How long do you hold on to completed textbooks?

[Prairie Dawn]

Is there a reason to keep them after the school year is over?

[beaners]

Completed meaning finished or completed meaning a filled in consumable workbook?

 

Are there younger siblings? Could it be used as a reference in the future, especially for something like grammar? Would the child like to read through it again?

[Prairie Dawn]

Completed meaning finished or completed meaning a filled in consumable workbook?

 

Are there younger siblings? Could it be used as a reference in the future, especially for something like grammar? Would the child like to read through it again?

 

 

Filled in consumable workbook. We're just finishing up 1st grade, so we have a handwriting book and two math books for this year and last year's that I kept. And then there is a younger sibling's R&S ABC books and kindergarten math books. So, maybe a dozen books? With three more siblings to come, I'm not sure if it's worth holding on to the books for a few years to look back on or if I'm just starting a useless precedent.

[GoVanGogh]

Answers may depend on state regulations.

 

I am in a non-reg state.

 

Math workbook - until we are well on our way through the next level.

 

Spelling - when completed.

 

Geography - forever, because DS wants to keep to re-read and re-read and re-read.

 

Science and Latin I tend to keep so we can refer back to them, if needed.

[Anne in CA]

I have kept a larger selection of completed school work than other people might have, however my oldest was my step dd and her mom and mom's parents hated home schooling so I made sure I could always show them that she had done lots of work. My son did NARHS and so I needed to save lots of stuff for him. My youngest gets upset if I throw her completed workbooks away so there it is, I have a whole side attic full of stuff that should be in the trash.

[texasmama]

I live in a no regulation state so anything I keep is for our own interest. I typically tear off the front cover of workbooks (math, Latin, science, grammar, etc) and three hole punch them and place them in a smallish three ring binder, one for each child. I recycle the rest of the workbook. My youngest grabbed a completed science notebook that one of my boys did last year and claimed it for her own. She is reading through it and wants to do the uncompleted activities. lol

[musicianmom]

I wouldn't keep them at all except that dd is obsessed with building a collection of her Singapore Math workbooks. Whatever keeps her motivated to do math, I say.

[duckens]

We are in K.

 

I am planning to keep at least 2 years worth of workbooks/papers/etc.

 

If my children ever go to public school, and there is ever a question of what level they are at, two years of work should confirm what they are capable of doing.

[ElizabethB]

I save a few pages each for for each subject for each child and put them all in one clamp binder with a list of what was covered that year. I include a few pictures of the year. They like to look back and see how they've progressed. Any favorite projects, maps, or drawings go in there too.

[Plink]

I save only tests or chapter review pages. Everything other than that is recycled immediately.

 

Btw, I take the books apart and 3hole punch them at the beginning of the year, so that the kids only receive one page at a time. It feels much easier to toss a few pages a week than to get rid of an entire year's work all at once.

[boscopup]

I toss them pretty quickly. No one is ever going to want to see daily math or handwriting worksheets. If my kids went to public school, they would likely use some type of standardized testing to determine placement, not daily work.

 

I live in a state that doesn't require portfolios or anything. If I lived in a state that did require them, I'd obviously keep a bit more (probably mostly tests or samples of good work).

[Twigs]

I would tear out the title page with the copywrite date and edition, the table of contents, and any chapter reviews and tests, just as documentation of what topics were covered. I would also keep any reference pages, such as a page with math formulas, etc.