Ultimate Homeschool Planner

I’m a bit of a planner nerd. I love a good planner. I look forward to getting them and filling them in, and how they help my days run more smoothly. Today I am partnering with the folks over at Apologia to share Debra Bell’s Ultimate Homeschool Planner. Spoiler alert: it’s a good one!

What is included with the Ultimate Homeschool Planner

We recently had the opportunity to try out the Ultimate Homeschool Planner, and I am sold. I love this planner, and I’m only sorry that I didn’t discover it sooner.

Here are some of the features I loved it, in no particular order.

1. Durable Covers

First things first. No matter how awesome a planner is, if it’s cheaply made it will not hold up to a year’s worth of daily use. This planner is made to be very durable. It is spiral bound and the covers are made of a durable plastic/vinyl type of material.

As an added bonus the front and back covers also include pockets for storing papers.

2. Tips and Encouragement

In the beginning of the planner, there is a 10+ page User’s Guide that will walk you through:

  • How to use the ultimate planning system;
  • Detailed examples for using each section;
  • Tips for setting aside a time for planning each year, month, and week
  • Instructions or instituting Monday Morning Tutorials and Friday Afternoon Reviews to help your homeschool go more smoothly for both you and your students.

There are also many of pages of tips throughout the book as well. This is not *just* a planner, it’s a planning system. It will walk you through the entire process.

Tip: click here and go to “download” above the description to get a free sample of the planner to see more pages.

3. Planning for up to 6 children.

I only have 2 children, but I know a lot of my readers are blessed with many children, and the Ultimate Homeschool Planner has space included for up to 6. If you don’t need space for 6, then you can use the other space for additional planning.

4. Flexibility (It’s undated.)

I love this feature! I want to tell you a little secret. I love planners, but at the same time they can really stress me out. Because I sometimes get started with them and then get off track, until the next thing I know I have wasted way too much of a $20-$30 planner. With the Ultimate Homeschool Planner, you don’t have to worry about that. If you miss a couple of weeks of planning, you aren’t wasting pages. For year-round homeschoolers, there is ample space for year-round planning, and for traditional school calendars you aren’t wasting 3 months of planning space for breaks.

It also means that if you purchase a calendar and then *ahem* don’t get around to getting started with it for a month or 2, you can still start fresh at the very beginning of that new planner. Not that I would ever do that or anything.

5. Planning Pages

Obviously a planner could have all the bells and whistles in the world but if the planning pages don’t work, then it’s kind of pointless. This planner was designed by a homeschool mom for homeschool moms. You will find:

  • A year’s worth of 2-page spread monthly calendar layouts. Each month includes an encouraging and inspirational quote, along with a Bible verse. Because each month is a 2-page spread, there is ample room to write on each day, and there is also a section for notes.
  • The Weekly Layouts. Each week contains an overview section and a detailed planning section. The overview provides space for several family, life, and faith notes. The weekly planning section (again, a 2-page spread) provides for space and flexibility. The blocks are not labeled on either axis, so you can use the blocks and lines in whatever way works for you and your family.

The only thing I wish was different about this planner is that I wish there were tabs included. However, I simply used some little flags to mark the different sections, but you could also use stick on tabs like these (there is a table of contents page to help in finding what you need).

6. Lots of Extras

Again, this is not just a planner. There are lots of other things included as well:

  • one-year planning grid. The layout for this is great for an at-a-glance feel for the entire year. This is perfect for marking off required instruction days, as well as penciling in holidays, breaks, special events, check points for curriculum, etc.
  • Goal setting worksheets. There are goal setting worksheets for up to 6 students to list out both character and academic goals. I love this as character training is so important!
  • Pre-planning pages. You can see in this post how I pre-plan our year, and there are pages in the Ultimate Homeschool Planner to do it right there. There is a family priority page, and also a resource list for each child–again, up to 6 children.
  • Record keeping
  • Reading Lists
  • Activities Log

There are also many other tips and suggestions in the final pages of the planner. You can see for yourself here:

This planner is a wonderful help to your homeschool to help keep things moving smoothly in your day!

Continue reading here: 5/7 Meal Plan

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