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Mine are only in preschool so don't have tooo much yet - but I've been taking a picture of the best stuff and saving it to an album on my phone - I think someday I'll make a book for each of them?

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The photo book is a very nifty idea. I hadn’t considered it for schoolwork! I like it!

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It's an imperfect system and I'm always behind on it, but my daughter comes home from preschool everyday with stacks of drawings and art projects. So, I shuffle everything into a big wire basket until it's overflowing and then we pick out our favorites and I take pictures of them, which I upload to an app to make a print book. Then, it's off to the recycling bin and the cycle begins again...

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I need to get some wire baskets, great tip! We also recycle 90% of it, but sometimes I just want to save the ones with the very cute spelling errors, yknow? 💕

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You lived in Chicago?! Me too. For seven years. We were downtown. -- I used Artkive for my kids art and school projects (until they got old enough that I didn't really get much to put in a book, because math tests about geometry aren't that exciting - ha). Artkive is kind of pricey but it's a good product.

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Your photographs are beautiful as always! I also loathe oven cleaning!

I’m a teacher but not a parent, but I have been keeping a copy of my student’s math assessments with a scan app that’s super easy to email, revise, send to google drive, and all the things… that might work or there is an app called book creator where your kids (I’m pretty sure) could take a pic and then you or they could annotate with audio or writing about their work- why it’s special, favorite thing about it, what they worked hard on, etc.

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What a great idea to have the kids contribute! Thank you Megan!

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Oh, wow wow wow! That Melissa Inouye quote. that is motherhood.

I have some pretty-ish boxes from the container store that also double as a filing system and I put them in by grade/age. The younger portions will have more in the end because young art is soooo precious! https://www.containerstore.com/s/office/paper-storage/bigso-stockholm-letter-legal-file-box/12d?productId=11018234

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Pretty boxes! Oh I might have to do this!!

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I toyed with a few ideas but the system I decided on is one file box per child with one hanging file for each grade. We collect papers they care about in a somewhat haphazard stack throughout the year, then pick favorites at the end of the school year to file. Their elementary school also saves all of their finished writing samples into a binder and then gives them to the children when they complete 6th grade or leave the school (it’s a reading/writing focused school).

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I’m not sure how this will work as they enter high school and things become more increasingly digital, but it is what it is for now.

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Okay I love this. I have been thinking of getting a filing cabinet but wasn't sure what I would use it for... now I know. Thank you for this idea! As for high school... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it haha

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You’re welcome!

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Just wanted to pop in and share that a company called Doodle Nest based in the UK sells these amazing art books they make using your kids art/writing/etc. They do ship to the US as well. Here's the link for their company: https://doodlenest.co.uk/

Love reading your letters!

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I have no suggestions unfortunately but MAN do I now want to track down a giant wallpaper book!

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