A.Balaban Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Last year, I picked up some cheap school teacher-esque planners at Target on 70% clearance, and I figured I could just 'make it work'. But... it...just... doesn't work! So, I've been searching for Homeschool Planners. Obviously, there are many many out there and I haven't been able to find them all, but here is a quick compare and contrast. If there's any advice from someone whose used these, feel free to add your own comments or add other planners that you have tried. I'm exhausted so my comments kind of dried up at the end! At the bottom I listed two places I've found that don't have complete planners, but have resources that would be useful for a planner. Both are free. If we get more of these, I'll probably add it onto a second sheet. Here is the link! But for now, I am going to bed. Good-night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeallgoeswell Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I tried to "make it work" with a cheap planner my first year. I sat down and made a list of things I needed in a planner along with some nice "extras" which would be nice to have. My list included attendance records sheet, space to record curricula being used that year, space to plan weekly for three kids and myself, colorful and whimsical, inspirational, a meal planning spot each week, tons of extra space for all of my many lists, and it had to be something I could physically have with me to write on (nothing on the computer). I ended up buying The Well-Planned Day Planner and have stuck with it for three years now. It has exactly what I need/want...no more, no less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy M Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Thank you for sharing your graph. :) I had just been thinking about planners but didn't know where to start looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Ones I've tried/have/thought about: Well Planned Day Fly Lady My.Org (Australian) similar to Wellplanned Day options, but just general planner Master Planner The Old Schoolhouse Planners Sue's Workbox Stuff Aussie Pumpkin Patch Planner & Extras Homeschool Creations Weekly Planner Records of the Learning Lifestyle Donna Young Recordkeeping for Unschoolers The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell What I ideally need is something like: A Diabetes Logbook, mixed with ability for notes, mixed with room for Chaos' Doctor Vists, Therapy & Notes, mixed with some sort of Natural Schooling Record Keeper, mixed with a few other "extras" Ideally I would use something like The Old Schoolhouse Planners Special Learners edition (it has all the medical related things and extra stuff I need) and a secular (fine to have bible, but don't really want "Learning about God's Creation" as the "subject title" for science, version of Records of the Learning Lifestyle as a pdf. Then I could mix those two together and have the perfect one. I looked at Recordkeeping for Unschoolers, but its a little too unschooly. I can easily adapt something (like TV, or a game etc) into a subject, so would rather have subjects than what RFU has (which is something like "Watched this.....did this....went there...." I would probably still consider Records of the Learning Lifestyle if it had a pdf version. Seriously though, I have about 10 different binders/books for various recordikeeping/plannign needs. It would be nice to have everything in one spot, get it printed & bound at my office store, and be carry to carry it in my giant handbag :p Oh and theres probably a lot more I've tried too, I went a bit made with PDF planners about a year ago, so about 80-90% of the homeschool planners available as PDF's I probably have :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I use the free printables from the Donna Young site in a binder. I find that the form that works for me at the start of the year may not by the end, so being able to play around with so many forms is helpful. ETA- I use the Donna Young stuff for my household planning as well. The hard copies of my lists are kept at home and I carry a digital copy on my IPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Oh, I forgot about Momstoolbelt (made by the same person who makes notebookingpages.com I think) I just found what I was looking for! And its FREE! :D Learning Alongside has two free planner pages - one a bit more normal, and one that looks very, very similar to "A Record of the learning Lifestyle" free! in pdf! YEY! I can now use TOS Special Learners and Learning Alongside to make the perfect planner! Now I just need to print it, and have it bound (and probably purchase a GBS Clickman & spines somehow, another I wish I was in the US post :tongue_smilie: the pro-click doesn't work for my size paper (a4), I can't get US sized paper easily (yes I looked, how desperate am I lol) and the Clickman & spines are hard to get unless your in Singapore or Europe. Amazon doesn't carry them :( If I think of any more HS Planners (most of my thoughts will be PDF ones though) I'll come back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannanlee Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I got my planner from the dollar star and it works well so far. Lots of space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Oh, I forgot about Momstoolbelt (made by the same person who makes notebookingpages.com I think) I just found what I was looking for! And its FREE! :D Learning Alongside has two free planner pages - one a bit more normal, and one that looks very, very similar to "A Record of the learning Lifestyle" free! in pdf! YEY! I can now use TOS Special Learners and Learning Alongside to make the perfect planner! Now I just need to print it, and have it bound (and probably purchase a GBS Clickman & spines somehow, another I wish I was in the US post :tongue_smilie: the pro-click doesn't work for my size paper (a4), I can't get US sized paper easily (yes I looked, how desperate am I lol) and the Clickman & spines are hard to get unless your in Singapore or Europe. Amazon doesn't carry them :( If I think of any more HS Planners (most of my thoughts will be PDF ones though) I'll come back :w00t::hurray::cheers2:!!! You are my new best friend. Thanks! (Now I have to go look up those acronyms.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 I updated the chart so that the different formats were on different sheets. Sheet #1 - Free and/or Printable Planners Sheet #2 - Paper Planners Sheet #3 - Software Planner Sheet #4 - E-Planner (online) I'm also working on adding the number of kids into the document, and adding other resources as I find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Stumbled upon this recently. It's a monster site for creating your own planner. Pretty impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 A lot of people like Homeschool Tracker Plus, too, if people are looking for suggestions. It's more of a computer-based planner, but you can print pages out too. http://www.homeschooltracker.com/default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherDanae Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 subbing :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I find it's easiest to make up my own planner. I have a one page table I made up in MS word that lists all subjects for both kids for the week--I like being able to see everything on one page. I keep this in a pocket in my binder. Then I have tabs for each subject and keep a 1-3 page guide of my plan for that subject for the year. Some plans are easy (math--do a lesson each day), and some are more involved (lining up history books with certain chapters of a spine). Some just list books in order for reading, some I keep grades and more info. I can put whatever I need behind each tab and flip to it easily. Think through what you want first to see if there's a guide that does what you want. But otherwise, it's pretty easy with the table format in MS Word or something like Excel to design what you need. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKamp Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Stumbled upon this recently. It's a monster site for creating your own planner. Pretty impressive! This is the site I used this year (plus a few extra sheets from elsewhere), I am pleased with the end result. We'll see how it goes as I use it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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