I am so excited about today's homeschool post. I know this is the one that many of you have been waiting for.
I have tried a few other lesson planners over the years, but my favorite is the Teacher Planner from Erin Condren. It is set up for a classroom teacher, but I am going to show you how I made a few tweaks to utilize most of the planner for homeschooling. You can see last year's planner here.
I can't seem to get away from the paisley pattern. This year I went with navy and white.
I made a few changes to the all about me page. I wanted this page to serve as a reference page for info that I might need to find quickly. I filled in the top section with all of the phone numbers and email addresses for our homeschool covering and contacts.
I can't remember what the heading was for the middle section, but I didn't need it. I added some scrapbook paper and stickers from the Erin Condren Cool for School Sticker book and changed it to rules. These are important!
The bottom section is for websites and passwords. I didn't want to list the passwords, but I do keep a running list of websites that we frequent. I just added more scrapbook paper and a stickers.
The next section in the planner is "dates". The first 2 pages have lists of holidays and dates already filled in for you. The next 2 pages are for birthdays. I only have 2 students, not a classroom full of kids. I decided to use this section to list the art projects that we want to do each month.
I used the same scrapbook paper and stickers to change the headings.
The next section is "absent". It's another section I don't need as is, but it is perfect for using as a book list. We will be reading a lot of books this year. I changed the headings with scrapbook paper and stickers, and then used the blank stickers from the back of the planner to change the name on the column headings.
The "graph" section will be used by most classroom teachers for mapping our seating charts and room layouts. I use it to keep lists and resources for extra classes and projects that we are doing.
Since I am not using the calendar section of the planner as an actual calendar, I am going to use the "year plan" for keeping up with important dates. Most of these will be in my regular life planner, but I thought it might be nice to have them here for reference as well.
I found that I really didn't utilize the monthly calendar sections of the planner last year. All of our events need to be on my main calendar. I wanted to use it for something, so I am using it to separate Cade and Henry's assignments. Since Henry is in K5, he doesn't have much that I need to write down. He likes seeing his assignments in his own little section so that he can highlight them when they are complete. If you don't keep a personal planner, this would be great for keeping up with appointments and outings.
I do really like the pages of notes that are included at the end of each monthly section. I used stickers from the back to create weekly sections for writing down our Bible Curriculum. I like to have a place to write out the memory verses they are learning each week and list the videos that we will be watching. These pages would be great for planning out all kinds of things.
The "lessons" portion of the planner is what makes this planner work for me! I like the colors, the lines, and the box for numbering your weeks. I like it all! You fill in your subjects across the top and your dates down the side. There is plenty of room for writing in lesson plans. I don't use nearly all of the space provided. I think you could easily make it work for multiply children. I don't currently color code, but I probably will once Henry has more subjects and it makes for sense for his assignments to be listed out like this.
My favorite pens to use are the Sharpie pens. We highlight the assignment once it has been completed.
The "lessons" section will always be my favorite, but the "check list" is running close behind it. This section is perfect for logging grades, but I really only need one sheet per kid. This left a lot of unused pages.
No worries! You can turn them into a chore list. My kids have chores that they are responsible for. These are posted at other places in the house, but I am bad about remembering to remind them. This helps ME remember to keep up with what they need to do.
There is even room at the bottom of the page for a check list of things that I need to do on a weekly basis.
I would purchase the planner just for the "lessons" section, but I like knowing that I really am utilizing the full planner.
I hope that these tips are helpful to you. I didn't go through each and every page in the planner, but I did go through the ones that I have altered to fit my needs. Want to see more? Check out the video on YouTube.
Now it's time for a giveaway! Many of you have been using my referral code to get $10 off of your first Erin Condren purchase. I wanted to say thank you, so I ordered a Cool for School Bundle using EC Credit with the intention of giving it away to one of you.
You don't have to be a teacher or have an EC Teacher planner to enjoy these products. I have been using the markers and stickers in my regular life planner and other planners that I have.
This giveaway will close September 9, 2015, at 12:00 a.m. The winner will be announced sometime the following day.
Use the Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. Open to residents of the Continental US only.
*This is not a sponsored post. I purchased my first Teacher Planner with my own money. I purchased this one and the items being given away with EC credit that I received from referrals. The EC referral program is available to anyone. You do not have to have a blog or YouTube channel to take advantage of it. All opinions are genuinely my own. This giveaway is not endorsed by Erin Condren, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram.
*You can use my referral link to receive $10 off of your very first purchase at ErinCondren.com. You will received $10 off of your purchase, and I will receive a $10 credit to be used towards a future purchase.
Check out the other posts in The Homeschool Series.
I love your blog! I just got the Erin Condren teacher planner for our homeschool! My favorite part of school is all the arts and crafts we will be doing this year! Thanks for the chance to win!
I hope you enjoy your new planner! The arts and crafts are pretty fun. I hope y'all have a great year!
I love your blog too and am trying to decide on the Teacher or Life Planner for my Homeschool needs! :) Thanks for the opportunity to win this giveaway!!!
That's a hard one. It really depends on how much stuff you are going to need to keep track of.
That looks like a fantastic planner!
Thanks, Angela, I really am enjoying it.
This is my 1st year HS! And 3 different grades so I'm looking forward to reading on your planning tips and hoping for a fun win!
I bet! That is one of my favorites too. I went to the grocery store on a Saturday about a month ago, and was like, never again!
Thank you! It has taken me a few years to get the organization part down, but I like where we are with it. I watched one of your older videos or read a post and you mentioned you were homeschooled. Very cool fact to learn. Did you like being homeschooled? I hated being homeschooled and said I would never homeschool my kids, so I'm just curious.
I look forward to our routine!
I bet, routines are good!
I look forward to watching my boy's curiosity and diving into learning with them.
This is my first year using the EC teacher planner. Thank you for sharing how you utilize it!