Schoolwork Organization Box

If my house isn't (mostly) organized, I go a little nuts. Now that Peyton and Ella are both in school, the amount of schoolwork that barrages our household each week is staggering. So, I made a system. 

I do love me a system.

I found these boxes on sale at Walmart for $5 each.

I know I could have made them super fancy and embellished. But sometimes I think it's important for kids to decorate their own stuff. It gives them a little extra pride in ownership, you know? 

So I got out the old art tablecloth and the Sharpie markers. Getting out the Sharpies is A BIG DEAL in our house, since my kids are not allowed to come within a 5 foot radius of the Sharpie cup. They can gaze longingly it from afar, but that's it. So whenever I bring that cup to the table OH BOY! IT'S A PARTY. 

Sharpies (and any kind of paint) seem to create the atmosphere for a super exciting art project. Even if they are just being used to decorate a simple box.

Those kids really put some time and effort into their boxes.

And I love how they turned out.

"Mommy, I want you to take a picture of this side."

"And this side."

And he made me take a picture of all four sides. I love how proud he is of his artwork.

Anyway, when they come home from school, we toss all the schoolwork into the boxes.

I made some cute title pages for each month and dropped them in the bottom of the box. At the end of the month, I grab that month's title page, a binder clip, and the school work and clip it all together. 

And then the kids can continue dropping their incoming schoolwork on top of the pile because it is automatically separated from the previous month. Because I really don't want to be dating every single piece of paper that comes home, but I would like a general idea of when it was created. 

Then, at the end of the year, when I pull everything out, the months are already divided for me. If I want to keep something, I can date it by month and file it away in the permanent school folder. 

It just makes my world a little less chaotic. And it works for us.