“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Homeschooling Daytimers fresh from Amazon
These are a few of my favourite things…“
Can’t you just see Julie Andrews singing that on a Swiss mountain top? She was a homeschooler herself, an unschooler to boot!
Because I enjoy writing, pen in hand, I decided to do away with the orange rectangular electronic planner, my iPod, this year. No binging distractions but now I’ll need my paper planner to schedule coffee dates.
I saw the advertising. This planner had it all. Call me a skeptic, but I would decide for myself.
The only thing this planner didn’t have was the monthly tabs that I could flip over the summer months to the beginning of our study year, September. Turns out, it was user’s error; there were tabs. On the side. Not on the top. This planner does have it all!
This planner is put together by a homeschooling mama, I am certain. What do we find in this planner?
Space for logging up to 4 children’s activities.
Luckily, that works for me. Sorry, my son, we can’t have a baby brother. There’s no more space in the planner!
A title that speaks to me: The Well-Planned Day.
You know whoever planned this planner was thinking of the right motivational lingo to get me going. Since I’m in charge of my child’s education, I need to plan the days well, and be intentional.
Encouraging tidbits to begin each month.
“Being a mother is not for the faint of heart; it requires strong self-talk.” Indeed.
Organizational tips that come straight from my world.
Like, “Consider storing oft-forgotten items in your vehicle.” Yes, like a basketball, football, lifejackets, swimsuits and towels, tennis racquets and baseball gloves. Yes, my minivan is a school gym storage room!
List spaces: for weekly Dinner Menus, Errands, and Weekend Activities.
It’s not just for the weekdays.
The only page I wonder at is this page…
An attendance record. How a homeschooled child is going to miss ‘class’, I’ll never know. One genius of a kid.
Weekday lists with individual subject spaces, for History, Math, English, Science, and space for me to write Languages.
(Presently French and Latin). Also space for extra curricular activities and exercise (gotta make sure these kiddos are working out every day).
A page of rippable tiny grocery lists that could be used for groceries.
(I keep that stuff on my iPod or I would lose them). I use them instead for consequence lists. Consequences for kiddos who are complaining, yelling, or trouble making during studies. These ‘moments’ are time consuming moments: a verbal reminder and a chore is all I aspire to give them. My negative emotions of frustration, annoyance or indignation take too much time and happiness from me, so they can just have their consequence instead. And if it takes an extra amount of time for them to get it together, extra time will be spent doing their work LATER…they can go for a walk and get it together and when everyone else is finished their daily routines, the only person having their time wasted is their own doing what they should have done earlier.
At the beginning of each new month there is even an encouraging word, one that applies to me.
I love the title of February: “Time to Switch Curriculum? ” This mama has lived through a February or two…that month that Christmas is a memory of one’s mind and there’s nothing on the horizon but spring, hopefully in a month or two.
Find me a curtain to rip into school uniforms! This is one of my favourite things!
Discover what kind of homeschool planner you are with The Well-Planned Day Homeschool Planner Quiz.
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Can you expand a little on your consequence system? 🙂 Oh, I dread February, that alone eats up all the consequence pages.
May I suggest a February field trip to the Bahamas?
Haha, yes, for us it is a trip to the library to check out a video on Bahamas.
My consequence system is really very simple. Temper tantrums & complaining are not permitted by management. (But management would be wise not to use those them to influence the managees). Of course that doesn’t always bear out of course.
Very nice!