Getting organized!

Much of my daily life is taken up with homeschooling our children. This is a full-time job, on top of all the duties that go along with keeping a house! In the early years, school was an extension of play. We'd count blocks, color in shapes, do a worksheet or two. But now that my kids are in upper elementary and middle school, the work is more demanding, for both them and me.

There are about 20 different lesson plans that I need to juggle every day. There is no way I can remember all that! I needed a place to write everything down, plus any other notes for what is going on during the week. I'm a very visual person, so if I don't see it, I won't remember it!

Over the past few years, I've developed a system to keep track of our schoolwork, but everything was written out by hand. This year, I decided to put my graphic design skills to use and make a printable form - and save myself some time! I needed something simple - not an entire "home planning menu grocery list emergency contacts cleaning schedule" type of planner. Because there are so many free  monthly and yearly calendars already on the web, I printed some of those for myself to include in our family's school binder. I don't use these as the "command central" calendar, but just to have handy for school planning and a general overview of the year. I block out vacation time and visits from grandparents, and put that all-important LAST DAY OF SCHOOL on there as our goal!

The end result is these cheery planner pages, which I share with you. (Because I have four kids, everything is laid out in fours. If you have more children, you could print double of each page for each week.)  I use a two page spread for each week - there are spaces to write in the children's names at the top (along with a little check box for a daily task, such as piano practice, devotions, chores, etc), subjects along the left side, and daily assignments in the middle. Little circles provide a space for me to check off completed work. This has become our "home base" - the kids can see what they need to do next if I'm not available to direct them. They really like to see the check marks showing their progress! 

I included a page for planning out which curriculum to use for each child. There's also a page for tracking books that have been read, including space for jotting down pages or minutes read.

The last page is to make things pretty. There are spine labels and encouraging bible verses, plus some blank boxes for your own ideas.

I'm thinking of adding some more pages - maybe to tackle those other jobs we moms do, such as preparing meals and keeping a clean house. Check back soon!

Get your free pdf download and get organized today!

What helps you to stay organized? Any tips for making sure everything gets finished by the end of the day? Do you have a planner system that you love? Please share your thoughts!