Extras always seem to weigh me down. They require work, rob me of my energy, and breed unnecessary guilt. As a busy, work-at-home, homeschooling mom, I don't have time for that. I'd rather focus my effort on things that bring me joy and add, not detract, from my day. And so I purge all the extras, guilt-free. I prune away any non-essentials...of my time, of my home, of my school.
Some time ago, I made the decision to paper purge. For years, I used a popular homeschool planner. And while I was happy with the basic set-up of the planner, I always felt a wee-bit burdened by the pages and pages of extras that I never really used. FOMO sometimes guilt-drove me to fill in the blanks. But all the time spent logging unnecessaries seemed like such a waste.Then, I stumbled upon another popular planner. It was a bare-bones, basic planner--everything I thought I needed. It was sensible and functional. Workaday, you might say, like orthopedic shoes and brown paper lunch sacks. But just like those, the planner could not inspire or excite me. It did the job, mind you, but was so aggressively average looking that I may as well have been using a spiral notebook to schedule our days.
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
I was at an impasse. It seemed I had two choices: flashy and overwhelming or prudent and blah.
It became glaringly obvious that it was time to break up with my underwhelming planners and forge a new relationship.
When I went looking around for a planner that could fit the bill--one that combined the appeal of my first planner and the simplicity of the second, I came away empty-handed. So, as with most of life, necessity became the mother of invention.
I needed a planner that would give me the bravery to chart a unique course for me and mine.
I needed a planner that would fit my life, not one that forced its way in.
I needed a planner that would adapt to the unique needs of homeschooling.
Enter the planner that was inspired by my book, Homeschool Bravely and its scheduling companion, The Quick-Start Guide to Brave Homeschool Schedules: The Brave Homeschool Planner!
It became glaringly obvious that it was time to break up with my underwhelming planners and forge a new relationship.
When I went looking around for a planner that could fit the bill--one that combined the appeal of my first planner and the simplicity of the second, I came away empty-handed. So, as with most of life, necessity became the mother of invention.
I needed a planner that would give me the bravery to chart a unique course for me and mine.
I needed a planner that would fit my life, not one that forced its way in.
I needed a planner that would adapt to the unique needs of homeschooling.
Enter the planner that was inspired by my book, Homeschool Bravely and its scheduling companion, The Quick-Start Guide to Brave Homeschool Schedules: The Brave Homeschool Planner!
What Makes the Brave Homeschool Planner Better
It's made by a homeschool mom for a homeschool mom.
I learned early on in my homeschooling journey that no run-of-the-mill planner would do for a homeschooler's schedule. A traditional classroom-style planner falls short too: the calendar grids don't align with a homeschool lifestyle, the lesson plan space only accommodates one grade level, and the emphasis is on grades and rubrics. The Brave Homeschool Planner, on the other hand, was designed by a homeschool mom with the specific needs of a homeschool mom in mind.
It's the perfect blend of pretty and practical.
As I mentioned, The Brave Homeschool Planner does NOT include a lot of superfluous extras that those expensive homeschool planners add on like menu sheets, budget planning pages, and Christmas gift lists...not because those types of lists aren't important, but because most homeschool moms prefer not to muddy the planning waters with all of those things. Having all of those extra home-keeping pages end up distracting from the work at hand. There's no fluff in the Brave Homeschool Planner. There are only homeschool-specific planning pages that help to create a homeschool focus.
It's a basic homeschool portfolio.
Because the Brave Homeschool Planner provides space for keeping accurate records of attendance, curriculum choices, field trips, book lists, as well as daily schedules and lesson plans, it acts as a basic homeschool portfolio. At the end of the year, it can be stashed away with work samples and projects to complete a comprehensive paper trail for the entire year.
It's firm but flexible.
In the past when you've used homeschool planners, you were probably faced with two scenarios. You could write down the lessons you hoped to accomplish on a particular date and then work yourself into a tizzy to complete all those lessons on that date in order to not get behind your plan OR worse yet, you could write down the lessons, not complete all of them on the date you had hoped you would, and then spend the rest of the year feeling a few days ahead in some subjects and a few days behind in others.
