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lesson planner

If You Need A Homeschool Planner If You Are Figuring Out Your Own Curriculum? Dynamic Reader Question

January 14, 2015 | 16 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I am eager to answer your dynamic reader’s questions because all of your questions are just the best.  Too, I couldn’t wait to dig into answering this dynamic reader question if you need a homeschool planner if you are figuring out your own curriculum.

Leesha said:

“I’m curious, do moms generally need planners if they are figuring out their own curriculum?  I read so much about planners but I’m a little stymied…I’m just not sure how or why I would use one.  I use a few different curriculi that pretty much map out exactly what we need to do (or I just decide, ie. math–4 pages per day kind of thing). We generally figure out at the start of the year which subjects need to be done however many times per week and we’ll write that down to reference until it’s memorized. I’m just wondering if I’m missing out on something important I should be doing?”

There are many reasons why you would use a planner and just as many ways deciding how to use it.

WHEN A HOMESCHOOL PLANNER ROCKS

Whether you are using one curriculum completely or making your own lesson plans, there are 3 reasons worth considering using a planner.

  • When a Planner is more Journal than Planning. One feature of planners that is not given enough attention is the journaling or record keeping part of it.

In the beginning when I used a planner I was using more put together curriculum. Each day, I wrote down what we did for the day.

What we did for the day versus what was in the lesson plan often times ended up being totally different things. Some days, we did more and other days we struggled to complete even one lesson.

A huge advantage to plotting each of my children’s day was that a picture emerged of their strengths and weakness. For example, I could see how much one son was actually not completing in math because of his struggle with the subject.

In the future this know-how helped me to determine a pace good for him when I switched programs or when I started doing all my own lesson planning.

Little did I know that my journaling in the beginning would help me to not only keep a good pulse on what we were able to do each day, but to track my children’s progress.

  • Completion versus Comprehension. That brings me to the second benefit I have received, which is understanding the difference between a child completing a lesson plan (in laid out curriculum or not) or comprehending.

When I used boxed curriculum, I started making notations on side margins in the teacher’s manual of what my sons struggled with and did not master or comprehend even though the lesson was completed.

The next year, I would hunt for those notes to reread because it was important to me to see if my sons were progressing.

However, as organized as I tried to be, it was tough to put my hands-on the correct teacher’s manual because of the numerous amounts of teacher’s manual that grew each year.

It was just too hard to keep everything from one year and not overflow with clutter.

I realized that having my notes for all my kids in one spot to jot down my concerns, write about my fears with tears, be specific in my notes about what was not understood in one subject and jump for joy when learning took giant steps forwarded was a must for me.

One book per year for all my children was a much more streamlined process because I could easily glance back at my thorough notes.

  • Planner or Self-Checking Teacher Tool. My planner became a self-checking tool for me as a teacher because I could check for mastery and push myself, when needed, outside of my comfortable teaching zone because my notes were so clear.

I couldn’t blame anybody else for my lack of teaching ability because I had jotted down so carefully what didn’t work for my children.

The accomplishments in their learning can’t be minimized either because I jotted them down too.

Each year when I got discouraged, I would go back and read my notes. Part of my dogged determination to not returning to public school was reading about those tiny celebrations in my planner.

You know what I am talking about. Those light bulb moments for your children that are small but monumental and that only another teaching parent can understand. When a child reads his first word, then sentence, then paragraph, then chapter book, you can’t keep that excitement bottled up. For me, it started with reading my notes in my planner.

I didn’t need the approval of anybody else to homeschool because I wasn’t just checking off boxes on a teacher’s manual, I was tracking the progress of my sons from PreK to High school by daily journaling.

I can’t personally answer for each homeschooler what works best for them to see both a big picture and fine details when it comes to the progress of each child.

I just know what has worked for me and it is hard at times to just use the word planner because it implies that one is using a planner only for purposes of planning when in fact it can be so much more.
Whatever you decide, whether it’s using an app, typed out or hand-written, a planner should be a tool that fits your personality, brings a breath of fresh air to your day and should be molded to fit the way you want to track not just lessons, but forward momentum.

Hugs and love ya,

 

Check out these other tips!

Gauging Homeschool Progress – Masters of their Material?

Lesson Plan or Lesson Journal?

How to Write a Simple But Effective Homeschool Lesson Plan

Homeschool Lesson Planning Backwards Part 2 of 2.

16 CommentsFiled Under: Curriculum Planner, Dynamic Reader Question Tagged With: curriculum planner, homeschool curriculum planner, homeschoolplanner, lesson planner, lessonplanning

7 Step Homeschool Planner – Top 10 Favorites

January 5, 2015 | 19 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When I started creating the 7 Step Homeschool Planner quite a few years ago and before I started sharing with you, I had no idea that other homeschoolers had the same needs that I did.

