Happiness is...a new planner {Wordless Wedesday}

She's so pretty. 💙

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Homeschool Planning and Record Keeping w/Free Printables {5 Days of Back to School Blog Hop}

One of the biggest questions that homeschool parents have for each other is “What curriculum works best for (insert age)?” The next question most common is “How do you plan out your year?” Followed by “what do you do for grades?” I have chatted all about picking curriculum in a previous post you can read here (Homeschool Curriculum Planning) and here (5 Mistakes I've Made With Curriculum), so let’s talk a little bit about planning curriculum lessons, and then recording WHAT we do—i.e. record keeping.

Lesson Planning

When it comes to lesson planning there are sooo many different styles and methods you can use. You really just need to find a way that fits you best. Ask yourself a few questions:

●Do I prefer paper/pencil style of planning or would I rather have it all digital?
●Do I want to see a year at a glance? Monthly assignments? Weekly?
●Do I want to be able to plan in detail all in one place, or just have a general idea of what is to be done?
●Do I want to see all my children’s lesson plans at one time?

Once you know the answers to these questions, it is a LOT easier to know what you are actually looking for in a lesson planner. Many curriculums provide you with suggested lesson plans. These are very helpful when determining how the curriculum will look spread over your year. You can simply then copy into your own planner what THEY suggest is done. Maybe tweaking it as needed. If you are a digital planner, you will have to set aside time to sit and enter in all the information into a program. It can be tedious, but having an email pop up with everything your children need to do for the day, may be just your style! Or clicking one button to shift everything around instead of having to erase.

Once you have decided HOW you want to do it, just start looking at different planners! There are MANY free downloadable ones available. Pinterest is full of links to them. Maybe you have a spiral binding machine, or a print shop that can put it all together for you? This might be the way to go to truly customize WHAT you want in a printed binder. Another option may be to look at pre-designed, printed, and bound homeschool planners. Places like Apologia and Mardel are two companies which publish best selling planners—they include a lot of sample pages for you to look at. I have reviewed the Apologia planner before—and I actually BOUGHT the Mardel "A Simple Plan" for me to use this year.

If you want to get an idea of some planners I myself have used before, here is a video I did dedicated TO talking about different planner ideas. I cover two digital ones, three paper ones, and two children planners.

I wrote another blog post about planning out your homeschool routine that you can read from last year which I think may be helpful too!

Recordkeeping

Now—states are different in regards to the homeschooling rules for how much recordkeeping needs to be done. You may live in a state with NO rules for homeschooling so you can basically just do whatever you want—keeping in mind the long term goal of transcripts for high school that will be transferable to college. I live in the next level of states—the ones with minimal rules. I have to do progress reports which follow the local school districts time frames, and a final report card—as well as attendance. The next two levels of homeschooling states increase the amount of record keeping required—so it’s very important you know WHAT is required for your state. I urge you to join HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) to stay on top of that.

So let’s get back to what my rules are for my state (Kentucky)—I need attendance, progress reports, and a report card. There are so many different ways to make progress reports! The local ones for the public schools usually include letter grading for grades 3+. The early elementary is still pretty much the pass/fail, excellent/satisfactory/needs work style. So what do I do? I use the grammar school style of excellent/satisfactory style. Why? Because this way I can do a clear assessment of progress throughout a year towards mastery. I like to see how work has improved as the year continues.

When it comes to end of the year reports, there are some subjects which DO have grades. But these are few, not the norm. And it is usually because of whatever type of curriculum I am using.

So how do I calculate the progress? Before I “grade” them, I make a clear list of my goals and expectations for the subject/curriculum. I include things like comprehension, neatness, completion of work, etc. This allows me to give realistic progress reports.

But what about Kindergarten? It’s so basic—how do you do a progress report?

I did a progression of things like:
*Writing their name
*Writing a sentence I dictated (The black cat sat by the dog.)
*Identifying colors/numbers/sight words/shapes
*Does he know his phone number or address?

With our progress reports those years, I did the SAME questions so that I could have visible documentation of their progress in these areas. Then I just made notes of the strengths and weaknesses’ they displayed. This is why you can easily just type out a progress report. Maybe even a page per topic/subject. Or just paragraphs for each one.

If want something a bit more “official” looking I have designed three different progress report pages for you. Feel free to print these out and use them as desired! One has the standard subjects already added; one has the subject area blank. The other allows for a more documented progress with room for paragraph writing.

