The Planning Page that Finally Works!

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Day 3

Topic:  Planning

On paper, I'm a master planner!!!  The implementation and follow through is often the problem, but I have all the tools in place.  It's a matter of making myself stick to the plan.  However, I caution us all to remember it is only a plan or a guide.  In the life of a homeschooler, flexibility is the name of the game.  Kids get sick (Mom's too), obligations come up, spur of the moment field trips present themselves, etc.  I don't ever want to be bound by a piece of paper and miss out on the "living" of life.   

As far as planning, first, I have my very large personal planner.  This houses all the important things to remember:  doctor appointments, social gatherings, kids activities, blog deadlines, etc.  Everything is color-coded - including the people in our family :)  What can I say... I'm a visual learner and at a glance I can see who need to be where and when. 

In the kitchen, I have two dry erase calendars:  one for the current month and one for the following month.  It too is color-coded.  This is so the whole family (mainly my hubby!!!) can see what is going on in the near future. 

As far as homeschool planning, I exhausted a lot of time and energy looking for a pre-fab planner to meet all my needs.  Unfortunately, they all came up short!  I want to plan a week at a time, and I don't want several sheets for each child.  Because my kiddos are so close in age, a lot of our schooling is completed together, but then they each have their own work to accomplish as well.  Therefore, when it is Monday, I want to see what all 3 kids are to be doing on Monday without having to shuffle a stack of papers. 

Last year, I decided to make my own planning sheet.  In preparation for this year, I tweaked it a little by changing some of the subjects.  Using the grid below, I'm able to have a week worth of plans on two pages.  Page 1 has a place for the Week #, our calendar focus, memory verse, and song for the week.  Underneath, you will find the table for Monday.  On the back, there are tables for Tuesday and Wednesday.  The second page has Thursday and Friday on the front, and the back is a book log, field trip log, and a place for weekend plans (which sometimes include school related items or catch-up work).

MONDAY
Jeremiah		Caleb	Rachel	ALL
Math				Bible:
HW				History:
Spelling
L. Arts Phonics Reading
				Science:
Other
Activities				Read Aloud:

I print the pages blank because I like to write in the spaces.  I'll take the week's pages to bed or sit at the dining room table where I'm close to all of our resources and complete the plans.  While the system isn't fail proof, it does help me to see in a quick and easy way what has been and still needs to be accomplished by the week's end. 

Many members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew are talking about planning today.  Click on the blog links below to see how they get organized.  I know they have such varied approaches and great ideas, we are all sure to learn something new.