2024-2025 Homeschool Planner + Tips for Planning a Homeschool Year
You guys, I have been so excited to show you my new planner from The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner! I think it is going to be an amazing tool for so many of you! (I have a discount code down below so don’t miss it!)
Last year I used a great planner (I shared all about it here). But, this year I just knew I needed a refresh…you know…something to get excited about this next school year. Up until a few weeks ago I’d never seen this planner though and when I came across it I knew it’s exactly what I needed to light my fire again.
I have looked at a lot of life and homeschool planners and here are a few reasons why I chose to go with this particular one.
Why This Planner
It has everything I need - ready to be filled in. Every single other planner I’ve ever used I’ve had to fill in my own yearly overviews, curriculum plans, schedule ideas, field trips, and find places to record the books we’re going to read or have read, but I love that this planner already has designated space for all these things (plus more).
The overall planner is exactly what it says - very well organized. And its organized just how my brain likes to see things.
The front and back cover is hard bound. I love to bring my planner places with me (especially when we travel) and it’s just nice to have something that will hold up and the pages are protected from getting bent.
The pages are thick. Since I like to write with a fine point marker (this is the one I’m currently loving) I NEED good paper and some of the planners out there just have too thin of paper for my liking.
Pocket Storage. There are pockets on the front and back covers and I like to use these to store my receipts I need to turn in for our homeschool reimbursement program. I also will slide in travel reservations or printed tickets for plays or events we have throughout the year here too.
There is a full vertical week. I’ve seen a lot of homeschool planners that only have 5-6 boxes at the top of the page to organize the days of the week and since I am using this as my life planner too…I have to have something that has room for Saturday and Sunday.
Weekly Horizontal Grid Layout. There are 7 empty boxes per week that I can customize. Usually I have a box dedicated to our morning time, my twins, one for each of my sons, family subjects, home life and other appointments, and cleaning or other to-dos for the week.
Lots of Overview, Reflection and Notes pages. I am a list girl and I use these type of pages a lot and so I am happy to see adequate space for my brain dumps.
In case you missed it, I have a full flip through of this planner over on my instagram feed.
Tips for Planning
Use prayer and seek divine guidance. Breaking it down by child, I love to work in an on-going list of things my children need and curriculum that might be a good fit for them. Over time, with prayer and inspiration in my heart I usually use the process of elimination to narrow down what I need to focus on for each one of my children.
Connect. Each new year I used to conduct a formal homeschool interview with each of my children to see where their interests are and just to communicate about our home culture. But, over the years I’ve gotten much more relaxed and we use our morning devotional time to go over needed home culture items. Now, I like to periodically check in with my kids to make sure they’re feeling good about their materials. I also like to observe and record what their interests are so I can be on the lookout for materials to support them in their interests.
Start big and work small. I’ve talked about this before, but the best way I can visualize a year’s worth of plans is if I see yearly plans -> monthly plans -> weekly plans -> and finally daily plans. I think of it like a funnel - I do a broad overview of the year and months at the beginning of the year. And, that gives me a good map of what is up and coming. Then, as months, days, weeks draw closer - I fill in the gaps and plan accordingly. I’ve used digital versions in the past, but The Well Ordered Planner has all of these pages too.
Purchasing Curriculum & Gathering Supplies. I start collecting curriculum in spring/summer, but almost always wait to buy supplies or gather specific books until we’re within about a month of needing it.
Begin With The End In Mind. Once I have the curriculum in hand, I like to look at the TOC and break down about how many lessons we’ll need to do each month to finish when we’d like to. You can even pencil in some goal dates right there in your books. Having it mapped out like this helps us stay on track all year. Often times many curriculums will have units already divided down for you and you can work off of those.
Be flexible. Plans always change - a curriculum doesn’t work, we loose interest in something, life happens and our normal routine gets disrupted - these are all just a normal part of the homeschool lifestyle. Even though I try to have a good idea of the direction we’re headed - I like to maintain a balance of flexibility and know sometimes we need to evolve or adapt as life unfolds.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re new to homeschool or more seasoned and need more structure in your home - I think the The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner will be SO helpful to so many of you. I seriously can’t wait to dive more into it. I’ve worked with a lot of homeschool moms and I think sometimes just finding the basic structure can be challenging because there is A LOT to sort through. The overwhelm of responsibility is very real and it’s something we are all always working through. So I am just so happy to be able to share a new tool that I know will bless many of your homes. Be sure to check out all the planner details on The Well Ordered Homeschool website. Happy planning!
Discount Code: HCL10 will always get you 10% off