Progress Report-Paragraph Style

Progress Report-Subject/Grades Elementary

Progress Report-Blank Elementary

Another big thing for record keeping is the attendance. Some planners have attendance sheets, while others do not. So, if you need a quick and easy sheet you can add wherever, I've got you covered!

Attendance Sheet for 2017-2018

I hope that these simple sheets will help you get started with your recordkeeping. One of the bonuses of having an account with Schoolhouseteachers.com is that it comes with a FREE subscription to AppleCore Recordkeeping. I use Applecore for creating my final report cards because I can quickly enter the subjects and have it spit out the "official" record. I can also enter my attendance into it for a quick calculation of my total days. If you get the PREMIUM subscription to Schoolhouseteachers, you also get the GOLD AppleCore subscription which even allows you to make transcripts! here is a video to learn more about AppleCore...


Remember, there is no extra cost for AppleCore Recordkeeping IF you have the inexpensive subscription to the super fabulous Schoolhouseteachers.com--full curriculum for K-12 website! There are also FREE printable planners available as a membership bonus!

Finally--when your year is over, and you are going through everything that your children created, be merciless! LOL! If you don't NEED to save all of their work--DON'T! It's not like taxes! Every year, I pick the best demonstration of how they have improved through the year--maybe an exemplary report, or paragraph they wrote. A few tests. A completed workbook. But here is the catch--if it doesn't fit in a manila envelope, it doesn't get saved! Each boy gets ONE manila envelope for me to keep their best work in. When I have it all together, I finish by sliding in their progress reports and report card. Then I label the front with the name and school year. Now it's EASY to store! I can put them in a file folder container and keep it in our loft.

Well I hope you have gotten an idea about how you can stay on top of planning and recordkeeping from our chat. I hope that at least one of the printables I have created will benefit you in some way!

There are 35 other bloggers doing the blog hop this week, so make sure you pop over to the Homeschool Review Crew to visit some other blogs this week! Join me tomorrow when I share ways that we take Homeschool OUTSIDE the Home for Day 4 of the 5 Days of Back to School Blog Hop for 2017! Have a simply marvelous evening!

Homeschool Curriculum Planning and FREE Curriculum Planning Worksheet

I have a plan to start back to FULL school and our new official school year in two weeks--the first full week of September. It's been so busy, I haven't even really had a chance to "officially" determine what each boy will be doing. They are still wishful thoughts in my mind. As I was looking at my curriculum filled bookshelf, I wondered if I needed to do up a form that would help me in my planning. Before lessons planning EVER happens. Because I mean...I need to know WHAT I am using before determining how I'm going to use it.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

There are a lot of free printables and planners to help you with the lesson planning stage of homeschooling--I even created a weekly lesson planning printable recently. What there doesn't seem to be as much of, are documents for curriculum planning. You know...the "Oh I think I want to use Apologia Astronomy, but I might use Science Shepherd instead." And then you go and check out the cost and the best place to get it--but don't have a nice handy form to record all of that. So it gets "filed" in your memory, never to be seen again. Bwahahahaha.

Been there. Done that.

I have a challenge with this and I only have TWO students. I can't being to imagine trying to keep track of what curriculum is going to be for whom with larger families! 

There are planners that include pages for this kind of thing. The Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner and the Apologia Ultimate Homeschool Planner have them in some form or another. But sometimes you just want a quick sheet to grab and record that stuff on, right? And some planners just don't give you enough room to write your notes!

Fear not! I have designed some simple forms to help us all! I mean, if I use it for me, why shouldn't I share it with everyone?!

5 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Routine and a FREE Lesson Planning Printable {5 Days of Homeschool 101)

Like most teachers, homeschool parents spend quite a bit of time planning out how everything is going to go. We make lists. We check them twice. We hunt for the best planner. We download printables to make our lives easier. We do so much, that sometimes it's hard to tell a beginning homeschooler WHAT we do. So let's break it down. Today I'm going to share five tips to help you-whether a rookie or a pro just looking for new ideas-plan out your homeschooling experience.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Every homeschooling parent has their own method that works for them in regards to planning, but that usually doesn't stop them from trying out new things. I know I explore new planning tools all the time. But I have boiled what I do (and what many of my friends do) into five things.

