Homeschool Subject Planner

About the Homeschool Subject Planner

In the past, I called this the Quarter Planner Notebook and I have an entire page established called Using the Quarter Planner and that page will have more detail than this page.

Personally, using a subject planner is my favorite way to plan, this is how I have planned every year since I made a subject planner around the late 1990's. At first I used the classic weekly planner and over time, I realized that while the weekly planner is a good planner, it has shortcomings. I made the subject planner to solve the shortcomings, but the subject planner also has shortcomings.

The Notebook

In a nutshell, the Homeschool Subject Planner has lesson plans grouped by subject instead of by week.

The Subject Form

The subject planner form can be the foundation form of all planner-types. When my children were younger, I used my quarter planner forms to map out each subject, and then from there I used the forms to make weekly plans in the two-page classic weekly planner form. When my children were older, I still used a subject planner to map out each subject, but instead of transferring the plans to a weekly planner, the children used the subject forms along with the checklist to move through their classes. On a more personal note, allowing the children to manage their day in this way motivated them. I have an image burned in my memory of giggling and jumping young Young's marking off their checklists.

The Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Each subject can be planned in full on the subject forms.
2. If a student lags behind and moves ahead in one or more subjects, the planner is not affected.
3. Each time a lesson is completed, it can be checked off.

 

Cons:

1. If you have more than one child, then there will be a lot of page turning in the planner during the day.
2. You must have weekly records.

• Solution to the page turning:
  The Checklist

Solution to needing the weekly record.
Fill in a weekly planner either as you go based on what is in the subject planner for that day or fill in a weekly planner at the end of the week after the week's work is passed.

 

The Printable Forms

The subject planner fairly straightforward. One description of what could go in such a planner is on the web page: Using the Quarter Planner.

In the Subject Planner, you will need:

1. Choose the Essential Forms that you need.
2. Add The Checklist (see also Checklist 2)
3. Add your subject planner forms - after filling them with plans. They are found on this web page: Term and Subject Homeschool Planners(Tip: try to match the form to your needs, if in doubt, use the quarter planner)
4. Add a few journal pages for important notes.

 

Suggestions:

• Use dividers for the subjects.
• File a copy of your subject plans for the younger children to use.
• Color code your children and print their subject planners on paper that is their color.