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The Homeschool Planner!

So, I must admit...

in my 3 previous years of homeschooling a planner has been non-existent.

Well, kinda.

The first year I purchased a well-known homeschool planner and before my first week I filled the entire thing out-in ink people!

That worked so well when I threw out half our curriculum in the first week.

The second year I purchased another one...and never filled it in at all.  Maybe I was scared after the previous year, but the big part was that it just didn't fit 'us'.  

Last year...flying by the seat of my pants!

This year?

I found a planner I can customize and use the way I need it to work!

Alicia @ Investing Love

has created a printable, cheap, perfect planner!

I am not receiving anything for telling you this, I am just honestly thrilled about it!

I'll be honest, I was somewhat anti-planner due to previously mentioned fails, but...I watched Alicia's video because of her washi tape.

You heard me right. She had the loveliest, cutest washi tape I'd ever laid my officesupplylove eyes upon and so, I watched her video to find out where it was from.  And I found a planner I could not only live with, but love!

{I totally went out and bought the same exact washi tape too of course, no shame in copycatting here}

I give you: The Homeschool Planner

Rather than having it bound {one of my things I hate about premade planners} or a three ring binder, I use the ARC system from Staples.   It is basically a punch that you push onto the little circle tabs.  This allows me to have a flat lying planner but the ability to pull pages in and out as needed.  I'll be honest, at this point I am unsure whether it was worth the money.  While the pages do stay in place, ones that get moved a lot wear out quickly and will not 'attach' correctly to the discs.The front page and back are laminated.

because of my obsession with the washi tape, I went with the green and pink theme in my planner, enhancing Alicia's cost efficient and beautifully simple design {thank you Alicia for not making it cost me $60 in ink!}.  I used Martha Stewart Adhesive Tabs rather than dividers.

Each tab is placed at the beginning of each month, which I started with the Goals Sheet.

Each Goals sheet is followed by the Monthly Calendar pages, where I will write out which unit we're on for the particular weeks.

The monthly calendar is followed by the weekly lesson planning sheets, which I have yet to fill in.

 *Since I DESPISE writing in pencil, and we all know how it went for me last time in ink, I will be filling out each weekly sheet in ink...only on the Sunday prior to that week!*

I ended each month with the Books We Read page.  This is something I've always wanted to keep better track of and never have!  yay!

  

 I also have a tab at the top for my Notes pages.

I also printed out Daily Schedule pages for each kid but didn't snap a picture of that.

I didn't print out any record keeping sheets or attendance sheets Alicia has available because I don't use those.

We fortunately have lax homeschool laws in Oregon so I'm not required to record all that.  She also has Quarterly sheets and other things in her download available that I didn't print.  But I love that if I change my mind I can print them out and slide them in wherever. Go support fellow homeschoolin' mama Alicia and get this awesome planner for $7!!!  

Curriculum 2014-2015

Well, it's almost that time of year again!

I am excited to get back into routine and have some cooler, beautiful Oregon Autumn weather.

I have most of our school year figured out, but I have yet to sit down and write it out, that's what August is for ;)

We will be starting school the week following Labor day.

Last year was the first year I can honestly say we all loved the curriculum we used so we will be sticking with it again this year.

Trail Guide To Learning

this year we will be in year 2, Paths of Settlement.

The curriculum for this year is geared for 4th-6th grade, and I only have 1 kid that actually fits in that range.

BUT, I will just have my 3rd grader do most of the 4th grade work, but not all, and I purchased the middle school supplement for my 8th grader.   My first grader will just do what he wants and finds interesting {i.e. the nature studies}.

For math this year my 2 oldest kids will be trying out Teaching Textbooks.  We have never used this before but I am thrilled to have them learning on the computer without my involvement. 

*cough*  

the third grader will be sticking with Rod & Staff math for now.

The only part of the Trail Guide series I didn't love last year was the spelling, so all kids will be trying out the Phonetic Zoo by IEW.

In addition, each kid will do a daily grammar page from Evan Moore and we will be adding in some 'extras' here and there along the way with art and science.

the 3rd grader will continue doing some Explode the Code along with my 1st grader.

The 1st grader found some Star Wars workbooks at Fred Meyer and begged for them, and well, since I wasn't sure what I was doing for him yet anyways I just bought those.  I'm sure they're not the *best* I could be using, but he's excited about them and I take school pretty light the first years anyhow. 

Happy Planning!

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