#1 Plan a routine, NOT a schedule

What do I mean? Aren't they the same? No. They are actually very different. A schedule is a day broken down into timed intervals. Say "breakfast at 7:30, Bible at 8:00, Math at 9:15, English at 10:30". It's a more rigid plan for your day. A routine is saying "We are going to start with Bible, then move to math. Once we have finished that we will shift of History." You create a school routine where you follow a guideline to complete subjects, not limited by time. 

Planning by subject for each day without giving it a time

Why is a routine better? 

Well, in my opinion, a routine eliminates the time busters. When you are only allowing a certain time frame for completing work, you have set yourself to have time busters. Little things like--Susie needs more time to finish her math program, but the clock says it's time for English. Or--Paul has discovered he wants to know more about gladiators after listening to Heirloom Audio Productions Beric the Briton, but we HAVE to shift to math now because it's 9:15. What if the toilet overflows during Science time? If you give them time to do these things, your entire schedule has been busted to accommodate it. 

BUT, if you do a routine, than you have freedom to take longer in a subject because you just wrote in the subject for the day--not the time it needed to be started/finished. As long as you hit your routine, you are good--even if it takes a bit longer to get to the next things. More freedom. Less clock watching. And LESS like a traditional school method of following the bells.

#2 Remember that planning is a GUESS

This kind of goes with the last tip. When you are planning your day/week/month/year, remember that you are basing this on the big word IF!

IF no one is sick, we will have school on Tuesday.
IF we are caught up with our Science lesson, we will do our experiment on Friday.
IF we haven't stopped for rabbit trails, we will move on to the next chapter in our literature.
IF the car doesn't break down, we will go to our field trip in March.

So don't freak out when things don't go "according to plan"! Be flexible...which leads us to our next tip.

#3 Plan in PENCIL

Because planning is merely a GUESS at what will happen that any day, write out your plans in PENCIL and keep that eraser near by. It doesn't matter how awesome things are going in my homeschool, I have ALWAYS had to erase SOMETHING on any given week. There is something about writing in pencil that gives me the mental confirmation that it's okay if I need to change something.

My nice sharp pencil with a good eraser...perfect for lesson "guessing"

If we don't get to the planned assignment, I simply erase it and write it on the next day I "guess" it will happen on, and then change the rest of whatever I have laid out.

Friends, there are some weeks I think I have erased almost EVERYTHING because of something happening. And that's okay. It was just a "guess" at what was going to happen to begin with, remember?

#4 Don't forget to "plan" breaks!

It is FAR too easy to get on a roll with planning out your day/week/month/year, and forget to plug in breaks! Give them (and yourself!) the down time you need to relax your brain. Make sure there are "recess" periods in your day. Write down the days you are going on family vacation, and then remember to take them into consideration when you are planning your year. EVERYONE knows how hard it is to get the kids back into school mode on the heels of a vacation, so let your routine show that. Look at your school year and go ahead and block out the days you know for a fact there won't be any school. This will help you in your overall "guessing" of what will be accomplished throughout the year.

Going ahead and marking out the days I KNOW we won't be doing school

Our family always takes a school break when my parents come to visit. We also take school breaks around Thanksgiving and during the last 2 weeks of December. We have abbreviated school during our annual church festival Feast of Tabernacles that we keep every fall--that's 10 days to plug into my schedule as little to no school. All of this helps me in my year of planning, which then helps me determine how my weeks will PROBABLY fall.

I also figure out how many subjects or assignments a day the boys need to do before they get a "brain break". For us, it is three. Staying on top of these brain breaks, means less interruptions and wiggles during lessons.

And don't forget yourself! Make sure you give YOURSELF a brain break! Don't load your day with 5 subjects in a row that require YOU to be the teacher! Work in periods of independent time. Even at the youngest level (say Preschool) your child should be able to work for a period of time independently in whatever it is they can do. For the younger students, give them a game or a puzzle or a coloring/cutting page. For the elementary students, you could give them the same, or reading time. As your child gets older the amount of independent study SHOULD increase. So make sure of those moments and give YOURSELF a brain break! Drink your coffee. Read a chapter in a novel. Color a picture of your own. Do some housework (psst--this will be something I talk about tomorrow!).

