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Weird ? -- If your kids carry their books around the house, what do they carry them in?


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DD10 does schoolwork with me, then she takes a stack of books and notebooks up to her room. The basket she's currently using doesn't really work that well--everything ends up laying in a messy pile or flat, then she has to dig to the bottom, the pencils and manipulatives get buried, etc. I'd love to find something that allows the books to stand up so she can flip through them like files in a file drawer (if that makes sense). Is there something that's "just right" for this kind of use, or do I just have to keep looking for just the right size container at every store I go to?

 

Why yes, I am very Type A, why do you ask? :tongue_smilie:

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Not around the house, but when we were building our house, we gave each child his own zipper-top, canvas bag from Land's End or Eddie Bauer. We also gave them pencil boxes in which to carry all their extras in their bags. We had long days at the house site (and in the car), and the children needed to carry many books, and these bags stood up to a lot of use and are still going strong.

 

Your dd may also like a "debate box" to organize her books and extras. (On my tablet, can't add fancy things like pix or cool links w/ easier to read titles. Sorry.)

 

http://t.staples.com/skava/static/product.html?type=StaplesProduct&input=%7B%22url%22%3A%5B%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.staples.com%2FStaples-Handy-File-Box-with-Organizer-Top-Black%2Fproduct_757448%22%5D%7D

 

HTH.

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We use a clear plastic file box (if you have more books could try a crate) and have hanging folders in there. Also found that DS10 does better w/ a "Trapper Keeper" type binder - you know fabric w/ pouches inside for calcuator, pencils, compass, etc. He does carry this around the house, but also has books elsewhere in the house - literature book by the couch, readers in his bedroom, etc.

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My children use plastic "milk" crates to keep their books in. You can insert hanging files and put each subject in one file. This also works great as an alternative to workboxes. Walmart usually sells them during the summer with their school supplies. Each child has a different color so we know to whom each belongs.

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This would be a good use of a backpack or a tote bag. I keep our Sonlight P4/5 books in a canvas tote bag (just the books we need for the week, plus the IG in a binder and the Life of Fred elementary book that we're working on). We have backpacks from LL Bean and Lands End for various uses. I actually bought two more backpacks a couple months ago because 1 was just not enough!

 

We stay in our school room, so I use a clear plastic file box for my kids' books (and it has a handle), but I wouldn't want to lug that around the house. If my kids were going all over the house, I'd have them use a backpack or tote bag, so it's easier on them.

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You'll have to keep looking. I have the perfect basket, sturdy, handles, tall enough to keep the books from flopping over the sides yet narrow enough to keep them from sliding down into a heap. And it's pretty. I'd tell you where I got it but I'm in another country so it wouldn't' help. You'll know it when you see it, right?

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In their arms. And some of them slip out whenever they stop to browse. I can follow the trail to where they bed down for a reading session.

 

For myself (I usually have close to twenty pounds of books and writing stuff I take with me whenever we go anywhere) I use a satchel that once did duty as a grocery bag--really stout straps and wide capacity. It might qualify as a beach bag, honestly. But it does the job and since it is very plain black and white I don't think I look too ridiculous.

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We have a bunch of these left from a previous business:

 

http://www.allsourcemfg.com/deskside-recycling-bin.php

 

We use them for everything. I can stand our school books inside and have room for pencils and other supplies. I use 3 - 4 for school. Two are for day to day curriculum, one for a book basket, and one for miscellaneous supplies. I can grab one and bring it anywhere in the house without throwing my back out. :) I've seen similarly sized plastic bins in stores (not for recycling) but they aren't as sturdy as these are. I would love to get my hands on a few hand baskets from the grocery store. The handles would be convenient and I know they are heavy duty.

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Each of us has a Desk Apprentice from Staples. I bought one for myself a long time ago when it went on sale for $25 and couldn't pass up the chance to buy them for the kids when they dropped to $20 some time last year. I even painted them so they are pretty now. :D

 

http://t.staples.com/skava/static/product.html?type=StaplesProduct&input=%7B%22url%22%3A%5B%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.staples.com%2FStaples-The-Desk-Apprentice-Rotating-Desk-Organizer%2Fproduct_597003%3Ft%3Dyes%22%5D%7D&t=yes

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We have something like the canvas boxes linked in the blog post above.

 

What would be perfect in my mind would be a big basket or canvas box like that but with a couple of lines of exterior pockets for smaller items like trade paperbacks, flashcards, manipulatives, etc. and an even smaller pocket for pencils and so forth. That would be sweet. I haven't seen that, unfortunately.

 

My kids don't use their baskets very well... but I blame myself in part and I blame the fact that they're not quite the right shape. We keep all our current workbooks and comp books and notebooks in a single basket and while they're mostly stationary, I like that I can haul them out and take them to the other room or... even more often... on trips to grandparents' houses.

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What would be perfect in my mind would be a big basket or canvas box like that but with a couple of lines of exterior pockets for smaller items like trade paperbacks, flashcards, manipulatives, etc. and an even smaller pocket for pencils and so forth. That would be sweet. I haven't seen that, unfortunately.

 

Check the scrapbook section of different stores. DD has something like that for her craft supplies. This one... http://neatnix.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=522 They have others, hopefully less ridiculously girlified!

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