But, with the Brave Homeschool Planner, there's a Door Number Three. Unlike most planners, the Brave Homeschool Planner provides days, not dates. At the top of each weekly scheduling page is a small month-at-a-glance calendar to provide a bird's eye view of the month. But each scheduling column on the page only includes the day of the week, not a hard-and-fast date. That means before the school year even starts, you can write down the lessons you hope to accomplish on a dateless column, and then later, during the school year, you can write in the date when the lessons were actually accomplished. It's a small mind shift, but one that eliminates any unnecessary mom guilt.
Days are suggestions that help keep momentum during the school week. Dates are bullies that chain a homeschool mom to feelings of failure.
It provides room for the unplanned.
The "Notes" space that runs along the bottom of each 2-page scheduling spread provides space for jotting down any "unplanned" ideas you might have throughout the week like books you'd like to check out from the library for an upcoming unit study, words that you've found your kids consistently misspelling, or potential projects you need to buy supplies for. "Notes" leaves room for the detours of the week--the unplanned ideas that need space too.
What's Included in The Brave Homeschool Planner
In this 172-page digital download, you will receive a printable homeschool planner that includes the following pages:
- Emergency Contact Info
- Potential Field Trips
- What We're All About
- Daily Schedule Template
- Year-at-a-Glance Calendar
- Attendance Sheets (for 4 students)
- Curriculum/Book Planning Sheets (for 4 students)
- 2-Page Monthly Calendar Spreads (July 2022-July 2023)
- Weekly Planning Pages (July 2022-June 2023) for 4 students
For your printing convenience, there are two versions to choose from: Full-Color and Black & White with Colored Accents.
Wanna Win a Planner of Your Very Own?
Of course, you do! Now's your chance to win one of six planner downloads I'm giving away!
To enter:
Leave a comment below telling me what part of planning/scheduling your homeschool year is daunting AND/OR head on over to Instagram. Be sure to follow @unlikely_homeschool. Tag at least one friend in the comments section. If you win, so does your friend! You can tag as many friends as you would like for additional chances to win. Just be sure to tag each in a separate comment. For an additional Insta entry, share about the giveaway in your stories, but be sure to tag @unlikely_homeschool.
No purchase necessary to win. Must be 18 years old or older to enter. Two winners will be randomly selected here on the blog and two winners and their friends will be randomly selected on Instagram. All winners will be announced sometime after Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The winners will be notified here in the comments and/or Instagram and will have 72 hours to respond. If an email is not provided or the winner does not respond, the prize will be forfeited and a new winner will be randomly selected. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook or Instagram.
***Mandatory Entry: To enter, be sure to leave a comment in the "comments" section of this post telling me what part of planning/scheduling your homeschool year is daunting OR tag someone on Instagram. If you are logging into the blog comments section as "anonymous," please include at least your first name at the end of your comment.
I’m a planner, and like to plan the whole year in the summer too! Spring Me thanks Summer Me too haha. The most daunting part of planning for me is narrowing down what we do! I want to do all the things, but also know that we need breaks and I need to hold things more open-handedly. Thanks for this fun resource!
ReplyDeleteI love the pretty and practical combination. My greatest need is adjusting for the unexpected and planning for fun. I am way too Type A.
ReplyDeleteHomeschool planning is becoming a bit harder for me this year as I have my oldest entering high school. All of the record keeping seems a bit overwhelming. Thank you for your encouragement!
ReplyDeleteI love planning… I’m daunted by pens and planned ahead so I often reverse plan as we get stuff done but inevitably fall behind and end up having to catch up.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a YouTube video flip through of the planner!
I think the most daunting part of planning is allowing room for fun, illnesses, and other unpredictable things. I love the idea of planning it all out, but Im not brave enough to do it pen. -Jessica H.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part is to leave space to be flexible... for a day where we go down a rabbit hole, or the weather is too good to do school, or sickness, etc.
ReplyDeleteI find the most daunting part is getting started! Once I make time to sit down and plan I feel so accomplished. I always think it will be worse than it actually is! We are switching to Truthquest history this year, so I'm feeling the weight of scheduling, but I know the effort will be worth it. As you always say, future me with thank me later!
ReplyDeleteThe most daunting part of planning out my school year is actually doing it. In the summer, I have all these great ideas, but for some reason I don't end up following through on most of them.