#5 Find yourself the planner that best fits your OWN style

I am so picky when it comes to planners. First, I CANNOT maintain an online planner. It's just NOT me. It takes too long for me to set it up--even when it's the easiest planner there is. I don't like to be tied to my computer or phone or tablet to know what I have on the school "menu" for the day. I have reviewed a few online planners that you can check out if you think this IS your style...several were very good--just not for me:

*Homeschool Planet
*HomeSchool Office from Lord Heritage
*MySchoolYear.com (I didn't review this, but the other crew members did)

So since I don't use an online planner, what do I use? Well, I have used printed forms from three or four different blogs/websites and I have used two different printed planners. They all had their high points and LOTS of pros. I love having a paper planner because I can grab it quick, take it with me wherever, and write in pencil (and make changes) anytime I need to. I don't need internet to make it happen. But even with paper planners I am still really picky. I don't want fluffy stuff in my planner. Keep it simple--calendars, weekly lesson planning, attendance, place for notes. Oh and if it's also spiral bound that's a plus too. Here are some reviews on three printed planners I have used and thought were well done:

*Hey Mama! PRINT Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017
*Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Apologia
*My Student Logbook (lays out your daily work for each child for THEM to check off)

Which of these do I like the best? Actually I'm good with all of these! The Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner has a SLIGHT edge, simply because it has attendance forms in the back which I REALLY love having handy. But I have used and enjoyed using all of these.

Now, some homeschooling parents like to have the homeschool stuff mixed in with their daily routine planners. If so, than you might consider more of a planner like the 7 Minute Life Daily Planner. That's not my style, so it's not one that works for me, although it has some great parts. There are some websites that provide FREE planners as part of their membership bonuses. SchoolhouseTeachers.com does this. Not only do you get access to their incredible website with lessons for ALL ages for one membership fee, but you can get a free digital planner to download--it's definitely more a WHOLE DAY sort, but it has a very good homeschool planning section, or get an online recordkeeping account (free!). Lots of ideas out there.

Now if you have a homeschool binder for planning (I had one of those when I first got started), there are TONS of great planning forms out there for free to print out. You will find all types of styles. As I discover them, I have saved a LOT of planning paperwork freebies on my pinterest board devoted just to that! Make sure you follow it and then check it out for some freebies:


But if you want to get started with a basic planning form, I created one just for you! It's a weekly lesson planning sheet--2 pages for each week. The file has one set with days labelled and the other without. I also included an extra sheet to start your week with notes, supplies, and the inspirational quote you have for the week (if you do that).

FREE Copy of my Weekly Lesson Planning Forms

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In summary, remember to plan a routine (not a schedule), allow for changes by treating it as your "guess" and using pencil, schedule in breaks for your students and yourself, and find a planning form that works the best for you! I hope that this will give you the encouragement you need to have a successful planning session for the upcoming school year and many more to come!

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Today was the second day in our 5 Days of Homeschool 101 Blog Hop for the Schoolhouse Review Crew! Yesterday was focused on curriculum, and today was all about planning--so make sure you go and visit the posts of other contributors to our fabulous hop today! Stay tuned the rest of the week as we dive into four other aspects of basic homeschooling stuff.

Here is the list of all my blog posts for this week:

*5 Mistakes I have Made with Curriculum

*5 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Routine w/a free lesson planning printable

*5 Tips on Home Management When Homeschooling w/a free Weekly Chores printable

*5 First Day of {Home}School Traditions

*5 Encouragings Words to Remember In Your Homeschooling Journey

Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 {Product Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
When it comes to organizing or planning stuff out, I need paper and pen. I just don't do well with digital or online planners. I want to be able to cross out, erase, and jot notes quickly, without needing to have my computer or tablet. Two years ago, I was given the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner  2014-2015, and I fell in love. Imagine my despair when last year, they didn't offer it in print. I nearly cried, and I began a quest for the "perfect" printed planner. While, I did find one that I liked very much, I was waiting and hoping that the Hey Mama! one would come back. Needless to say when we were given the chance to review the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 from The Old Schoolhouse, I did a nice little dance. I hoped that all my favorite things from before would still be here--and maybe a few new ones!

Product Information

The Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 is a 196 page, wire bound planner for the homeschool parent created by The Old Schoolhouse. Measuring 9" x 11", it is a great size for managing your school year. It is full of tips, tools, and even devotions to help encourage you throughout your homeschool year. There is a monthly calendar with large squares for jotting down appointments and notes. There are also pages for notes, weekly agendas, book logs, curriculum notes, and more!

