Do you keep everything that comes home from school?

[~Ash~]

Thanks for sharing ladies.

I really like the idea of choosing a few things that I want to keep and then leaving the rest up to DD - maybe giving her a limit of what she can keep. Honestly, for some reason I hadn't actually thought of asking her if she wants to keep any of it lol she probably doesn't care much at all!!

[ladybirdflies]

THats the great things about the box, you can only keep what can fit in there!! My girls would keep everything if I let them.... NOOOOO don't throw away that ripped piece of paper it REALLY special! Argh

[Trillian]

I keep all the mothers/father's day things they make and toss the rest - I used to keep it all when DS1 started school but we just don't have the room to keep enough work for 4 kids! Plus our school does a 'worksample' portfolio every year where they get the kids to do 'worksamples' of the different things they do over the course of the year which covers all the KLA's so at the end of the year they bring home a nice and tidy A4 display folder full of all their best work which I get to keep and that works much better. So now I just toss everything as it comes home - paintings I usually put on the fridge for a bit and then toss when the next one comes home.

[grub17]

we aren't up to school years yet, but i also use all paintings for wrapping paper (alwasy get great comments about it). We give a lot oaway to grandparents/uncles/aunties so they have a treasure or two... throw the rubbishy stuff and memory book the rest.
mum kept some of our old writing books and the stories in there are hilarious... occasionally we'll rediscover them and read them to all the family, can barely get through them without dying of laughter! My brother had a very morbid imagination, to say the least lol. i plan on keeping the best bits like their stories etc but will turf the rest... probably... maybe lol.

[LuluHB]

I have a box for each and keep a semester's worth and then toss it and start again. Anything that they are especially proud of is kept in a different box and at the end of the year we go through it together and decide what is kept. Most of DD's stuff last year got tossed when she brought home her portfolio from school. Any special projects like father's day, mother's day etc are kept forever.

I got caught last year when I threw out a few things and DD asked for them to show somebody. She got so upset when I said I'd thrown it away.

[AliBaby]

Just wondering if you guys have thought of scanning things into your computer and keeping the memory that way? You can still keep a few of the significant things but the stuff you scan you can throw out or give away.

Another thing to do for school years is at the end of the school year, each child gets a display folder, they normally have 20 clear pocket sleeves in them and dont take up much room. You get to fill it up with writing sample, awards from the year, artworks, birthday and Christmas cards.

[Astrolady]

I used to, but with 3 at school now there is just way to much. I have kept their first books that they brought home and ditched the rest. I keep them though if there is significant blank paper remaining in them, so they can use it for scrap paper to draw with at home.