that summer is over and school is back in session. You know what Back to School means??? It means a lot of papers coming home with your kiddos. What do you do with all of those papers? Set them aside? Misplace them? Organize them away only to never find them again? What about those late nights when you are looking everywhere for the field trip form? You know, the form that needs to be turned in first thing in the morning? As a former teacher I know all about the panic, phone calls, and emails about lost papers. Here is my solution

A couple years ago I was cruising the Target isles. I love looking at the end of isles for great deals. It was around October and there it was, an organizers dream. I found the mother load of three inch, three ringed binders. I felt like the angels in Heaven were singing. I paused and looked at the little red sticker. They were....twenty five cents. Can you believe it? twenty five cents. Needless to say, I bought every single one on the shelf. I had no clue what I would do with all of them but knew I had to have them.

Once my oldest started preschool the papers started to flood through the door. What do I do with all of these papers? ugh, the papers were driving me bonkers. Then it hit me, I had a bunch of three ringed binders begging to be used.

I place the monthly calendar in the front of the binder. It works perfectly. All I have to do is glance at the calendar the night before (errr the morning of) and see what needs to go to school with my little guy. Inside the binder is an organizers dream. The front pocket holds any papers that need to go to school, all of the supplies needed to pay the monthly tuition (yes, even a pen), and things that I have put aside to mail to the grandparents (AKA the projects that I don't have the heart to throw away). The rings hold the plastic page protectors. The first page is the classroom monthly news letter. Everything that comes home normally makes it into the binder. The class list has it's place and the art projects fit perfectly. The glitter even stays in place with the page protectors.

Here are some pictures. The pictures are not great. The name of the school was plastered all over every.single.paper. I did not want to share my son's preschool so I took some funky pictures.

The monthly Calendar

Monthly classroom letter

Year at a glance

One of the many art projects that I saved

I will be using the same binder for 2 years of preschool and hope to get another grade or two squeezed in. My hope is that one day when my little guy wants to look back at grade school he will have everything neatly organized away. We will see if it really works that way, ha