You can check out some sample pages of the planner to get a feel for what it's like. The print planner retails for $29 ea, which includes shipping costs. YOU CAN SEE THE BOTTOM OF THE REVIEW FOR A DISCOUNT CODE! 

I was given a copy of the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner to review.

How Did I Use the Product?

When this package arrived, I ripped it open, hugged the planner to my chest, and did a little happy dance. As someone who fell in love with the planner two years ago, and then couldn't get it last year, it was like being reunited with an old friend. I eagerly admired the cover, and then flipped through the pages to see if the layout had changed at all from the last time I used it.

It still had the nice large square days on the monthly calendar. I love that not only are they great for writing, but my small post-it notes fit in each square.

Next, I flipped through to see if the weekly agenda was unchanged. I was happy to see that it was the same wonderful layout as last time.

I have two students, so I just put the days of the week across the top, and the subjects down the side. I keep a row open for anything that is just for Baby Britches, and I am using the last row for any of our extra review products. I think I might tweak this as Baby Britches gets older and has more separate things, but for now this works.

Here is a collage of a few more things from the planner:

Every month begins with a Hey Mama note of encouragement. Every 4 weeks of weekly agenda there is a little history tidbit relating to a piece of pioneer history. One of the things at the back of the planner are homeschool helps--like story prompts, writing prompts, fact lists, and more.

I discovered that the back pages also included attendance forms for five students, book logs, curriculum planning charts, information for creating an academic transcript, and something new--a skills checklist.

I don't remember the old planner having this page, but I really think it will be useful for Baby Britches and his first grade year. 

As of right now, I've only begun to jot important dates in the July calendar and have only used one weekly agenda to give you an idea on how to use it. I plan on saving this to kick in gear once my current planner has been used up. 

What are My Thoughts?

Oh I am just so happy that I have this again! It was my "first love" when it came to planners and I've been hard pressed to find one that I like as well. The main thing that I love about it, it's no nonsense. I didn't want a planner for my daily LIFE. I just wanted a planner to use for lesson planning school and keeping tabs on attendance and appointments. I wanted something basic, but too many planners these days are full of lots of fluff I won't use.

I love the weekly agenda and that there is enough space for me to write information about the lessons for the day. I really appreciate the attendance forms, as that is something most homeschool planners don't include. I also am grateful that there is more than one, so I can keep track of both boys. Having enough for up to 5 students will help a lot of other families as well.

I don't really use the goals section, but if I did, they really have it laid out nicely. It's separated into weekly, monthly, and yearly goals over about 6 different topics from school to spiritual.

And let me just say how much I adore spiral bindings! Especially for planners. I love having it be flat, and be able to fold it under. The quality of the planner is so nice. The cover is sturdy thicker cardstock with a glossy finish.

Cons?
I think I would like to have more weekly agenda pages. We go longer for school so I always seem to run out a few weeks early. It would be nice to actually have 50ish weeks worth--especially for the people who school year round.

I would like a online curriculum passwords page. Since this is a planner, I keep tabs of what we are using in it. It's only fitting there should be a spot to keep track of all the log ins and passwords we use for school.

Will I Continue to Use This Product?
Definitely! I am going to finish the year with the one I have, but will be firing this beautiful baby up for my planning of the 2016-2017 school year this fall!

Would I Recommend this Product?

Yes! If you want a no-nonsense, basic planner for school, this is it! If you want to have your daily chores/appointments in your school planner--this one probably won't work for you. It really is just a basic homeschool planner--just the kind that I love.

In fact, I have a code for you! With this code, you will get $10 off the cost of the print planner, making it just $19--which INCLUDES shipping! I have looked for planners all over--you can't find good print versions for that price! Use the code: CREWCODE and snag your planner today! Code is good through July 15, 2016.

Want to Know More?

I just shared with you my review of the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 from The Old Schoolhouse. You have seen how much I love it--but what did other reviewers think? Most of them have more students than I do, so I'm sure if you are looking at how a larger family would work with this planner, you need to check other reviews out!

Make sure you take a moment to follow The Old Schoolhouse on some of these social media outlets:
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/theoldschoolhouse/?fref=ts
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/tosmagazine/
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/TOSMag   @TOSMag
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+Theoldschoolhouse1

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I am so happy that I have a print and bound copy of this planner again! I just love how it's laid out and look forward to having it to use throughout the upcoming school year! If you are seeking a print planner, I hope you will strongly consider the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017!

