Semi-Homemade Homeschool Lesson Planner HAPPY PLANNER

While I prefer an unschool attitude with our "teaching style" I still like to keep track of things we have done, goals for doing things, and ideas for expanding on topics.

This I wanted my planner to have:
Flexibilty
Weekends
Expandability
Sturdy
Color
Customization to change with time.
Not TOO bulky and flip around flat like a spiral (not a 3-ring binder)

Here is how I semi-homemade my homeschool lesson planner.

This planner allows me to show plans and structure to our home learning charter school guide and keep track of To-Do's for the school requirements

I looked at the teacher version of the Happy Planner but opted for the non-teacher version since I wanted weekends and didn't need many of the schooly stickers and inserts.

I opted for the BIG Happy Planner vs the Classic size since it's already 8.5x11 and I can easily add regular size printed or copied or notebook papers.

I took the vertical HP and divided the 3 daily sections into more sections for "subjects"
When I first made it I had 9 sections:
Language Arts
Literature
Social studies(which included geography)
History
Science
Math
Art
Music
Movement(PE)
(In a previous lesson planner style log kept, I also had a section for "social skills" since social aspect was a big argument against homeschool, I wanted clear record of social experiences the kids had. Since joining the charter and many classes and clubs I don't log those anymore.
I also had a section of "milestones" but didn't end up using it.)


Then I found these stickers and decided to combine social studies and history and Literature with L/A. (there were quite a few stickers in this set I wont use, like "recess duty" "bus duty" "lunch duty" "parent teacher conferences" etc, so I gifted them to our charter guide and kept the ones I do use. It was still worth the cost, but I may look into getting custom stickers from etsy when they run out, if that would be more affordable.)

I draw lines to section each subject:

(the lines could be done with washi if you are feeling particularly crafty, but I did not wanna deal with that or lose space)

Recurring things like choir, art, ASL classes, Scout nights etc are plugged in first.

At the top near the date I write things that may affect our lessons (like "fire station field trip" reminded me to opt for our collection of fire truck/fire fighter books. Or "Kelsea's Birthday at the water falls" reminded me that we would get a nature hike in at the park, or "grandpas funeral" reminded me not to plan for anything that day).

The "notes" section on the left is great for to-do lists specific to school, library book lists, or general ideas that do not fit in any certain day.

I may play with other lay-outs, like have a section for appointments or the days set schedule, since we do not use all the space on all the days, if I do, I will add some pictures to this post.

These type of things are included in the monthly layout too:


I do not always use many embellishment stickers in this planner but I do like stickers for fun, and the sticker set I linked above came with holiday stickers so I used those. Sometimes I do more decorating and sometimes I just don't think to.

We loosely follow Build Your Library for social studies, science, and literature. I look at that plan as I plug things into my planner.

I fill in the planner both in advance (about a weekish) and more so after the fact. I write things we did do and check off things on the plan as we did them. I don't plan a lot in advance because we do not follow a strict schedule.

I look at the week ahead (using our family calendar) and decide when we can expect to have time/energy/inspiration for things, and plug them in, but I'm not particular on the day we do things so long as we are moving forward in the curriculum we use and doing things most days.

I often will move things from one week to the next, or do a Tuesday plan on a Wednesday or whatever, we aren't strict on this aspect.

I have the levenger arc punch so I can punch work sheets and printables I plan to use, or work samples to save for later:

I keep a happy planner pencil pouch in the back for pens, sticky notes and pencils since I bring this with me to meetings with our charger guide and do not want to bring my entire pen collection:

I have plans to get some dividers for worksheets and reading logs so I can keep more things organized.

I am looking at ways I can make this more child-friendly to use as check lists so that Ellie (and her dad and grandma) can also use it to see what was planned for the day. I hope to combine this with the workbox system we have used off and on too.

I tend to write the lines with regular pen and then use Frixion Pens for the plans since they are erasable.

This planner works really well, is forgiving and flexible, plus colorful and fun to use!

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