Just so you know, I used to use a spiral notebook. Then I tried a business planner to create lesson plans and schedules. Then I tried creating them online and printing them off. None of these methods compare to the ease of using a planner. Now, the method I love best is using A Simple Plan Homeschool Planners!
Let me share with you some of the reasons why
These are affordable, helpful and beautiful planners. Designed to help you have a more organized and efficient school year – with room for scheduling up to six children!
These academic planners are easy-to-use to schedule lessons and keep accurate records that reflect your family’s personal homeschool year!
- Necessary if you live in a state that legally requires evidence of your homeschooling.
- A great resource for when you create your students transcript.
- Handy reference for future planning and inspiration.
- Plus you are creating a keepsake of your family’s homeschool accomplishments!
I love that this high-quality planner was created by a team at Mardel that included homeschool parents! So they took what they were using and doing to help design a planner that is practical.
And this year we have a new undated planner in a Farmhouse Style theme, plus our dated planner in a fun Plants theme!
If you’d like to see a page by page overview of our A Simple Plan planners, head over to our YouTube channel and enjoy!
- These are 12-month Planners beginning with July through June
- Are you a year round homeschool – taking off a week or two here and there?
- Or do you follow a more traditional school year calendar?
- Either way – they will work for you!
- Beautiful, colorful artwork plus black and white graphics to relax and color!
- Encouraging scriptures and motivating sayings.
- The wide, heavy-weight glossy cover protects the tabs.
- Durable tabbed dividers have wide, colorful tabs so you can locate what you are looking for quickly and easily.
- And each features a unique fabulous design!
- Two deep built-in pockets on the inside of the cover – to store your kids’ report cards, special event fliers, and other loose papers.
- Large, solid spiral coil keeps your pages secure and so you can easily fold the planner back on itself.
- Children’s Current Information
- Record what their grade/age and interests are this year for when you are preparing future transcripts.
- And as a general keepsake yearbook for this particular school year!
- Completed sample pages show you examples of how to use your planner. Pick and choose what works best for your family!
- Future Planning pages and Lined Notes in each section help you to organize those thoughts as you have them.
- Student weekly schedule charts is a place where you can think through what your ideal day/week would look like. Eventually you will find the best flow for your particular family. It takes time, but it will happen!
- What are each child’s peak learning
time of the day? - Try to schedule the subjects they need more concentration for during that time.
- Yearly Overview pages per child are broken down by four quarters and 36 weeks – so you see the big picture!
- You will refer to these pages to fill in your weekly/daily assignments.
- There are six subject pages per child – so this is per child per subject – so math is on one page, history on another, and so on.
- Create your own scope & sequence to complete that course by the end of the year!
- Take the total number of lessons in a curriculum.
- Divide that by how many school weeks.
- Divide that by how many days you will teach that subject that week.
- Write that number of lessons in each weekly block.
- This is great to refer to each quarter to see how on track your family is and make adjustments as needed!
Each month has its own section and features
- Overview pages –
- Things to Accomplish – such as projects, deadlines, etc.
- Special Activities – field trips, competitions, etc.
- Websites
- Reading List – books to buy, check out from the library, or borrow
- Prayer Requests and Answers
- Supplies Needed – for projects such as arts & crafts, and science.
- Monthly Calendar of things to schedule around.
- Write in special events, outside classes, planning days, appointments, etc.
- Have fun and decorate with colored pencils, washi tape, and stickers!
- Weekly/Daily assignments – Monday through Friday. Rows are available for up to six subjects.
- You can put two courses in a block such as art/music.
- You could use a section for subjects that you do together as a family.
- I like to assign a color to each of my kids. It helps me to see at a glance who is doing what!
- Go back to your Yearly Overview Pages. Take a look at week 1 block for a subject.
- Now divide that number of lessons/exercises by how many days you want to teach that subject in that week.
- That is how many lessons/exercises you will fill in per teaching day.
- Now you just check off the circle next to each lesson as it is completed!
2 Sections at the Back of the Planner
- Student Records –
- Simple Attendance Keeper
- This is important for keeping track of the number of school days completed as mandated by your state.
- Plus it gives you peace of mind of how many school days are completed!
- Use your Curriculum Tracker as a quick reference for your budget, planning your next school year, and more.
Extras –
- Quick reference Grading Chart
- Suggested Reading List sorted by grade levels K-12
- Steps to Salvation & Testimony; Suggested Scriptures to Memorize
- Extracurricular Activities Contact Information
- Classes your kids are enrolled in such as co-op, 4H, dance, sports, and music!
You can use these planners two different ways
- Lay out your lesson plans for the year, month, week, and days.
- Or take note of student work as it is accomplished and record as you go!
Remember – it’s ok to make adjustments in your planner as the year progresses – when you or one of your kids is sick, injured, or a major house repair needs your attention – life happens!
- You can write in pencil and erase
- Or use pen and white out
- And use fun colorful stickers with symbols or words like “Spring Break!”
We also offer a set of three designs of file folders that coordinate with the dated parent planner Plants artwork to store your loose papers like:
- school work to be graded
- student work to keep forever
- report cards
If you have middle and high school age kids, then check out our smaller size A Simple Plan Student Planners! To encourage accountability, responsibility, and independence so your teenagers can learn this important life skill.
Our new A Simple Plan Homeschool Planners come out at the beginning of each year, so be sure to start watching for them to go on pre-buy in January and get yours early.
Also check out our Mardel.com Blog and #HomeschoolLife on Mardel Facebook and YouTube for homeschool encouragement and information throughout the year!
Have a Happy Homeschool!