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner {Product Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
I had the PERFECT homeschool planner last year. It was basic with pretty much just blank calendars and blank planning pages with a spiral binding. Perfect. Unfortunately, it wasn't available in printed form for this year, just digital/downloadable. I am a paper and pencil kind of person and prefer to NOT print off all my pages. I am also so picky about my planners, that though I have tried many of the new and popular free/inexpensive designs, I haven't been able to find the one I am happy with. Did I mention I'm also sort of a Type B organizational sort of person which means bare minimum work or I give up and run?? After scanning the information about the Ultimate Homeschool Planner--Orange Cover from Apologia Educational Ministries, I was hopeful that maybe this one just might be what I was looking for and was eager to review it.

Product Information

Apologia Educational Ministries is one of the THE top companies for all things homeschooling with a Christian perspective, in fact they are the #1 publisher of creation-based science curriculum and have won countless awards for their high quality products. With a full range of curriculum, resources, and online classes, they are a company ready to help make homeschooling easier. Included in their product, is a full line of planners for the homeschooling family. Of these, one of the most popular is the Ultimate Homeschool Planner.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner ($29) is a beautiful day-planner by best selling author Debra Bell, designed to help you prioritize your day from your personal prayer and Bible Study, to your homeschool goals, lessons, assignments and appointments. The 48 week planner includes inspirational quotes on the calendar, customized daily, weekly, monthly and yearly planning forms for up to six children, reading lists, year end reviews, and more! The planner has a spiral binding with a sturdy cover also containing two pockets. The planner is available in a yellow, orange, or blue cover. 
I was given The Ultimate Homeschool Planner--Orange Cover to review for my own use. 

How Did I Use The Product?

I admit. I was initially very skeptical about this planner. I have tried so many other planners, that I just didn't really think this one would be any better--even though it looked good on the website. When it arrived, however, I immediately admired the quality and design. I loved the big spiral binding and the pockets in the cover right off the bat! As I continued to flip through it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually just the style of planner I liked: there wasn't a lot of extras in it. It was almost entirely made up of exactly what I desired--blank calendars and weekly lesson planning forms. 
But, before I dove into the parts I especially wanted, I explored it from the beginning to see the recommendations for how it should be used. There are several pages at the beginning to do just that--including a table of contents to quickly find the section you are looking for.
In the introduction--or User's Guide--the author advises and encourages the user to make it their own, but gives plenty of ideas on how I can do that. One of the first things she (Debra Bell), talks about is that God designed us to live a "God-ordered life." Okay. I see right away that this planner is geared for the Christian homeschool mom (like me!) and I settled in to read more. One of the things that the author suggests in the introduction pages of the planner, is that every Friday afternoon, there should be a weekly review section with each student--just 15 minutes or so--to reflect back on the week and talk about the highlights, successes, and challenges. I had never considered doing this, and found it interesting that the author included a portion of the lesson planning pages FOR this. I knew I wanted to explore this more.
For the rest of the introduction (User's Guide), she gives you ideas on how to use each section of the planner including ways to promote independence in your student. Including ways to correspond your planner with her Ultimate Daily Planner for Students or Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens for your children.
Here are some photos of these pages:

Once I worked through the user's guide, I dove right in. I actually went ahead and did the student goal setter to set some character and academic goals for each child. Again, each planning section allows for up to six children, so I had plenty of room with just my two.

The next section was the blank monthly planner. I love that it's blank AND that there is TONS of room for writing notes on the side, and on the bottom--not just in the days themselves. The monthly planner is also big enough to overlap into the next month by about a week--this is very handy if you need a week's glance ahead (me me!). Each two-page spread also includes a scripture (at the bottom) and an inspirational quote (top right). 

Look at all that beautiful space!

Love the extra room for notes!!

After the monthly planner comes the weekly planner. A special aspect of the weekly planner is the two page pre-week planner. I call it this because you sort of fill it out before your week begins, as well as take notes during your week. It includes an inspirational quote or passage, Bible Plan (for your to jot notes about focus for the week from your Bible), Battle Plan (things you want to address this week--with a fighter verse to get you going), Prayers (self-explanatory), and Hospitality/Outreach (what are you going to do for others?). The second page is where you note down memorable moments, achievements and evidences of grace throughout the week. This is the page that gets shared with your children during the Friday weekly review. 

Love this Page for Pre-Planning!

