I have such a hard time with pre-printed homeschool planners. I love organizing and I like looking at a great to-do list but I also am very spontaneous. I’m a rebel, too, and get too much satisfaction from ignoring action items that others put on my list.
It’s no surprise that I’d bring these traits to planning our homeschooling week.
But, my kids depend on me for getting a proper education. And whenever I didn’t set up a routine or use a planner, I felt very scattered without a structure of subjects to teach. So, I set out to develop my own homeschool planner that actually fits my way of thinking.
Create Your Own Homeschool Planner
1) Start With Your Own Needs
My three kids are in grades 4, 2 and Kindergarten. We cover some subjects every day, like math and reading. Other subjects we cover once a week, like history, geography, science and art. We might teach them more than once a week, but that is my minimum plan. Other subjects are optional and we’ll get to when we have time. I don’t want to forget about any of them.
Requirement 1: The schedule must include all of our subjects and indicate which ones are daily, weekly, etc.
We also teach some subjects family style, some independently and still others with me at their side while the others do something else.
Requirement 2: It must track the independent subjects, family-style subjects and “work with mom” subjects.
When we teach each subject, sometimes we use several books or curriculum within that subject. For example, our bible study loops each day between New Testament, Old Testament, Memory verses and other Religious books. I’ll forget these other resources and get stuck (and bored) with just one resource if I don’t have it written down for me.
Requirement 3: The schedule must show the loops for daily and weekly subjects.
2) Build Empty Space into Your Schedule
One of the major perks of homeschooling are last minute field trips! So, after you’ve built your schedule, it’s now time to add activities. If we’re so occupied trying to finish school-work, I know I’ll be majorly stressed when the kids ask to see a play at the local theatre.
Tip: Start a separate list in your planner for awesome activities and field trip ideas you discover.
3) Make The Schedule as Adaptable As Possible
You wake up on Tuesday ready to accomplish Math, History, Read-Aloud, Poetry Tea-time and Phonics. But! The weather is gorgeous and the local mountain has fresh snow on it. What should a homeschooler do?
Play in the snow, of course!
A well developed homeschool planner should not add stress to your life if you decide to postpone History from Tuesday to Wednesday, or if the rain requires to to postpone this week’s STEM playdate with friends.
4) The Final Planner
This has gone through many changes… and will go through many more. But, it’s working for myself and my three kids’ grade levels this semester (wow, could I use any more qualifiers?). I hope it helps you as well.
Printing Tips
I actually sent the file to our local printer and got enough copies printed to last through the summer (we school year round) and spiral bound it with a clear vinyl cover. You could just as easily print one page a week and use a clipboard.
Check out this other post you may like:
Our Relaxed Summer Homeschool Routine :: Free Printable
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