planning for the new school year + free printable
We are moving back to Arizona this next month and one of my priorities has been to get school all planned and organized before all of our supplies and curriculum are packed up. I feel confident that having this squared away will give me a lot of peace of mind.
Last week I crowd sourced on instagram looking for recommendations of the best planner for homeschooling. There were a lot of great options but none of them had all that I wanted, and with many of my favorites having a hefty price tag I decided it wasn't worth the splurge.
Yesterday I remembered that Peaceful Press had created a printable planner specifically for homeschool parents and after taking a look at the examples and the $12 price point, I hopped on and I am so pleased with it so far! Since it's printable, you can customize it any way you want. There are so many awesome sheets, some of which I am not using at this time but would be so beneficial, especially for homeschooling parents in states that require a lot more documentation. There are sheets for budgeting, attendance, book lists, co-ops, field trips, meal planning, grocery lists, goal setting, you name it, they thought of it! I am so impressed!
I decided instead of sending the planner to the printers and having it bound, I would print it out by month and have it in my own binder along with my other planning sheets. I think having it one month at a time makes it more manageable for me. Initially I felt the design was a bit too plain, but I pulled out my scrapbooking supplies and decided that having the blank canvas will inspire some much-needed creativity for myself. I don't have very much filled out for August since things are up in the air with moving, but this is what I did with what I know so far:
Arizona doesn't require that we provide proof of attendance or how many days we hold school, but I love the visual of how much work we have accomplished. I printed an attendance sheet for both Zoey and Desmond. I used fabric washi tape to separate certain sections. I think I will also get some pocketed divider inserts when I find some I like.
I love that there are sheets for a monthly plan, a weekly plan, a weekly overview of lesson plans, and DAILY break downs. When you homeschool, you really need all of these, haha. You can see examples on their website here.
Another thing I have been working on that I wish I had done in past years is a master book list. With multiple curriculums it's easy to forget to place holds for the books you need at the library in time. I went through and broke down the curriculums by units and then found books needed for each unit. I have a section for NATURE STUDIES, SCIENCE UNITS, and HISTORY UNITS. I will place holds two weeks before each unit so I know I will get them in time.
I've also been designing and making my own printables. I will be sharing them free with you on this blog as I get around to uploading them, haha. The first set are my task cards. I have seen homeschoolers using task cards for years now and decided to make some of my own. I haven't quite figured out my method for displaying but I am between making a banner that we clip the task cards on in the order they should be accomplished throughout the day. OR I will put them on a magnetic chalkboard under "Morning Time", "Block 1" and "Block 2". We will see what works best for us.
I cut them out rather sloppily because my paper cutter is already packed and apparently it isn't one of my talents to eye-ball straight lines when cutting. Oh well! Anyway, I cut them out and laminated. If we end up liking the magnets-on-the-chalkboard method, I will add some sticky magnet tape to the back for easy application. I hope these are useful to you! Obviously, these are for personal use and please do not redistribute. If you share on social media, please link to my instagram @laurenbrimley or my blog. Thanks for understanding!