The actual weekly planner itself is very basic and exactly what I was looking for. I had plenty of room for BOTH boys for all their subjects and assignments, with extra room for notes, supplies lists and appointments. I found there was yet ANOTHER inspirational quote on each week's page. There are enough of these for 48 weeks. More than enough for a single school year!

You can either go 6 categories across the top, or 6 down the side. I chose to do subjects down the side and then a 5 day school week--this gives me even ANOTHER column for notes! Yay!

The rest of the planner contains: 
*Record pages for grades, reading lists, and activities/field trips. Remember--always enough for up to six children! 

I am recording the few test stores that I actual get for Little Britches for my own reference.

*Teaching Tips (6 pages worth) *High School Planning Guide
*Year-End Review (for summarizing progress made)
*Notes (Just a blank page for notes) As of this week, I have gone through a monthly planning page and have October thru December laid out with major appointments, due dates and trips. I have used the weekly planning pages for three full weeks worth of lessons for two children.

What Are My Thoughts On This Product?

As you could read interspersed through my description of the product, I pretty much adore it!! It really is EXACTLY what I need! And I have to admit--I think I love it even MORE than the planner I used last year because this one has even less extras, AND it has a bigger binding and...two pockets! Woot! I take my planner pretty much everywhere...even using it while we were on our trip to Jekyll Island to plan out our school routine while we were there.

This was me confiscating a table in our beach house for planning!

I especially love that the monthly calendars are BIGGER than just 4 weeks. I like being able to write down what's going on the first few days or the first week of the following month! Helps me stay on top of due dates and appointments! 
I have found the weekly planning guide to be very very helpful. I have enough room for all my subjects and assignments and I CAN do a fourth grade student and a Kindergartner all on one two page spread which is fabulous. And the extra margin for notes, supplies and appointments? Love it! I'm a big quote/scripture person, so having these peppered on every single page just warms my heart. I love that this planner helps me be God focused in my planning.
Is there anything I don't like?--well, okay. The $29 price tag. I love my planner very very much. But the jury is still out on whether I love it enough to put down $29 of my homeschool budget for one. But when I think of all the ink and paper it's saving me, because I'm not printing everything out...well, I think I will probably just budget it in! 
ETA: Yes! I love it enough to buy it for $29!!!! I am still using it as of today (MARCH 2016). Having it spiral and just what I like--worth the money!
Oh--and attendance. It would be nice to have a few pages of basic attendance forms. That's the one form I wouldn't mind adding. Now if only they could get a pink covered one....(hint hint!)

Would I Recommend This Product?

Oh yes. If you are like me--more of a Type B basics only planning/organizing sort of person, then this is the planner for you. If you want a planner to help you stay more God-focused in your planning, this is the one for you. If you want something that allows you for the basic LIFE planning as well as homeschool planning-yep, this one is for you too. Paper and Pencil person for lesson planning? Yep. Got you covered. Inspirational quote/scripture lover? Boom. This is for you. Need to plan for up to 6 kids? No problem!
BUT... If you are wanting a lot of forms to help you plan LIFE, not just homeschool...nope. If you aren't wanting anything religious minded--nope. If you want something to keep track of attendance--you will have to add a page on your own or something. That's one thing this one doesn't do. There are no menu planning, no budgeting, no big goal setting pages. So if you want more of a DAILY planner, this one probably isn't the best one for you. And if you want a CHEAP planner--well you get what you pay for...this one isn't cheap, but it's rather incredible.
I encourage you to go to the website and check it out! They also have some sample pages and the TOC that you can download for a closer look!
It's my new homeschooling best friend. I pink puffy heart love it. :0)

Want To Know More?

I reviewed The Ultimate Homeschool Planner--Orange Cover ($29) from Apologia Educational Ministries. You know that I am in love with this planner for all the basic aspects it offers...but I encourage you to visit some of the other crew members to see how they used it with multiple children, or with some of the extras I didn't choose to use. Would you like to stay in the know about all things relating to Apologia Educational Ministries and what they offer? Make sure you connect with them on these social media outlets:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld/timeline Twitter: https://twitter.com/apologiaworld Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/ Google+: https://plus.google.com/105053356034237782125 ***

So there you have it. My search is over. I HAVE found the planner of my dreams! I am so thankful and grateful AGAIN for the review crew products that come my way. I am confident that this planner will help me stay on top of our school year for a better chance at organizational success--in my own little scattered type B way!

