Planner Recommendations?

[happynurse]

Hello, all! I'm getting ready to start formally planning my little guy's pre-k year. I am looking for a simple planner to help me get underway. I need more writing space than what most of the little Wal-Mart planners provide, yet The Well-Planned Day planners are probably more involved than I need. I'm not a pinterest type person, so getting all crafty and making my own isn't going to happen. ;) I don't use a planner right now other than our large family calendar, so I'm looking for any and all suggestions. What have you found (or are you finding) that works for you? Thanks in advance!

[73349]

You might want one meant for teachers--that's what I used when I had paper ones. You'll want to pull out a few pages from most of them (like a parent phone number list), but they're pretty good and available with attractive covers. This site has several nice choices at around $8 to $13.

 

I now use a Google spreadsheet, though, because it's easier to shift items from one week to another.

[OneStepAtATime]

Agree with Whitehawk.  Actually, I found some nice ones at Office Depot when we first started but I can't remember what the name was.  I would keep browsing until you find one that might work.  It helped me to see them up close and personal to realize they would work well for my needs at that time.   They had plenty of space on the calendar plus additional pages between each month.  

 

I switched to Homeschool Planet last year so I could move things around a lot more easily and track things better.

[Holly]

I like this planner: http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=019784

 

It's large, doesn't have boxes I have to squeeze writing into, or limit how many subjects I can list.  It would be nice for recording journal entries about your preschool's day too.

[shadah]

I use a sketchbook. I like the thicker paper. I divide it into however many boxes I like. Right now, I do 8 boxes. One box is a booklist for the week, one for the date and memory verse, one for little brother's "school", and five subject boxes for big sister. I plan each subject by the week using multiple resources. You could also have M-F.

This looks much cleaner than any planner I've tried and has everything on one page.

[My4arrows]

Homeschool creations has a free printable you can use for preschool planning. It's nice and simple and you can print as many or as little as you'd like. I loved this when planning pre k for one. http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/preschool.html

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Duplicate

Edited March 22, 2016 by Expat_Mama_Shelli

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

I use The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell & it is EXCELLENT!

 

It includes pages to plan by the year (calendar), month (overview) & week (detailed). It also has pages to list resources, reading, field trips, grades if desired, notes & a year-end review. There are bible verses & other religious tones scattered throughout. It's a bit annoying, but I like the planner enough to overlook it.

 

ETA Link: The Ultimate Homeschool Planner (Orange Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935495933/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_M.k8wbVXK16T3

Edited March 23, 2016 by Expat_Mama_Shelli

[smarson]

I really like this planner http://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/free-printables/7-step-curriculum-planner/

because you can print only those pages that seem relevant to you.  I made my own two-page calendar pages because I wanted more months than just the school year but other than that, I print the pages I want and take it to Office Depot and have the cover and back page laminated and the whole thing bound.  I use it more of a record of what we did  than an actual planner - if I plan ahead, I just get depressed when I don't meet my 'goals'.  So I know what i need to do each day and write down what we did.  Makes me feel accomplished. :)

 

And it's free!!!  Only the cost of laminating the front/back pages and binding.  So about $5?!  (I only use her free pages)

S

[FO4UR]

For pre-K, I would just make a table in a word doc.

 

                                 Mon   Tues   Wed   Thurs   Fri

 

Read alouds

 

Fine Motor Play

 

Gross Motor Play

 

Letters

 

Numbers

 

Shapes & Colors

 

Chores

 

Other

 

 

 

 

And, I would NOT do every category every day.  The chart would be more of a reminder to me than a rigid schedule.

[LivingHope]

This is my favorite premade planner. It is big with up to 18 boxes per week.

http://www.amazon.com/Carson-Dellosa-Green-Record-104300/dp/1604182385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459017772&sr=8-1&keywords=the+green+plan+book

 

http://www.mpmschoolsupplies.com/p-32513-bird-themed-plan-book.aspx

 

The Green Book with the tree has nice ivory paper. The Bird Book that I linked, while it has the same layout as the Green Book, it has thinner, white pages according to Amazon reviews.

Edited March 26, 2016 by LivingHope

[Aiden]

I love my planner from Plum Paper Products (an Etsy shop). It's customizable in most respects: page layout, how many months, which month to start with, optional sections, labels of your choice (or no labels) on the weekly pages.

[ChiefHouseholdOfficer]

They are not exactly the cheapest option, but I love my Erin Condren life planner and decided to use an Erin Condren teacher planner for this upcoming year (which I will begin in June).  It will be Kindergarten for my oldest and Pre-K for my youngest.  I actually filmed a little video about how I modified the planner for homeschooling and it shows a little on how I am organizing my year.
Here's the link if you wanted to see what the planner looks like:

[happynurse]

They are not exactly the cheapest option, but I love my Erin Condren life planner and decided to use an Erin Condren teacher planner for this upcoming year (which I will begin in June).  It will be Kindergarten for my oldest and Pre-K for my youngest.  I actually filmed a little video about how I modified the planner for homeschooling and it shows a little on how I am organizing my year.

Here's the link if you wanted to see what the planner looks like:

 

I loooove my Erin Condren day planner. I'm afraid it's probably a bit too pricey for some simple pre-k, but I'll keep this in mind for the future when I'm schooling multiple (and older) children!

[happypamama]

I use OneNote for all of my planning needs.

[My4arrows]

They are not exactly the cheapest option, but I love my Erin Condren life planner and decided to use an Erin Condren teacher planner for this upcoming year (which I will begin in June). It will be Kindergarten for my oldest and Pre-K for my youngest. I actually filmed a little video about how I modified the planner for homeschooling and it shows a little on how I am organizing my year.

Here's the link if you wanted to see what the planner looks like:

I like seeing how you changed this to suit a homeschoolers better! I've always wanted one, but couldn't justify the cost...especially since I typically am a planner dropout by the end of the year and it doesn't get fully used. Very nice job!

[PentecostalMom]

Check out the Mardel planner. :)

[Rachel]

I really like the Mardel Planner too. I picked mine up at a convention last year but they do have them on their website.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Rach