ReplyDeleteThe most daunting part of planning out my school year is actually doing it. In the summer, I have all these great ideas, but for some reason I don't end up following through on most of them.
ReplyDelete(Sorry...forgot to sign my name.)
Jessica S.
Being the type A person that I am I pre-planned my first year only to find that I have a profoundly dyslexic kiddo that does not learn at a predictable rate. Since then I always considered planning ahead to be an all or nothing thing and therefore did nothing. However, it just dawned on me that I can do a hybrid! I can pre-plan predictable subjects like history, science, art and music. With book lists, material lists and field trips they need the most planning anyway. Then I can write down our other unpredictable subjects as we go. Since they are open and go curriculum I don't need to plan ahead at all and I won't feel behind when we have to spend 2 weeks plodding through one lesson. I feel inspired now! Thanks for popping into my inbox and getting my wheels turning.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!!! My difficulty is that I love to plan but my strong willed children don’t like to follow a plan! 😩
ReplyDeleteI’m still a homeschool newbie, so the planning part still feels very daunting… filtering through and selecting what is practical and realistic (FOMO!!), and then sticking to it while allowing for flexibility… I love the idea of this planner combining the beauty (because beautiful stationary things are inspiring!) and practical (because as pretty as it is, if It’s not practical, we won’t do it!).
ReplyDeleteAs we have moved into H.S. (oldest will be a senior & have a sophomore and freshman as well next year) it's a balance of having them do enough to be prepared for college and not over burdening them. Allowing them experiences to help them figure out their passions without being so busy I don't allow enjoyment and fun for the younger 3.
ReplyDeleteDelia
I struggle with balancing the plan with life. For example we have taken school off for a good month because of sickness that has been like waves beating us down. So now I'm debating if we keep going through summer doing school or if we cut our losses. Reality vs ideally is a huge struggle for me.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy planning. I do it every Sunday. What I find daunting is when I plan ambitiously and we aren't able to get it all done and my planner is 'off' on the days. I've combated this by writing my plans in pencil then writing over it in pen when we complete the task. Working so far for us.
ReplyDeleteI love the planning outline, but detailed planning just KILLS me! I get bogged down too easily and forget about the important things, like recording.
ReplyDeleteCurrently I use a notebook, and each night I write out what they will do the next day. I am not sure if it is daunting, but it is definitely tiring! This is my second year homeschooling, but I don't know if the first year qualifies considering it was a mass confusion of curriculum choices until we found what worked. I have never really had a planner, but I do know that your book "Homeschool Bravely" kept me going when I was ready to throw in the towel so for that I am grateful. I can never seem to get those extra activities worked in, aside from the trips to the library our days are so scattered. Maybe a planner would help, maybe it's me, lol. Either way I will keep plodding along in this homeschooling venture because I know that there is no place better for my children to be than with me. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteI’m a planner too! My oldest is heading into high school this fall so I’m trying to seek out new plans and resources and changing up our homeschool this next year. That task has me excited and nervous!
ReplyDeleteThe hardest thing about planning for me is when something gets in the way of accomplishing the plan! I have a hard time rearranging because I tend to fill our days too full.
ReplyDeleteThe most daunting part of planning for me is the dates! For when we get off track with the scheduled dates, and then feel like you are behind the entire rest of the school year!
ReplyDeleteI love to plan, and I love organization! The most daunting thing for me right now is trying to decide what type of schedule is best for my high schoolers.
ReplyDeleteI think the most daunting for me is planning for a whole year at a time. I have no idea what will come up in the spring when I am planning back in June or July. i do good to plan a month or sometimes a week at a time.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, you are the winner! You'll receive a digital download of the 2022-2023 Brave Homeschool Planner. Can you email me at theunlikelyhomeschool@yahoo.com and I'll get this out to you next week?
DeleteI love planning, but I have always struggled with the feeling of getting behind. Normal school planners just never transferred over to the flexibility of homeschooling. I just ended up using spiral notebooks and I would love to upgrade!!
ReplyDeleteI used to be daunted by completing assignments on the date listed on our agenda; if we missed a day, I found myself pushing/harassing us to get caught up. Now I list the assignments in an undated column and fill in the date they were completed. If we miss a day due to illness or life, I make a note at the bottom of the page as to the date gap and we start where we left off. No guilt or feeling behind.
