I am thankful that I've been blessed to try several different planners over the years. I thought you might want to know just a little about some of them in case you haven't picked one yet! You could just go to your local teacher store and get a green lesson plan book... but most of us don't have 18-30 students, need a seating chart, or a section for 'notes for the substitute' -LOL! Plus, most of them are boring - like snoring. Why not pick something more fun?!
If you're wanting to do a lot of lesson planning in your planner, you'll be looking for something big and beefy. Good choices are the "Hey Mama" Planner from SchoolhouseTeachers.com, Well Planned Day Planner from HEDUA, or The Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Apologia. The Well Planned Day Planner works best for those with a more traditional school-ish day, as it has subheadings for classes like math, history, and Bible already printed in. The Hey Mama planner is great in that it has simple pages with LOTS of room to write, and spaces for several children. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is possibly the most versatile of the three because it is undated, so if you don't start using it until September, you haven't lost two months worth of dated pages. You could even use it January-December if you want. All three of these planners have Bible verse sprinkled throughout, along with encouragement in the form of planning suggestions, and/or articles to read. For the Hey Mama Planner you will need to print it yourself, as it is not available as a bound copy this year.
Many Moms like the online versions of planners, but I'm sticking with the pen and paper type ones for this post!
If you are more of a write-down what we did, versus plan ahead type, any of these three would still be a solid choice for you. All three of these are full-page sized, although The folks at HEDUA do have a smaller On-The-Go planner available if you're looking for something to stick in your purse.
For this year, I decided I wanted a smaller planner that I could take with me. I have two 3-ring binders that stay at home for the hefty papers that accumulate. One for the girls' education planning, and one for blog paperwork. For my smaller planner I collected pages from various online (FREE) downloadable resources and chose what I thought would be best for me for this year. I laminated some lovely scrapbooking cardstock that I had cut to size for the covers. Then I took my printed pages to the local PIP Printing store and had it spiral bound for less than $5.
I do general planning for the girls' education by the months, so I don't usually plan out week by week. Since both girls are in High School, I require them to keep a record of what they have accomplished in each class each week. I often print off pages from the SchoolhouseTeachers.com's High School Schoolhouse Planner to help them with record keeping.
Since I wanted a smaller planner for this year, I looked at a lot of online sites that have free or low-cost printables. There are SO MANY to choose from. I wanted half-size pages, and something colorful. In the end, I went with free ones. My current favorite site is scatteredsquirrel.com. She has tons of great planning and calendar pages to choose from, most available in both half-page or full-page sizes.
Whatever you choose, find yourself a great pen, marker, or mechanical pencil to use just for your planner. As Moms we have a lot to keep track of. Having a planner you like to use makes for an easier day, and a thankful family!
Disclosure: I wrote this post just for fun, not for money. I am an affiliate for SchoolhouseTeachers.com. If you purchase a membership from them, I'll get a small (tiny) commission to spend on something extravagant - like printer ink. I included the other sites for your convenience. I have purchased and used both The Well Planned Day Planner, and The Ultimate Homeschool Planner for personal use in recent years.
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