School Organization Systems to Prevent Lost Papers

One of the worst nightmares for parents is dealing with piles and piles of loose papers stuffed in different pockets of backpacks and all the nooks and crannies of binders and notebooks. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to help your student stay organized from the beginning of the school year so that papers do not get lost and homework does not get forgotten.

Stay Organized at School: Homework Folder

The first technique is something that many elementary school teachers are already implementing, but that you can implement as well if needed: the homework folder. The idea behind this one is that your child has a special folder that is just for the homework that is in progress (between getting the assignment and turning it in). It works best for younger children, although it could be used for middle and high school students as well.

To make a homework folder, simply pick a folder of some kind that your child likes, and designate it as the homework folder. Instruct them to, anytime they receive something that needs to be done as homework, put it in the folder. Then when it is time to do the homework, they just need to pull out that one folder, and no assignments will be forgotten. After completing assignments, they should go back into the folder, which (obviously) needs to go into the backpack to make it to school, where your child knows exactly where to find all the assignments to turn in.

Stay Organized at School: Binder, Dividers, and 3-Hole Punch

A more permanent organization system is the simple system of having and using a binder with dividers. At the beginning of the year, pick out a large binder (at least 1.5 inches wide at the spine) and purchase enough dividers so your child has one for each subject. Then get a big pack of loose-leaf notebook paper and a 3-hole punch that is 3-hole punched itself to fit right into the binder.

This way, your child can take notes on loose-leaf paper and file those away in the proper divider area of the binder, and other things related to that subject can go there as well. If there are handouts that are not yet 3-hole punched, your child can do that immediately so they can be filed properly. Then the front pocket of the binder can be used for papers that need to come home to the parents, or if you prefer, as a "homework folder" as described above.

Stay Organized at School: Bigger Files Kept at Home

The last step to the process of staying organized is keeping your child's volume of papers being carried to and from school manageable. This is best done by creating a place at home where papers that should not be thrown away can be stored when they are no longer needed daily. For example, after finishing a particular unit in a subject, all of the notes and handouts for that unit can be filed away in a manila file folder for that subject that is kept at home.

These simple tips will help your child to remain organized in school, amidst the massive quantity of papers and handouts that they receive and work with on a daily basis.