The paper chase: What to do with your kids’ old schoolwork

by Sharon Duke Estroff
an internationally syndicated Jewish parenting columnist, award-winning Jewish educator, and mother of four. Her first book, Can I Have a Cell Phone for Hanukkah? The Essential 411 on Raising Modern Jewish Kids, will be published by Broadway Books in 2007.

It’s as sure a sign of the summer break as flip-flops and beach blankets: the last day of school deluge. Math quizzes, spelling tests, Picasso-inspired portraits — once the makings of our child’s buzzing classroom, now heaped en masse on our kitchen counters.

Faced with this predictable but overwhelming onslaught of schoolwork, we deliberate our options. We could take the quick and easy route, surreptitiously tossing it all into the recycling bin. But such a clean break hardly feels comfortable after our child put plenty of time and effort into that plethora of papers. Besides, how could we possibly do away with the her Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing book report when she’ll never be in fourth grade again?

We could try the packrat approach, stuffing the teeming stack into super-sized Tupperware containers and sealing it for posterity; but adding on an extra room to the house for the sole purpose of storing schoolwork seems a bit extreme.

We could find the answer to our decluttering prayers in a handy little system called the scholastic portfolio (which also has the fringe benefit of teaching kids to recognize and take pride in their academic achievements). Here’s everything you need to know to take back the kitchen counter and get this marvelous system working for your family:

• First things first. You can’t implement a scholastic portfolio system without a scholastic portfolio. Depending on personal preference, you can get a real artist’s portfolio, a scrapbook, an accordion folder, or a specially decorated box. Personalize the portfolio with your child’s name, grade, and the academic year.
  
  
• Block off some time to help your child scour the schoolwork stockpile for pieces that make him feel especially proud and/or happy. Drive home the point that an assignment needn’t have received a stellar score to be a source of pride. Should your child determine that a) all of his work is portfolio worthy or b) none of it is, do a bit of modeling. “I really like this story you wrote about your pet alien,” you might say. “It uses lots of great describing words and the surprise ending is fun.” Or “Oh, here is that long division homework you worked so hard on last month. I know you didn’t get everything right, but you got most of them, and I’m so proud of the effort you showed.” Or “I know how much you enjoyed studying American history this year; maybe you can save this quiz on the 13 colonies to remind you of all you learned.”

Once the final selections are made, it’s time to drum up an audience to “ooh” and “ahh” over the assemblage. Grandparents are always eager for the job, as are empty-nester friends and relatives. Rather than stashing the portfolio away in the basement after the show, keep it easily accessible; you may be surprised to find your child flipping through her fond school memories — and basking in the glory of scholastic successes — for years to come.

Finally, head off any future last day of school deluges by kicking off each new academic year with a fresh portfolio. Whenever your child returns home with a backpack full of papers, have her lay out her work, add any extra special pieces to her collection and recycle the rest…for posterity.