I’ve tried planners, notebooks, scraps of paper…while I like those neat planners with the little lines and grids, nothing ever seemed to quite fulfill our unique needs. I guess I’m just not very good at fitting into little boxes.
So I got into the habit of just writing out our plans on a legal pad. But things got lost in there. Important things. Then I tried using multiple colors of ink. Colorful, but frankly a little confusing. Then I tried using a separate page for each kiddo. Then added a page for our together stuff. Then added a page for all the things I had to get done around the house…my disorganized self was really not becoming much more organized. Just more cluttered.
But all this made me realize what I needed in a planner and why those great planner pages everybody’s designed don’t work for me.
I need a 2 page spread every week that can cover all my kiddos…and ME! Life isn’t a bunch of distinct events to note down, but a subtle tapestry of thousands of threads all woven together. So, while trying to get the baby to sleep, I’ve been designing some planner pages. And I thought I’d share them with you (on the off-chance that there are 2 people in the world who can benefit from them).
I’ve tried to give you some options and some flexibility here, so you don’t have to use them the way I do.
Here’s how I use them (you will, of course, use different names):
This is a 2-page landscape spread. Columns are labeled with the days of the week we do formal studies. Each horizontal section is color-coded to make it easy to zip my eye across the page (I have a black and white version, too). There’s a line on each page to put in an abbreviation key for your books.
The 1st page covers household and other stuff I need to get done, and group activities. The 2nd page covers the kiddos’ individual work. The little boxes are for checking things off as you get them done (it feels good to check things off!). There are days at the top and the bottom, just helps me keep my brain organized.
You’ll notice: no subjects! This is a hurdle for me with other planning systems. In Maryland, we are required to cover 8 subjects! And this doesn’t included things like Catechism, Latin, foreign language, etc. Now, we don’t cover every single subject every single day, or even every single week, so a planner with subjects printed out would waste a whole bunch of space and leave me with itty bitty spaces to pencil in what I actually need.
But, if you use subjects, go right ahead. I have this planner available for free download as xls files (color or black and white), and also as pdf files (color or black and white, and with or without day titles). The xls files can be edited by you as much as your heart desires. The pdfs you’ll have to print and fill in (the left column is blank).
I only ask that you use this only for your personal use. If you wish to share with someone, please direct them to this page so they can download it.
Here’s what the black and white pdf version with no days looks like…the possibilities are endless:
You can download these files from Google docs:
Note: The font used for these is Lucinda Handwriting. You’ll notice if you look at the xls sheets in Google docs that the font is not rendered correctly (it converts it to a default). The download itself is fine (I tested it). And, of course, you can change it to whatever you like.
Let me know what you think. And I might be posting more planning sheets later (I have a bunch that I created that didn’t quite work for me, but they may work for you).
Update: I tried opening the Excel files in Open Office---success! The conversion is not perfect, but very very close. Absolutely usable and attractive. I'd recommend trying it if you'd like a free type-in planner and don't have Excel. You can download Open Office for free here.
Awesome work, Susan~I'll include it on my freebie area! HUGS!;-))
ReplyDeleteI like! You know these are very similar to the schedules I print out every week only better, much better. I have a schedule for each child and one for me (I don't print mine out every week because it doesn't change much). I like the idea of having all of their stuff on my schedule and having us check them off together so I can be sure it's all getting done correctly.
ReplyDeleteIt will especially work well next year with IEW, MOH, and Winstion Grammar (all new subjects for us, well IEW isn't).
Thanks for doing this and for sharing :)
Marie
Thank you, ladies. If there's enough interest I may post some others that weren't ideal for me but might be for someone else. ;0)
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful, Susan! Thank you for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! I printed off just one to see how it works for me but I'm thinking that these are great!!
ReplyDeleteMcMama
www.rubyslippersschool.com
Hopped over from the Homeschool Carnival. These are great. Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteCarol
Love these! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is great! I do not have the skills to do this, but have really needed a planner without subjects too!!! So YAY!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY! I love that I can edit to my hearts content!
ReplyDeleteWay easier than trying to figure it out myself... lol
Thanks SO much! :)
Heather C.
You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this form! The only thing that would make it a little better for me is if the check boxes were to the left (in front of the lists) rather than to the right. This was messing me up enough, that I modified it by drawing the lines into the big boxes on the left and then writing the names on the outside, if that makes sense. If you ever change it, please let me know. Otherwise, this is a very valuable and practical tool.
ReplyDeleteHi Mandi,
DeleteI'm glad you are getting some use out of the forms. Unfortunately, I'm not able to devote the time to making multiple versions, but if you download the Excel versions, you should be able to modify them to better suit your needs---you have permission to do that for your own, personal use.