Planners/records

[lgliser]

I see posts and articles a lot about getting your plan laid out for the year.  This will be our first year (1st grade) of homeschooling and I guess I don't really understand why I need a planner.  I am using MFW and some other things I've thrown in there and I feel like it's all laid out for me already.  We will do our daily lessons and at the end of the year when the curriculum is completed, we will be done.  

Am I missing something?  Maybe a planner is something needed when the kids are older?  Or when there are different aged kids perhaps?  Or maybe the planners are used for record keeping?

Thanks for any help here!

[Myeightkiddies]

If you are using MFW, you don't really need a planner.  As you mentioned, it is already laid-out for you.  In your signature, it states that in addition to MFW you are using Abeka Math, Draw Write Now, FLL, and WWE.  If there is no space in the MFW plan, you could use a separate planner.  For the subjects that you are using for MFW, just write MFW.  There would be no need to go into detail as you will be referring to your MFW guide.  You'll have subject space to add the other items such as Art, Math, Creative Writing, PE, etc.  In those spaces you can write out what you'd like to have the children do in those subjects using the specific resources mentioned on the days you prefer.

 

The reason there are a lot of posts and articles about planning is that many do not use curriculum that comes already planned for you.  Many choose various materials from a variety of publishers.  For them, they need (either for their own organization or for state - or umbrella school - requirements) to hand plan everything for the year.

[Erin]

Also, the older your child gets, the more likely you are to use a wider range of materials. 

First grade is still pretty straight forward.  :)

[Berta]

My state requires that I keep a planner. I don't plan ahead though, I just keep track of what we do each day as we do it. My state also requires 180 days, so my planner is just that... day 1 up to day 180. I write the date on each day and what we accomplished under each subject. It's very easy, and it's nice to look back on at the end of the year.

[jec3113]

This is a great planner.  Brand new on the market, written by a homeschool mom who now works for Mardels.  Also has coordinating folders, journals, bookmarks, etc.  I am absolutely LOVING it!  It is for school only.  Does not have all the extra life planning stuff that so many others have.    http://www.mardel.com/a-simple-plan.aspx

[quark]

This is a great planner.  Brand new on the market, written by a homeschool mom who now works for Mardels.  Also has coordinating folders, journals, bookmarks, etc.  I am absolutely LOVING it!  It is for school only.  Does not have all the extra life planning stuff that so many others have.    http://www.mardel.com/a-simple-plan.aspx

 

There's a free (beta) online version too: https://homeschool.mardel.com/

[BigMamaBird]

This is a great planner.  Brand new on the market, written by a homeschool mom who now works for Mardels.  Also has coordinating folders, journals, bookmarks, etc.  I am absolutely LOVING it!  It is for school only.  Does not have all the extra life planning stuff that so many others have.    http://www.mardel.com/a-simple-plan.aspx

 

I really like that!  Thanks for posting.

[MerryAtHope]

I use Sonlight which also comes with a schedule. I have always made my own planner anyway, to keep track of what we've done, and to have at least a general plan of how we'll approach each subject. Their plan doesn't have room to add on the other subjects we do, and I didn't like having to flip between planners for different subjects. I wanted to see everything for both of my children on one page. Here's my teacher binder which shows my one-page weekly schedule page and how I plan for each subject.

 

HTH and enjoy your year with MFW!  Merry :-)

[AK_Mom4]

When the kids were younger, I used the daily planner to write down what we did each day - that way I remembered where we left off.  When they got a bit older (3rd grade?), I wrote down what I wanted them to do each day so they could just grab the planner and start work.  By grade 5, I was writing out the work for a whole week on Sunday and the kid checks it off as they complete it - this ensures we stay on track for finishing everything we need to do.

 

DD12 is still at the "Mom writes it down stage".  This year, DS17 will be handling his own planner.  Knowing him, he may choose to use a Google Calendar that he can share with me that shows what he plans for the week, what actually got done, and what assignments are do for his outsourced classes.  Or he may want a paper planner - it's all good to me.  I will transition DD12 to this when she hits 9th grade.