I have to admit ... I have been enticed by all the pretty planners that are out there! I have visions of going to our weekly Co-op meeting/activity with my pretty planner looking as though I have it all together, in the prettiest way possible.
I highly considered purchasing The Well-Planned Day spiral planner. I poured over it on the website and got out my credit card.
But, then I really thought about what works for me. And I decided not to fix what's not broken, even if it's not the prettiest thing on the outside. My system works for me, and for my kids. So, I'm going to stick with it.
Here's what I do ...
I am a wall-calendar freak fanatic. I always have been. In fact, I have the wall calendars stored from the past 10-12 years, just in case. My wall calendar is above my desk in the kitchen and contains every single thing we are doing. I used to have a separate meal calendar, but my husband designed me a calendar that is all-inclusive and he prints it out for me.
Here it is ...
It has a place for our general activities, a place for me to plan our meals, and a space for each of the kids for jotting down fees due, supplies needed, etc. I will continue to use it because it works!
And this is our daily lesson planner ...
Again, my husband just worked up a little form for me that I print off and fill in. Each Sunday I print off my planner pages for that week and write in the assignments for each day. I have one for Dawson and one for Brynne. I have them hole-punched and kept in a 3-ring binder, tabbed separately for each child. Each day I just pull out the page for that day, give it to the child, and let them do their assignments from it.
When I grade assignments, I write the score right on that planner page next to the assignment. Then over the weekend I take the planner pages, input grades into Engrade (a free service), and then put the completed planner pages in the back of the binder with a "check mark" that shows I have inputted the grades from that day.
And that's it.
Sweet and simple.
Because I wanted something kind of pretty to take to Co-op meetings, I did run to Target and purchase a spiral planner with monthly and weekly calendars. I'll transfer information from my wall calendar onto it. And I plan to use the weekly planning slots as a place to journal and jot down ideas, since I have my separate daily lesson plan pages above.
As I have gotten organized this week, I am so glad I decided not to change up my whole planning system because there is a pretty system out there that "everyone" is using. What I have works for us.
What works for you? You can go to Three Thinking Mothers to see some other examples.
I highly considered purchasing The Well-Planned Day spiral planner. I poured over it on the website and got out my credit card.
But, then I really thought about what works for me. And I decided not to fix what's not broken, even if it's not the prettiest thing on the outside. My system works for me, and for my kids. So, I'm going to stick with it.
Here's what I do ...
I am a wall-calendar freak fanatic. I always have been. In fact, I have the wall calendars stored from the past 10-12 years, just in case. My wall calendar is above my desk in the kitchen and contains every single thing we are doing. I used to have a separate meal calendar, but my husband designed me a calendar that is all-inclusive and he prints it out for me.
Here it is ...
It has a place for our general activities, a place for me to plan our meals, and a space for each of the kids for jotting down fees due, supplies needed, etc. I will continue to use it because it works!
And this is our daily lesson planner ...
Again, my husband just worked up a little form for me that I print off and fill in. Each Sunday I print off my planner pages for that week and write in the assignments for each day. I have one for Dawson and one for Brynne. I have them hole-punched and kept in a 3-ring binder, tabbed separately for each child. Each day I just pull out the page for that day, give it to the child, and let them do their assignments from it.
When I grade assignments, I write the score right on that planner page next to the assignment. Then over the weekend I take the planner pages, input grades into Engrade (a free service), and then put the completed planner pages in the back of the binder with a "check mark" that shows I have inputted the grades from that day.
And that's it.
Sweet and simple.
Because I wanted something kind of pretty to take to Co-op meetings, I did run to Target and purchase a spiral planner with monthly and weekly calendars. I'll transfer information from my wall calendar onto it. And I plan to use the weekly planning slots as a place to journal and jot down ideas, since I have my separate daily lesson plan pages above.
As I have gotten organized this week, I am so glad I decided not to change up my whole planning system because there is a pretty system out there that "everyone" is using. What I have works for us.
What works for you? You can go to Three Thinking Mothers to see some other examples.
I have been tempted several times by pretty planners, but I too have a system (unattractive as it is) that I just need to stick with. I like binders and no matter what I try, the binder always lures me back.
ReplyDeleteBinders, Binders, Binders! I'm a binder freak. I use donnayoung.org to print off my planner pages and put them in binders (per kid)
ReplyDeleteI also get my menu plan and some other templates there.
I bought THAT pretty lil planner (I *heart* planners), and it does have everything in it I could possibly use, it offers exactly what it says it offers, and you know what?... I simply like a plain page to work with. *sigh* so back to my original planner and my simple weekly print out accountability sheet for the kids. Admittedly, I do like the planners at urthemom.com for my highschool students especially. =)
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Sheri