Before I share the 7 Step Homeschool Planner – Top 10 Favorites of my readers, I wanted to take a minute to explain how to use it so that you are getting the most benefit from it.

Homeschool Planner Favorites

What makes the 7 Step Homeschool Planner so UNIQUE?

The top feature of the planner is that YOU pick exactly what you need each. 
Your needs change each year and so should your planner.

No downloading one huge .pdf of forms that may not be what you need for this year and laid out in way that works for somebody else. You are in control. (I love that word.)

7 Step Homeschool Planner – Top 10 Favorites

The nightmare of paying and downloading a planner that is set up to suit the needs of somebody else never works exactly the same for you.

The other top feature is that I guide you STEP by STEP through the 7 Steps or sections needed in a planner. I got you covered so that way you don’t miss something significant for the year.

I take the guesswork out of it for you.

Too, though I suggest that you put them in the order that I explain, a huge advantage to you hand picking each form is that you get to arrange the order of the sections.

Everybody has a method to their madness and your planner should speak volumes about the way you prefer to organize.

Although I could go on about how I add forms each year, give you tidbits on organizing along the way and tell you there are free forms at every step, which is another perk, the last advantage is that each planner is unique because my pages are not matchy-match.

The mix and match style keeps your planner just plain awesome. Your planner will always be unique because of the pages you choose each year

You can read some more key features of my planner on the 7 Step Homeschool Planner main page.

Without making you wait any longer, here are my readers’ Top 10 Favorites of my 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner.

Going from dazzling to totally awesome order, I started with number 10 on the list.

My teacher’s schedule gives you a glimpse of at least 3 kids at one time.

Tina Robertson Homeschool Schedule

10.  Teacher’s Schedule.  Look here on STEP 5b, Form 13.Class & Teacher Schedules to find  this form.

9. Then, you loved the planning sheet when planning for multiple children.Look here on STEP 5c, Form 2. Planning Sheet for Homeschooling Multiple Children to find this form.

And you can read about how I use the planning sheet on 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades.

Look here on STEP 5c, Form 1. Community Service Record to find this form.

I love forms created out of a need because they are always the best instead of a fluff form for the sake of busy record keeping.

8. Then the community service tracker was created out of my need to track my highschoolers community service projects and apparently some of you were in need of it too.

7. Then like me, you also liked the 5 page holiday reference page in your planner.It is perfect in any planner and print off as many as you like.  You were really fond of the turquoise luv (me too.)

Look here on STEP 2 Option 5 Holiday Reference Page to find this form. 

Be sure you check out my Ultimate Unit Study Planner and Glam it Up Planner because each one serves a different purpose just like each of my unique forms do.

  • 2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner

    2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner

    $5.99
    Add to cart
  • Glam It Up Package

    Glam It Up Package

    $4.99
    Add to cart

Look here on STEP 2, Option 5 Long Range Planning to find this form.

6. Then you know I am big on long range planning and goals because otherwise we just meander through homeschool with no plan. So you took it to heart too because the Long Range Planing form was number six.

Homeschool Lesson Planning Forms

5. Then you chose a back cover for one of the forms you used this year.  I think this means I need to create some more choices too since you are using it like I am.

Look here on STEP 1 Choose a Homeschool Planner Pretty Back Cover to find this form.

Look here on STEP 4 Daily Homeschool Lesson Planning form to find this form.

4. Then the daily lesson pages which are undated, thank you, so we don’t feel like we are behind from the beginning came in at number four.  A lot of you are using this lesson planning set up.

3.  Then there was a real need to clearly identify which curriculum resource was needed for which term and which child.  So the Curriculum Resources page was in your top 3 choices as a way to track curriculum resources.

Look here on STEP 5a, Form 4. Curriculum Resource Checklist – Editable Too! Up to 4 students on one page to find this form.

Look at these other fun planner pages

  • Glam It Up Package

    Glam It Up Package

    $4.99
    Add to cart
  • 2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner

    2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner

    $5.99
    Add to cart
  • Editable Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages - Mink Over You

    Editable Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages – Mink Over You

    $2.50
    Add to cart
  • Editable Weekly General Planning Page

    Editable Weekly General Planning Page

    $1.99
    Add to cart
  • Dynamic and Fun Human Body Lapbook for Multiple Ages

    Dynamic and Fun Human Body Lapbook for Multiple Ages

    $5.00
    Add to cart
  • Doodle Curriculum Planner Cover Store 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 600x

