I love buying a planner for the new school year. There is something about having a clean slate with cute paper and quotes that makes me so happy. The only problem was that when we began homeschooling, those weekly and monthly planners weren't enough for me. I needed to keep track of more than just appointments and I wanted to teach my daughter how to start getting organized with her own school work.
Last year I ditched my store-bought planner for a DIY planner! It was one of the best decisions I made, plus we were able to add to it as the year went on. Once you give this a try, you won't go back to the basic store planner again! The biggest plus is being able to move the pages and tabs around with ease!
All you need is:
- Happy Planner Hole Punch
- Happy Planner or TUL Brand Rings (Size varies from .75" -1.75") I use the 1.25"
- Printer
- Printer Paper
- Optional: Small laminator (I picked one up super cheap at Walmart) to create your outer cover pages. I also use the laminator during the year for practice worksheets and chore charts! For my daughter's cover, I laminated a piece of scrapbook paper. She loves it!
That's it! From there you can piece together what you need for your year! With a ton of free online downloads to choose from, you can build yourself the perfect planner!
I create a planner for myself and a planner for my daughter to use while we homeschool. Here's what I put in each binder. (link to all of my printables are below)
My parent binder:
- School Calendars for the kid's school/charter websites
- Random Notes page
-Web Resources
- Log In & Passwords
- Personal Goals + SMART Goals
- School Year Snapshot - fill in any important dates you need to remember
- Monthly Snapshot with monthly notes page
- Weekly Meals
- To-do list
- Weekly Goals
- Weekly Snapshot - lessons working on by week but can also be used as a family daily planner
- Lesson Plans per subject
My daughter's binder:
- Our daily schedule
- Her week at a glance -- the last pages of the planning pack attached
Tabs for each core subject:
All her worksheets or papers for the curriculum she ios assigned that week so she can move through it at her pace.
Here are some great resources for Free Downloads:
Calenderpedia - Pick from a variety of calendar layouts to download and print at no cost!
Parent/Homeschool printables - Some of my personal printables I use for homeschool planning, goal sheets, school year snapshot, monthly calendar sheets, weekly meal planning, weekly goals, to-do list, weekly snapshot, random notes, website resources, login & passwords, subject planner, and more!
HAPPY PLANNING!! 🌸