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop~ Day 3: What Picking Curriculum REALLY Looks Like in My House

It wouldn't be fair to have a Back to Homeschool Blog Hop series without me spending at least a day talking about curriculum. You know, like what I'm going to be using, how I'm going to be using it, who it's for, my goals...all that jazz. But guess what? I'm still undecided! You see curriculum planning isn't this need and tidy system in my house. Nope. It looks FAR from that, so in an effort to keeping it real, I'm using today's post to show you how MESSY curriculum planning can be...physically AND mentally!

Planning and picking curriculum at my house is NOT organized. It’s not something quick. It’s not something easy. It USED to be that way when we did an all-in-one curriculum—just order it, pull it out and go. But once we switched to a pieced together curriculum (starting in 3rd grade), suddenly things got a bit…overwhelming. Or at least it had moments. And this year—with throwing a kindergartner in the mix…it’s a bit more chaotic than usual. Okay. It's a LOT more chaotic.

An aspect of piecing a curriculum together that is the most mentally challenging is just the evaluating and weighing of all the choices. 

My oldest (age 9 1/2) enjoys independent work, hands-on work, and is an audial learner--preferably with a video attached. So I need to find programs that incorporate a lot of audio/visual lessons, limited reading, and quite a few chances for hands on stuff.

My youngest is a visual and hands-on learner who wants to do everything together. This means I can't necessarily use the same things as I did with my oldest--which means I have to go through everything I have AGAIN and evaluate it again. 

We also want to be together for subjects this year--so this brings another element of adapting material to be okay for a 4th grade level AND a kindergarten level. This brings its own set of challenges--but I know will be great once it's worked out.

Mentally, figuring out the curriculum for each child can be..well, overwhelming. That's why I pray about our curriculum so much before I even start sorting and planning it out. I ask God to put me in the direction I need to go that will provide the best for each child. And it has always worked out!

Okay--physically. Physically preparing for curriculum.

So what does it look like?

Imagine organized chaos...and that is what you will find in my house right now.

It looks like planning forms to work out a skeleton idea…

These help me make sure I don't forget something...most of the time. And I usually end up doing about three sets before it's finalized...ish.

It looks like piles of catalogs to see if I had marked anything interesting that we might use/need…

only a FRACTION of the pile I look through...a fraction!

It looks like a crate with file folders of subjects and unit studies to be better organized and filled to be ready to go…

Don't be fooled. This is crammed and in no way orderly.

It looks like a pile of geography curriculum to organize and prepare…

The materials for Expedition Earth which the boys will be using this year.

It looks like a bookshelf full of possible curriculum choices for the year…

This is about as orderly as it gets...and I promise it won't be staying this way when I'm done with it! LOL

It looks like a collection of USB drives, full of digital curriculum I need to look through and inventory…

Yeah. Like I'm ever going to have time to inventory these...

It looks like a big pile of chaos as I sort through our old Kindergarten materials to see what I want to use this year…

now THIS is organized chaos at its finest!

It looks like various websites of curriculum to be analyzed and weighed…will we use them or won't we?

Am I going to use Visual Learning Systems for Science this year? Still undecided.

It looks like a big binder that will become my right hand…

I read that first page every time I open the binder...

So there you have it.

Maybe my planning is like yours. 

You related to my photos didn’t you?? Ah, my kindred spirit!

Maybe your planning is the kind that is organized and systematic. 

I bow to your fine skills. Would you like to come plan mine?

The thing that matters is that come September 7th, it’s going to be decided, and ready to go! 

I think.

     I hope.

          Maybe?

Pray for me…

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Well that's day 3! I hope you will continue to check in this week for more of my posts during this Back to Homeschool Blog Hop! Now I encourage you to visit some of the other homeschool bloggers participating this week! You can find the full list on my anchor post...or you can try some of these lovely ladies:

Joanie @ Simple Living Mama

Aurie @ Our Good Life

Jennifer @ A Peace of Mind

Jenn @ Treasuring Life's Blessings

Kemi @ Homemaking Organized

Wendy @ Life at Rossmont

Katie @ DailyLife

Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory

Kim @ Homestead Acres

Melissa @ Mom's Plans

Annette @ A Net In Time

***

What does curriculum choosing look like at your house? Do you do it orderly? Or is it a bit more like my style?