childrens schoolwork- keep or throw dilemna?

[tali122]

at the end of school term i, like many parents end up with piles of our childrens schoolwork which take up a lot of storage space -is it the done thing to throw it away? or should all old schoolwork be retained , in an ideal world i'd love to keep it somewhere but practical considerations mean this is not the case - what do other parents do as it feels like a sentimental dilemna
thx

[tigerthecat]

chuck it away, just keep those odd one or two bits which mean something to you. I don't know of any adult children who have been pleased to have stacks of their work returned to them later.:-) jus dont do it in front of them. I find that school work, there first teeth and other mementos are really not worth keeping unless they are for you.

[sandyg2244]

I have a huge box in a cupboard with all the drawings my son did and a few jotters until year seven.I just wanted him to have stuff to look at when he was older and cant bear to throw it away.you have to be realistic though, and choose some favourites if you are stuck for storage.

[spudqueen]

I also chuck most of it, though favourites have been kept, like my sons diary of his favourite day during the Easter holidays a few years ago, the day he decided to try gothic writing (in year 2 - all day!) and quite a lot of pictures. I have a large cardboard box for each son and have kept them all in there.

[cherryelm]

My daughter is 19 and I have kept all of her schoolwork I know it sounds stupid but I can't bear to part with all the calenders, christmas, easter and mothers day cards.I promise I'm not one of those people that yoy see on 'how clean is your house' I'm really quite ruthless about parting with things but she is an only child and they are all so precious.

[mollymandy]

get a photo albulm and stick into it something from each term ie photo of sports day / play a reading they read out / or a piece of home work you worked on together ... your children can help choose what is special to them if they worked hard on a particular piece ect ... save it for them and give them it when they are 18 they will love it and so will you

[saxy_jag]

What I didn't leave at school, I burnt the weekend after I left. That was thirty years ago and, as the song goes, I regret nothing.

My eldest, when he left school, argued quite rightly that the keeping of his school work was a matter for him to decide. I know he kept some of it and dumped some, and I am left with pieces of his artwork, which are more important to me that some mass-dictated pieces of spiel with about as much individuality as a paperclip.

The youngest decided he wanted all his artwork when he moved into his own place. When I asked him about his schoolwork, he took a couple of projects he'd work on and said, "you can chuck the rest". So I did.

As you see, school holds a special place in all our hearts in this house.

[mimififi]

I too just keep choice stuff. Also, any stuff that is really big like models of volcanoes, and giant paintings that are really good, I take a digital photo with and keep them on my computer. I am thinking about doing this will all stuff, scanning in written work etc etc, that way I can just press a cd when they are old enough and give it to them and always have a back up.

I do, however, make sure they NEVER see any of their stuff in the bin. I say I've kept it in my special box, which is true, my pc is box shaped!