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Angel
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| Posted: Feb 25 2013 at 5:15pm | IP Logged
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Over the weekend my dh started putting up an entire wall of shelving which will be devoted mainly to homeschooling. It's basically in our kitchen, and will (hopefully) also allow me to move a desk in there and get the laptops off the kitchen counter.
What I've noticed in the process is that I have no good way to deal with most of the paper produced in this house. The teenagers have notebooks for most of their stuff, although the papers they write and print and hand to me sometimes end up floating. But the younger kids have a lot of loose paper. (One of the biggest offenders is the daily Saxon facts practice.)
Then there are my papers. Stuff I print out to use with the kids and don't use immediately (say, coloring sheets for example) or things we don't get to that I want to save. Blog posts and threads that I want to keep for future reference. I've been keeping many of these in binders, but my problem is that I'm more of a piler than a puncher or a filer. I like to staple papers and stick them in the pockets or worse, just leave them loose inside the binder, so I can grab them quickly when I need them instead of taking the whole binder with me.
I've tried to use a file crate system in the past and the problem I had was that the kids would stack papers on top of it and then I would lose track of what was inside *and* I would have a giant, precarious pile of papers in addition. But maybe my problem was that I only had one file crate?
Help?
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 25 2013 at 6:05pm | IP Logged
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If you're a stapler/stacker it sure seems like a file crate system is the most intuitive thing for you, Angela. I'd expand to two or three if needed in order to sort and file all my papers.
Angel wrote:
| I've tried to use a file crate system in the past and the problem I had was that the kids would stack papers on top of it and then I would lose track of what was inside |
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I'd tell the kids that anyone found stacking papers on my file crates would be doing 20 push-ups immediately (less for a little fella, but enough to be a drag). This is novel exactly once. Then, it really gets to be a drag.
And further than that, I'd probably claim a shelf or two (if not one ENTIRE bookcase section) of those great, new shelves you just put up, and I'd stake my claim again by announcing that ANYONE found stacking, moving, or using items from my shelves will be doing 20 push-ups. Every time anyone is found touching/rearranging/stacking/using my pens to color in their cardboard fort, it would just be an automatic 20. No arguing or getting upset - just "drop and give me 20 for messing with something that doesn't belong to you." And then...after push-ups they'd be returning, removing, unstacking and possibly even doing a gift of service for me...like dusting my pretty shelves. 
That's how I'd work it anyway.  I sure did love seeing those fantastic shelves on your blog! I bet you're super excited to fill them!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: Feb 25 2013 at 7:05pm | IP Logged
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I have no help to offer, but I'm liking Jen's push-ups! I think I might use that to try and break my oldest habit of picking up his new Kindle every 10 minutes or talking to me about a game he has on it when he is suppose to be doing school work. Nothing else has worked yet. 
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Angel
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| Posted: Feb 25 2013 at 8:09pm | IP Logged
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Jen, I'm going to tell them the push-ups are your idea. But I like it.
I am excited about my shelves, though. Right now they seem like so much space, but I'm sure I'll be able to fill them with no problem!
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 25 2013 at 8:27pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| Jen, I'm going to tell them the push-ups are your idea. |
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Feel free!!!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Erin
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| Posted: Feb 26 2013 at 12:31am | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| But the younger kids have a lot of loose paper. (One of the biggest offenders is the daily Saxon facts practice.) |
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For the short time with my younger ones I'm using clipboards. Wooden backs with big clip on front. Behind their 'tick sheets' they clip loose papers like mapwork and handwriting sheets. Then at the end of the week I pop them into their hanging files, a small, neat version of the hanging crate file, it has an attractive look with a lid and handle.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 26 2013 at 5:48am | IP Logged
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I inherited a hanging file stand from dh's office. It sits on the desk or shelf and holds maybe a third of what a crate does, but it is still sturdy. Maybe a few of those would work. They are cute and still easily accessible like a crate but would not allow for things to be stacked on top or just shoved in the box since there is no box.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 26 2013 at 11:18am | IP Logged
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Here is what I have.
Mine is the second one that is Z-shaped, but there are lots of options out there.
I have also found that, for taming the paper piles that are bills and other important thing, which we never get around to filing, I have magazine files for five broad categories (like "utilities" instead of something more specific like "electric" or "health stuff" rather than breaking it down further) in the office, and its the most organized we've ever been for keeping this stuff from becoming one massive pile of dh's "I need to keep this."
Anyway, I'm more successful at using magazine files than hanging files, and if I had all those shelves, I think that is probably what I would lean towards for paper containment. I use magazine files for many of the things you describe. I like binders for books and things I've printed, but for collecting odds and ends, I never actually get the things in them. The extra steps of punching, opening the binder, inserting it, and closing the binder again just bog me down. With a magazine file, I can treat it like a vertical "pile" even more so than a file folder.
I use the cheap white ones from Ikea that are $2-3 for 10.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: keeping up with the paper
