Back To School :: What Kind of Planner are You? {Giveaway}

Today is the day. We are back to school. My girls will devour the donuts, I will drink an extra cup of coffee and we will dream of what the year holds for us. I don’t write about it much, but homeschooling is a huge part of our lives. I think finally, as I start my 7th year of teaching my girls {wow!} I am settling into my own brand of homeschooling.

So, what is my homeschool brand?

I love the big picture.
Vision planning their year is my favorite part.
I don’t really have a super structured daily plan.
I write down what we DID instead of what I think we will DO.
We partner with an umbrella school. They keep my records and me sane.
My girls go 1 day each week and take classes through this umbrella school.
I thoroughly enjoy my 1 day off from teaching. {I am looking forward to lots of Starbuck this year with my 2 year old!}
I am pretty much a unit study based girl.
My girls have basically done the same curriculum, because I know it and can tailor it to their needs. {Does that make me lazy?}
We love to read, and my passion is that they will be life long readers! {So far, so good!}
Yes, I’m in this for the long haul.
I thrive on encouragement from those who have stayed the course and finished.{like her and her}
I try not to sweat the little things.

: : :

Now how about a fun giveaway? My friend, Jolanthe, from Homeschool Creations is brilliant. She has an amazing blog devoted to all the amazing things she does with her kids in their homeschool. I drool every time I read one of her posts. She has created a homeschool planner for every type of homeschool mom! {Including, me!}

I have been using it in my planning this past week and I love that it is a pdf that you can edit! Can I get an amen??? Ok, this is huge for me! Here is what I did. I saved it as a pdf to keep the original. Then I saved it a second time as a “save as” and put “2011/2012 school year” as the title. So next year, I can do the same thing but, change the name! Brilliant! {Also, Jolanthe’s idea.}

Here is the nitty gritty:

What’s inside this editable pdf planner:

* 138 planning pages ~ 8 1/2″ x 11″ sized
* 12 blank month-at-a-glance pages
* 40 weeks of weekly planning and journal sheets: each page can be customized to the
subjects that your family studies and can be saved to your computer!
* Preschool planning sheets
* Field trip/Event plan sheets
* Yearly curriculum planning sheets
* Yearly planning and evaluation sheets
* Yearly attendance tracking sheets
* Field trip/Event plan sheets
* Daily to-do lists
* Main dish menu planner
* Customizable chore charts
* Important contacts info
* Additional note space
* Standardized testing and yearly assessment result tracking
* Homeschooling requirement planning

I’m still playing around with mine, but I am excited to use it this year. The neat thing is that today and tomorrow only, Jolanthe has slashed the price for you from $20 to $12. And one lucky person, who leaves a comment here, will win one for free.

Tell me, what type of planner are you? Do you know your homeschool brand yet? Leave a comment, and be sure to get your copy of the planner for only $12. As usual, if you share this on Facebook and Twitter, you can leave an extra comment. Tell your friends about the sale, too! Since I know you have to get your planning on, I’ll announce the winner tomorrow! I’ll be sharing about our curriculum for the year!

{To buy your own planner. Click here.}

12 Comments

karen rodriguez on August 17, 2011 at 6:17 am

I find that if I “plan” too much, I get disappointed or frustrated. So, each day I write down a general idea or direction for each child, and at the end of the day, record what we actually accomplished. I often am surprised that we get more done than anticipated and that makes me look foward to the next day. On the days we slack, hey, at least we are still learning…like myself, my kids love just curling up with a good book, and I am OK with that.

Rachel on August 17, 2011 at 6:48 am

Wow! That looks like an awesome planner! I haven’t gotten into full swing yet w/ homeschooling since my little guy is still a little young. We have done some “school-time” already though, and I definitely love to have a plan! 🙂 Awesome giveaway!

Renee on August 17, 2011 at 7:46 am

Since we are just starting on our homeschooling journey we haven’t dot and cross all the t of how we should go about, we all learn as we go along, including me

Jenny on August 17, 2011 at 11:40 am

I only plan a week or two at a time. I used to do what you do, Stacey, and write what we did instead of planning ahead. This year, though, it’s a must! 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity to win a planner and get more organized!

Krystal on August 17, 2011 at 1:37 pm

I am very similar to Karen. I like to have a plan–so I did create my own lesson plan sheets, but I usually go back and edit as needed. I like that the planner has monthly and yearly options–that would help me remember some goals and ideas that I would like to accomplish. And the menu planner!

patty on August 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm

can i start by saying that the planner looks AWESOME!!!!! and i’d love to win one! :o)
i try to plan a lot of my school year ahead of time because i thrive on routine…however, going into our 8th year of homeschooling i am learning to let some things slide and really enjoy my kids and homeschooling more. i remember hearing back when i first started homeschooling that home schooling is more about “home” than it is about “school”. i need to be reminded of that often!