    Doodle Coloring Curriculum Planner Cover

    $1.75
    Add to cart
  • Sunkissed Curriculum Planner Cover

    Sunkissed Curriculum Planner Cover

    $1.75
    Add to cart
  • 0. Westward Expansion History Fun 10 Coloring Pages

    0. Westward Expansion History Fun 10 Coloring Pages

    $1.75
    Add to cart
  • 00. Ancient Civilization History 20 Coloring Pages

    00. Ancient Civilization History 20 Coloring Pages

    $3.50
    Add to cart
  • 1. The Best Undated Dynamic Daily Homeschool Planner

    1. The Best Undated Dynamic Daily Homeschool Planner

    $8.25
    Add to cart
  • Awesome Reading Aloud Tracking Time Homeschool Form

    Awesome Reading Aloud Tracking Time Homeschool Form

    $2.75
    Add to cart
  • Editable Front Cover - Coral Inklings

    Editable Front Cover – Coral Inklings

    $1.75
    Add to cart

2. Then number 2. This is the beautiful 2 pages per month calendar with bigger boxes to write in for appointments.

Look here on STEP 2 Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers to find this form.

and then drum roll please . . .

Curriculum Pages for Planner

1. Weekly General Planning page came in at first place with 8,384 of you downloading it.

Look here on STEP 5b, Form 17. General Weekly Planning Page.  You can choose the free version or I have made the paid version editable with a WHOPPING 74 boxes.  Of course since it’s undated, it’s a one time purchase.

A lot of my other forms were neck in neck with these, but these showed the top number downloaded. Did your favorites make the list?

Remember too, I always, always take your suggestions for new forms because this is planner is for me AND for you.

7 Step Homeschool Planner – Top 10 Favorites

I am so glad that I have a place here where I can share all my homeschool planning forms.

Are you seeing what I have already created free for this coming school year?

Click here to go to my Free Organizing Printables category to grab them.

Hugs and love ya,

7 Step Homeschool Planner - Top 10 Reader Favorites

Ready to start building your own UNIQUE planner?

{The only thing quick here are the steps because this free planner has grown to over 500+ free downloads spread throughout the 7 easy steps and still going strong! Grab your cup of caffeine, coffee!}

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color”

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

I am PROUD to be part of iHN.  This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects.

19 CommentsFiled Under: 2. My FREE Organizing Printables {Any topic}, Curriculum Planner Tagged With: curriculum planner, freecalendars, freeprintables, homeschool, homeschool planner, homeschool planner front cover, homeschoolmultiplechildren planning forms, homeschoolplanner, lesson planner, planner, planning, student planner

Free Homeschool Editable Progress Report Card for Teen

May 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have an editable progress report card for a teen. Also look at my page Homeschool Planner and my 7 Step Curriculum Planner for more homeschool planning forms.

I had planned to share all my graduation ideas with you by now too. But, I cave, I am totally a sobbing wimp. I have embraced the full meaning of homeschooling with heart.

Free Homeschool Editable Progress Report Card for Teen

You just can’t homeschool and teach your son from his first tiny baby step, to his first hold of a pencil, to his first feel of a car steering wheel and come away unscathed.

I need to look at all of this project graduation objectively instead of how I feel now.

Too, you know how up/down this past year was with the hubby. 

So I savor every precious moment of life and I get spikes and shots of overflowing feelings when I get ready to write. 

Stay tuned as I know I will eventually share but I keep myself reined in about project graduation lest I sound like I have totally lost it and possible unsound words make their indelible marks on the world wide web.

Free Homeschool Editable Progress Report Card for Teen

Enough of that. So what does this have to do with what I am sharing today?

Well I did want to share this picture with though it’s a tad bit out of focus. Tiny was on the other end but I do kid friendly pictures. 

But, this was the day Mr. Senior 2013 finally got his driver’s license.  What a patient kid when all of that stuff hit us while I was in the middle of teaching him to drive.

After that jubilant day, the fun day came for insurance.

The insurance company gives a discount for good grades in school and needed a current progress report.

Oh yippee, I needed another form and figured you would need one like this too sometime or the other.

Since I need something a little more official looking than the pretty progress report  (Option 16)

I already have on the site which is basically used to satisfy reporting for those that live in countries/states like this, I put this report together. It really acts as our final report card too.

The sample above is what eventually will go on the site. I left what I could on it from when I used it last year and added a few notes to explain how it is set up.

It is editable and I am in love with it. It worked just perfectly when I sent it to our insurance guy.

The only parts not editable are the comments and the signature which are normally done hand written.

Now that I have confessed all about Mr. Senior 2013, if you have a senior this year give him or her a hug today. You he or she needs it.

Still in the homeschooling trenches with you as I have two more sweet sons to go.

How to Get the Free Homeschool Progress Report Card for Teens

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Begin building your free 7 Step Homeschool Planner below.

You’ll never go back to downloading one planner that may fit your needs this year, but not the next.

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color” Begin building your planner.

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Leave a CommentFiled Under: 3. {5 Days of . . . Blogging Series}, Homeschool Planner, Tina's 7 Step DIY Customized Curriculum Planner Tagged With: curriculum planner, lesson, lesson planner, lessonplanning, planner, planning

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