It feels like we just put all the school supplies away. I really JUST did because we have been slowly working on changing up my office. And yet as the last firework shot into the air, every single store flipped a switch and suddenly school supplies were EVERYWHERE! Each post this week will be all about school supplies. And while I was (and still am) so excited to be on break, I have to admit my excitement and geekiness over all of the school supplies I plan to buy this year!
When it comes to homeschool supplies, the questions I see most often center around planners. Do you need a planner? What do you put in your planner? How do you use a planner with homeschool?
If you’ve been reading my posts for a while, you probably gather that I’m not a very fly by the seat of your pants kind of person. Planners are an essential part of my everyday life! So it’s no surprise that I want to scream from the hilltops, “YES! YOU NEED A PLANNER!” Because to me, how the heck do you manage anything in life without one?! For more about my planner obsession, click here.
My favorite homeschool planner
This will be the second year that I’ve gone with a Happy Planner Teacher Edition. You can find these online, at Michael’s, Joann’s, and sometimes Target gets them for their back to school supplies. This year, Happy Planner did not disappoint! I liked last year’s, but I love this year’s planner!
This newest edition features a year at a glance AND monthly log pages! I’m using these log pages to help me structure out our yearly schedule now that we have decided to switch to a year-round schedule with 6-week terms. We gettin’ fancy.
I like the monthly view to make lists of what we are concentrating on and to see the whole month at a glance for planning purposes. This is where I will jot down field trip ideas, craft projects and put in our planned school breaks. I have one child in public school (senior this year!) so I also like to put the important dates for public school here too to help me stay on track for both public and homeschool.
The weekly view has only Monday through Friday and each day has seven sections to divide by subject or divide by page. Here’s how I’m planning to divide the sections between my third grader and my kindergartner:
You can add notebook paper to hold notes. Last year I typed out our whole year plans and kept them at the back of my planner for reference. Now that I’m using more of an all-in-one-curriculum I don’t need to take that extra step, but extra paper for notes is always helpful. You can also find bookmarks, and folders to fit into your happy planner!
One of my favorite parts of the Happy Planner, in general, is that you can customize the pages to be as plain, or as dressed up as you want! I think it’s soothing to spend a little time on Sunday mornings decorating my planners and planning out the important parts of my week.
A word to the wise is to watch for sales or find 40% off coupons for Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. These planners can be pretty pricey if you buy them at full price. Also keep in mind that even if you want all of the stickers you can find for your planner, you do not need to buy them all at once! Wait for sales and coupons, and buy minimally especially if you are just starting out and learning what your planner style is.
Even if you aren’t planning to use your planner until the end of August, or even into September, I recommend that you start watching sales now and get your hands on one sooner rather than later. These sell fairly fast and after school starts, they don’t come back until next May!
Until next time friends, and happy planning!
–Ashley
