Let's talk planners

I have tried a few planners. Homeschool Tracker, Old Schoolhouse Planner, Ultimate Planner, I have formatted a few myself.... I liked Homeschool Tracker, I really liked the concept but it didn't work for me, I'm much too adept and clicking wrong boxes or pushing wrong buttons. I've tried it twice, and I might get back to it, but not for this year. I liked certain aspects of the other planners, too, but many features we didn't use, and the overall format didn't work for me.

This past year, I thought a little more about how I work, what works for me, what didn't work for me, what do I need to make a planner practical and useful.  That was the jumping point.

Before I share my planner, I must say,  I loved how my planner worked for me this past year, so I'm going to do it again. This the planner I have USED. Yes, I did fall behind in keeping some parts of it updated, but not for more than a few days, it was so simple to use it was quick to update. But I used all my lesson plans consistently.

 I will share last years planner with you. I have a couple minor tweaks I want to do and a couple add-ons, but otherwise, it worked very well for me. AND, the new one isn't still in production.

This is my planner......

 a basic white binder that has clear pockets front and back. A simple binder that is sturdy. I decorated it with scrapbook paper I had laying around, even the spine. Love it. Is it necessary? Not at all, but it made me smile and it was easier to find in the collection of binders on the shelves. It was the only robin egg blue binder, I heart robin egg blue.

This is the inside of the planner.  I used an adhesive pocket inside the front cover and slipped in my planning guide. This one was from CHC, I will adapt it to the upcoming year, or put in the one from the next set of lesson plans, if I get the CHC plans this year. Or maybe I'll put in an inspiring article or quote. Or my daily checklist of must do for homeschool. It's flexible.

The first page is a page protector, I have a very basic schedule. It shows which topics we cover on any given day, and approximately what you could guess to do next. This is a schedule that if I'm sick I could hand it to DD, and she should be able to pick out what she can do next. Many things are 'next page', 'next assignment', 'read next chapter', so while not perfect, if I am ill and can't do her daily planning, she could get something done, better than nothing. Thankfully, this last year it wasn't needed, but it's a back up plan. Plus, the planner is so simple, she could flip through it and figure most of it out as to what she had to do next.

Turning the page, I have another page protector, this is my detailed weekly schedule. I like to have times written in. It's just the way I am wired. Do I follow this schedule? Loosely,  it is my guide to make sure her day doesn't get too long. And again, if dh were to have to take over because I had to be away, wasn't well, etc, he'd know what was happening, especially in the blue sections where kids were expected to be at outside activities, I will add addresses and phone numbers next year. Again, praise God, it wasn't necessary for dh to use it. The schedule just keeps the day flowing a little better.

These are my dividers, they are Martha Stewart sticky tabs. I chose to write on them in pencil so I can re-use them, again, I like to save money where I can. I'm happy I did, as they have since been discontinued. Aren't they pretty? Many of these will not change, a couple will.

What did I need in a planner?

 I love simple plans. My problem with many lesson plans, especially boxed curriculum, is they are plotted all subjects on one table for the week, at least the ones I've seen. In theory, a great idea.... until you fall behind in one, get a little ahead in another, way ahead in yet another, on track with another... now you're all over the place, hoping you didn't miss anything. I decided, that for myself, I'd rather not deal with that. I do partially use a 'boxed' curriculum,  I use SOME of their stuff, but love their lesson plans for those subjects and it's well worth the purchase price for me, even if I am only using 1/2 the plans.

However, their lesson plans don't allow enough room to add plans for other curriculum as it is a plan for a complete year of curricula, not just a single subject.  So I had to create something else, something flexible; as I mentioned, we end up all over the place so plotting a standard week with all subjects just wasn't the way to go.

This is what I came up with. 

This is my planner from last year. It shows 4 weeks per page. None of the curricula we used needed detailed notes to work for us, we simply needed referring page numbers and a few supplies.

 The second picture is actually 5 weeks, as we only did it 2 times a week.

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  I'm anticipating that I might only have 2 weeks per page for some of our curriculum this year, as we chose some new things that will require more detail for me to be ready to teach or set up the daily assignments in her workbox system, but some will still be 4-5 weeks per page. I do think I'll add another column so I have room to jot down  notes if needed as I go over the teacher manuals in more detail monthly and as I assign things. I really love it over all.

Does it work? YES

I do still have to flip through the binder, but it is done efficiently. I clip together all the finish pages to the divider, so it opens to exactly where we are, I know I have to go through each tab, there is no guess work here, it's methodical. In a traditional weekly planner, I never end up consistently in the same week,  it's harder to track. BTDT

Our home school is, I guess, what is called ecclectic. We are, at the core of it all, academically driven. I plan in detail, I need that structure to keep us moving forward.  This is my children's education, and we can't afford to mess up; it's too important. All that said, I still need something that allows us to go with the flow within set parameters. My planner allows for all of those things.  It's just keeps things simple in my mind.

My planner pairs up wonderfully with my workbox schedule for dd9. When I get the folder back from dd9, I just check off all the completed work, grade what's needed, comment where necessary, remove the old stickies from her folder and reset for the next day. Easy-Peasy.

One thing I will add to the 2013-2014(does that school year look odd to anyone else?) planner is the  sticky note templates behind each divider. This will make planning simple, and easy to add the next sticky to her daily assignments folder. I can set up a full page at a time. Easily a week's worth for the larger stickies and a couple weeks worth for the smaller size. I would just need to book time every week to input her assignments and print.

I really love planning :) This is a keeper for at least a couple more years. We are doing a few online courses this year, so not sure how that will fit in to our planner, but it's adaptable. DD and I many simply plot a week at a time.

How do you plan your homeschool year?