Depending on the sort of homeschooling method you use, most of us need to plan...at least a little. Planning often makes our job easier as homeschooling parents. We can use planning processes to determine; what we want to teach, when we want to teach it, for how long, on what days, and what materials we will need to gather ahead of time.
Probably, the single most common tool for planning for your homeschool would have to be the Teachers Lesson Planner. If you haven't looked at Lesson Planners in a while, I suggest you take a new look. They have come along way! There are of course the traditional paper planners, then the printable versions from online, internet based planning programs and also software based planners. Below are my favorites in each category. I was not paid to endorse any of the products below. I have done my own research over the last 5 years, in search of the perfect planner.
Paper Based Lesson Planner:
This is by far my favorite paper based planner. Click here to view sample pages. This handy and sturdy spiral bound planner has amazing versatility and is easily customized to your needs. It includes yearly and monthly calenders. The weekly planning pages cover a two page spread with enough pages to make 40 weeks of plans. The columns are easily customized. The pages are large and lined so you can easily and neatly add plans. This planner is prices at around $15. There are cheaper planners out there, but I ranked this one as my favorite based on customization and sturdiness.
The Ultimate Teacher's Plan Book
Printable Lesson Planner:
Donna Young has the best printable homeschool planning pages on the net. Her site ranks highest because of the ease of use, variety, and customization. She's got a forms any homeschool can use.
Check out her great printable planning pages here:
Internet-based Lesson Planner:
There are a few of these on the net now. These are great because of there extreme accessibility. You can access them from the internet wherever you may be. Great for families that travel, are on the go, or so you can share what your doing with other family members. My favorite is the Homeschool Skedtrack, because it's free, easy to use, and created by a homeschool family. It's simple, but extremely flexible. Changes are as simple as typing into a form box. Assignments not completed are automatically bumped up to the next day. They even have video tutorials to help you learn how to use it! Its an amazing value for....FREE!
Homeschool Skedtrack
Lesson Planning Software:
Lesson planning software varies in price, versatility, and ease of use. A majority of the lesson planning software available are specifically designed to meet the needs of classroom teachers, so adapting them to meet the needs of your homeschool can be tricky. There are a handful that ARE specifically designed (or adapted) to meet the needs of homeschoolers. After downloading and trying out many trial versions, my favorite was Homeschool Tracker. Although none of the programs tried were easy to use, Homeschool Tracker had the best tech support for learning the program. It came in at a great value also, Free for the Basic Version and $50 for the Plus Edition, with free lifetime updates. After learning how the software works and how to input the data you want, it can be customized to meet your needs in a variety of ways. If the $50 cost is too much for your wallet, try out the free version, you can aways upgrade without losing all your information. Homeschool Tracker
I hope you found this post helpful.
Got a favorite Lesson Planning resource? Share it in the comments!
Happy Planning!
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