Organize Your Kid's School Papers

If you have kids in school than you know all about the mountains of papers they can bring home each week.

I happen to have 3 in school and they bring home lots of papers each week. Some are important like field trip permission slips, fundraisers, graded tests, but some are just classwork, already checked homework assignments and flyers.

First: Sort
Each weekday as soon as my kids come home I sort through their take home folders while they are working on their homework.

Second: Trash
I immediately throw away any papers that we don't need to save. This includes: already checked homework, classwork, doodles, etc. I also throw away graded tests that don't need to be saved. The only exception is the middle school asks the kids keep all paperwork in their binder until the semester exams.

Third: Add to Calendar
Next I add any important information to my calendar and file the paper in my planner. I make a note of any special dress days (school spirit days, etc.), days when the kids are supposed to send in special items (cereal boxes for art, completed reports, and projects) and field trip days.

Fourth: File
The other type of paperwork we routinely get is papers asking for money. Either field trip permission slips, school photo order forms, donations or money for project supplies. Unfortunately we get a fair amount of these forms. We make a note of them on our monthly budget worksheet and then file them with our bills to be paid. On one income we've learned to budget everything!

We also receive items we want to file away for future reference. These items include: school directories, parent/student handbooks, course syllabus and other similar items.

These simple steps save us time dealing with their paperwork and we can find what we need quickly. Please feel free to share how your family organizes school paperwork.

Free Ways for Moms To Learn From Home

The kids are all in school. The house is cleaned, laundry is started...now what do you do???

It's nice to have some down time to relax so you can be energized for your family when they get home. However, now is the time to start getting ready for your future also.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to stay home after your kids start school - congratulations! Consider taking some enrichment classes for fun during your free time.  Some examples would be piano or guitar lessons, a foreign language, or perhaps learn a craft.

Some parents choose or will need to got back to work once their kids go to school. There are lots of courses you can take to help you transition back into the workforce. Here are just a few topics available: resume writing, cover pages, computer course such as Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint or HTML. You also may consider taking college type courses on writing, science, education or social sciences. There are lots to choose from when you know where to looks.

Here are some great sites to get you started:

200 Free Online Class - lots of courses offered by top quality colleges like MIT and Yale
http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-online-classes-to-learn-anything

Lots of Classes or Tutorials covering a variety of subjects such as Windows, Office, Google, email and interviewing skills, writing cover letters, math basics, money and everyday life topics also.
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/

Free-Ed.net - lots and lots of courses - mostly college type courses from various sources. It searches the net and finds the best free courses.
http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/

Learn a language - Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, German, Chinese, Russian and English
http://www.learnalanguage.com/

Livemocha - another site that helps you learn a new language - even get lessons sent to your cell.
http://livemocha.com/

YouTube - just type in "learn" into the search box and find ALL kinds of fun things to learn. Crafts, languages, speed reading, guitar lessons, almost any software program you can think of,  and lots, lots more.
http://youtube.com
 
Code Academy - Teaches you HTML. It's fun and easy. Even great for older kids. This site shows you how to program websites for fun or profit.
http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0

Whether you take courses for fun or to advance your career the goal is to improve your life and the lives of those around you.



I'm not affiliated or a representative for any of these sites. I don't make a dime from any of them. They are just sites I've found during my own personal search looking for fun things to learn on the web.

Birthday Party Prep on a Tight Budget

Okay my little one has a birthday party this weekend, so I'm in full on cleaning mode.

I'm obsessive about it. I clean everything! Walls, floors, door knobs, and everything in between. I just use bleach water twice a year to wipe down almost everything. It really helps cut down on colds and stomach bugs in our household.

Yeah I know it's a waste of time to clean so meticulously. The house only stays clean for the first 1/2 hour of the party normally, but hey, at least it's clean when the guests arrive.

We're expecting about 6 eight year old girls. There will be lots of little girl giggling I'm sure. Not to mention Polly Pockets and dress-up outfits all over the floor.

My youngest daughter's party is the hardest for our family each year because it's right around the start of school. Things are  pretty crazy around here at the beginning of school - lots of added expenses. School supplies (extras that are not on the list from school), mandatory magazine subscriptions, dance uniforms, chorus uniforms, and a crazy $100 mandatory graphing calculator. UGH!

So this year her birthday is going to be on a very tight budget. Like a $50 budget. That's food, gifts, goody bags, invitations and all. Everything for $50.  Here's how it breaks down:

$40 for presents
$5 for goody bag from the dollar store and Party City
$1 invitations from the dollar store
$4 food - cake mix, icing, popcorn, pretzels from Aldi's and dollar store

Given time and a few resources I normally create some really neat party invitations, party favors, food or decorations. Anyways, that's on tomorrow and Thursday's agenda.