Amy @ A Faithful Journey on August 17, 2011 at 3:52 pm

This will be my first year Homeschooling my kids, so I am not sure what type of Planner I am, but I do like things all laid out for me because other wise I would most likely forget something! 🙂 This is going to be a learning experience for us all and I am so excited for it!

Lenae on August 17, 2011 at 7:49 pm

This is our first, true year homeschooling as well (we loosely did preschool this year). At this point I’m trying to have a relaxed approach much like yours: I have broad goals for my kindergartener but we’re very much playing it by year according to how he responds to the material and concepts. Great giveaway — that planner would be awesome to have in the arsenal! 😉

Lenae on August 17, 2011 at 7:51 pm

Tweeted 🙂

Cindy Lucas on August 17, 2011 at 8:58 pm

Great I need a planner and a plan. Thankfully God has a plan and I hope TCS has a plan and I plan on making both my plan for the year!

Leanne on August 17, 2011 at 9:58 pm

Thanks for being so encouraging and so real. I am still trying to figure out how to home school my oldest and I think a planner would help calm some of the fears. Thanks for the opportunity to win one.

Emily on August 17, 2011 at 11:02 pm

I have looked at this planner so many times and wondered “would it work for me?” I think we are mostly classical, but not in a super strict sense. We try to have clear goals and have some fun. I also try to remember that the best learning probably won’t happen while there are at a desk.

karen rodriguez on August 17, 2011 at 6:17 am

I find that if I “plan” too much, I get disappointed or frustrated. So, each day I write down a general idea or direction for each child, and at the end of the day, record what we actually accomplished. I often am surprised that we get more done than anticipated and that makes me look foward to the next day. On the days we slack, hey, at least we are still learning…like myself, my kids love just curling up with a good book, and I am OK with that.
Rachel on August 17, 2011 at 6:48 am

Wow! That looks like an awesome planner! I haven’t gotten into full swing yet w/ homeschooling since my little guy is still a little young. We have done some “school-time” already though, and I definitely love to have a plan! 🙂 Awesome giveaway!
Renee on August 17, 2011 at 7:46 am

Since we are just starting on our homeschooling journey we haven’t dot and cross all the t of how we should go about, we all learn as we go along, including me
Jenny on August 17, 2011 at 11:40 am

I only plan a week or two at a time. I used to do what you do, Stacey, and write what we did instead of planning ahead. This year, though, it’s a must! 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity to win a planner and get more organized!
Krystal on August 17, 2011 at 1:37 pm

I am very similar to Karen. I like to have a plan–so I did create my own lesson plan sheets, but I usually go back and edit as needed. I like that the planner has monthly and yearly options–that would help me remember some goals and ideas that I would like to accomplish. And the menu planner!
patty on August 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm

can i start by saying that the planner looks AWESOME!!!!! and i’d love to win one! :o)
i try to plan a lot of my school year ahead of time because i thrive on routine…however, going into our 8th year of homeschooling i am learning to let some things slide and really enjoy my kids and homeschooling more. i remember hearing back when i first started homeschooling that home schooling is more about “home” than it is about “school”. i need to be reminded of that often!
Amy @ A Faithful Journey on August 17, 2011 at 3:52 pm

This will be my first year Homeschooling my kids, so I am not sure what type of Planner I am, but I do like things all laid out for me because other wise I would most likely forget something! 🙂 This is going to be a learning experience for us all and I am so excited for it!
Lenae on August 17, 2011 at 7:49 pm

This is our first, true year homeschooling as well (we loosely did preschool this year). At this point I’m trying to have a relaxed approach much like yours: I have broad goals for my kindergartener but we’re very much playing it by year according to how he responds to the material and concepts. Great giveaway — that planner would be awesome to have in the arsenal! 😉
Lenae on August 17, 2011 at 7:51 pm

Tweeted 🙂
Cindy Lucas on August 17, 2011 at 8:58 pm

Great I need a planner and a plan. Thankfully God has a plan and I hope TCS has a plan and I plan on making both my plan for the year!
Leanne on August 17, 2011 at 9:58 pm

Thanks for being so encouraging and so real. I am still trying to figure out how to home school my oldest and I think a planner would help calm some of the fears. Thanks for the opportunity to win one.
Emily on August 17, 2011 at 11:02 pm

I have looked at this planner so many times and wondered “would it work for me?” I think we are mostly classical, but not in a super strict sense. We try to have clear goals and have some fun. I also try to remember that the best learning probably won’t happen while there are at a desk.