"Mom, what do I do next?" "I'm all done with math, what's next?" "But I forgot about spelling - you never told me to do it!"
Does this sound familiar to you? The thing that used to drive me crazy was having kids asking me what to do next. All.the.time. And when you have a bunch of kids, how do you remember who has done what and what still needs to be done?
Enter the saving grace: the homeschool planner. I'll never forget the time I read a Facebook post from someone saying that learning to use a planner was mind-blowing! Is this you? Do you need some tips on how to use one and which one to use? If so, let's go!
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Homeschool Planner Basics
Let's face it. When it comes to a homeschool planner, you don't have to be fancy.
You know those 79 cent spiral notebooks? They can serve the purpose - if all you need is a functional tool. A new page for each day would suffice. Come up with your own format and you could fit a week's worth of assignments on a page.
If you're like me, however, you find great joy in picking out planners! My most favorite planner for K-8th grades isn't fancy, but it definitely was made to work with the way my brain organizes things.
What works, for one, however, might not work for another. Don't be afraid to try a few different ones out and see which layout works best for both you and your student.
K - 8 Homeschool Planner Method
Here is the process I follow when I fill out one of my kids' homeschool planners:
- Before school starts I go through every school book and break down what needs to be done by chapter or lesson so I know how long the book is going to take.
- I put that breakdown into a spread sheet and keep all the spread sheets in a binder on my desk. Trust me here; it seems like a lot of work up front...and it is...but it saves you SO MUCH time and aggravation throughout the school year that it is worth doing ahead of time. Besides, doing it once while you're enthused about school makes a big difference!
- Each week before school starts on Monday I pull out my binder and my kids' homeschool planners and I enter in all of the work that they are going to have to accomplish for the week. Wait, let's be honest here. Iit might literally be 15 minutes before school starts. Ok, it usually is 15 minutes before school starts, but you could do this on Sunday if you want!
- Doing this one week at a time saves on erasers. I found that if I filled in too much of the planner ahead of time that I was having to go back and change too many things. You know how it is. Other things come up, sickness interfers, or sometimes you just don't move at the pace you've anticipated. When I fill them out on Monday, I have a pretty good idea of what is going on for the week, so I can adjust things accordingly.
- After I've filled in the homeschool planners, I put a little check mark on my spread sheets next to the items I entered in the planners. This gives me a quick overview of our progress by just looking at the spread sheet.
- I hand the planner back to my child and they are set for the week, knowing what needs to be done on each day. As they do it, they can check it off in their homeschool planner.
High School Planner Method
Once my kids hit high school they begin planning out their own course of action for the school year. Since that is the case, I let them pick out a planner that suits them. The girls pick out the colorful ones while my boys, well, they're both pretty basic so they told me just to get them the one like the younger kids use.
I have them follow the same procedure as I do as far as breaking down each course so they know what to expect. Each week they write in their planners what they've accomplished.
While I write down what needs to be done before we do it, they tend to write down what they've done after they do it. Either way works, I just find I'm more accountable to it if it is written down ahead of time.
Teacher Planner Method
When my oldest kids were in the K-3 grade range, I kept a homeschool planner just for me and didn't give them one. They were my only kids homeschooling and I found it much easier to keep track of what everyone was doing in one place instead of multiple places.
The years that we did a lot of unit studies, I kept those plans on my own and just used individual books for the work they did separate as there was no sense in writing the same unit study stuff over and over again in multiple planners. One year I found this amazing, but large, planner that let me keep track of five kids at once. It was beautiful! Like, seriously, planner heaven! Unfortunately, I haven't found it since.
However, if you're looking for a book where you can keep track of multiple kids and just use it for yourself, many people have gotten The Ultimate Homeschool Planner and have really liked it. I personally have never used it, but I know a lot of people that do.
Digital Homeschool Planners
Okay, this is definitely not me. I am a pencil and paper kind of gal through and through. I know, however, that a lot of people really like the ease of digital planners.
There are so many free options out there, and they are changing constantly. All you need to do is search them out. Try out a few options to see which one fits your family the best.
To get you started, here's a good article about using Google Drive Classroom to help you plan and keep everyone on track.
You Really Need a Planner!
Hopefully you are convinced that using a homeschool planner will help both you and your children stay on track. If nothing else, it helps eliminate the constant attack of the "What's next". All you need to do is point to the planner!
Your needs will change over the years with the mix of kids and ages you have, but keeping them, and yourself, organized really does make homeschooling much more joyful!