Preschool Planning & Filing System

Last week, I showed you the printable that I use for planning preschool activities with Andyroo. This week, I'm going to show you how I put the printable to work for me and the system I use to keep myself organized. It's ridiculously easy - and cheap!

This is a simple rubbermaid-type container that I've had sitting around for years - since high school, I think. It wasn't holding anything important (some old ugly scrapbooking paper, some page protectors, etc) so I threw out the unnecessary stuff and put it to good use!

Starting from the front, it contains:

1. An extra notebook for paper purposes. I don't have any filler paper, so if I need to add anything to the folders or write down ideas, I just use the notebook, tear it out, then put it in the appropriate folders.

2. A file folder with extra blank preschool planning pages and tabs. That way if I get an idea for another "unit" I can easily add it to my files.

3. Various 3-pronged pocket folders that hold all the ideas and plans that I've found that need a home. Each one is tabbed and marked so that I can easily see which folder it is when I open the box.

The folders that I purchased (for $0.05/ea during the back to school sales!!) have the whole ridge thing on the side. I had leftover sticky post-it tabs from my coupon binder that so I cut them down and stuck them in the middle.

As a plus, the tabs are erasable/rewritable, so if I ever need to change out what's in the folder, I can easily just change the tab. The tabs are also removable so I can easily move them around or take them off if the need ever arises.

Inside the folder, I have a planning sheet for each of the items written on the tab. So using the folder above, I have a sheet for: Into to the Alphabet, The Letter A, The Letter B, & the Letter C. I'm still accumulating stuff, but if I find something online that I want to print out or copy, I just slip it into a page protector that is behind each planning page.

I chose to add the page protectors so I wasn't always having to 3-hole punch everything and shuffle papers around to get it in the right place.

4. Various preschool (and older) workbooks that I've found. Keeping them in one place makes it handy to find when I need to pull them out.

5. Extra page protectors (you can't see them in this pic) for adding to the folders.

When we're going to be learning about something new, I can easily find the folder with all the information. Easy enough, right!? And super cheap (at least in my case) too!!! Yay!