ReplyDeleteMarci M added the above unknown comment.
DeleteTrying to figure out what will work best for each of the 4 kids and what books to have them read for the year.
ReplyDeleteI love to plan...over plan would be my husband's word for it! Ha! I feel like it's easy to plan school but I never plan for the interruptions! I forget about doctor appointments, piano lessons, karate, 4H, you know all the fun stuff! Then I try and squeeze it in and wonder why it never works! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to put my name - Amanda P
DeleteI've tried MANY different planners, but the thing I struggle with the most is planning for the wide range of ages I'm teaching. My second biggest struggle is remembering not to plan very much for co-op days, because I KNOW that my kids won't do "extra" those days.
ReplyDeleteI'm logged in with one of my emails, but I'm Molly C. (just in case it's needed)
DeleteI LOVE planning, I just am bad at following through with those plans...usually because something gets in the way and ruins those plans so I just give up on them! I've been searching for a flexible homeschool planner, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI think the most daunting part is printing and prepping materials. I love the planning side of it!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Emily, you are the winner! You'll receive a digital download of the 2022-2023 Brave Homeschool Planner. Can you email me at theunlikelyhomeschool@yahoo.com and I'll get this out to you next week?
DeleteI'm planning to start homeschooling this fall and the daunting thing for me right now is not knowing what all to plan for yet. I'm a little worried about messing up but I'm convinced this is the best choice for our family. Wish us luck!
ReplyDeleteDanielle F.
Love the look of this planner! I lobe planning, I'm just terrible at sticking with my plan. I'm a work in progress
ReplyDeleteThe most challenging part is what to teach as we are new to this and haven't committed to a curriculum. Love watching your videos and reading your blog for inspiration. L. Giles
ReplyDeleteMy email address is gileslatarsha@gmail.com
DeleteA planner is definitely key to my check list survival!! When planning for school, the daunting part is just getting started. I have to get all the ideas out of my head and onto paper before even planning. Then, the fun begins!!
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part about planning for me is sticking to the plan! I tend to get part way into things and get sidetracked by something else!
ReplyDeleteBut I still try every year, and I think I am getting better at making flexible schedules.
Elaina
I struggling with over-planning. I want to do all the things, all the time. Then I see a cool unit study set up on Instagram and want to change everything. This might help me stick to my goal because IT IS SO PRETTY!...and I don’t want to make it ugly by crossing stuff out! Inspiration to stick to a goal!
ReplyDeleteAll the time it takes to plan is my Achilles heel! Too often other stuff comes up or other interests and I venture away from the original plan. Then I sometimes feel like planning is pointless because I spent all the time doing it, only to end up doing something other than the plan. It's a vicious cycle! I'd love to find a planner that allows flexibility and doesn't micromanage our day too much.
ReplyDeleteIt is my first year homeschooling and it has been a challenge to learn to be flexible!!! I plan the schedulle with all dates on it and them a kid get sick, a friend "kidnap" us to a Aquarium field trip, PMS, life happen.... then I have to change all the dates and be cool about it. Therefore flexibility is my daunting in homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part for me is trying to find balance and flexibility for illness/lazy days.
ReplyDelete-Kenya D.
The most daunting yet most rewarding is sitting down over the summer to schedule out all the things and figure out which curriculums to use. As a mom of 5 with kids at all the different levels there is a lot of prayer, discernment, and effort put into the process!
ReplyDelete-Erin
We are about to start homeschooling in the fall and I am overwhelmed with how much I need to prepare and plan! This will help me organize my thoughts and plan for the year! What a blessing! The whole process of preparing and planning seems daunting right now!!
ReplyDeleteJessica Johnson - j.johnsonbcba@gmail.com
DeleteNilda Díaz (enyd)- I think the hardest part is to be flexible with all the appointments that we had this year. With new challenges and health issues we have to keep up.
ReplyDeleteI love the part of the scripture of the year!!!!
Love the part
The hardest part of planning for me is being flexible and not be a perfectionist that wants to throw in the towel if plans go awry. Trying to be better about progress over perfection.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy planning but I am always thrown for a loop by all the interruptions. I need to figure out how to plan more flexibly. I'm also great at finding cool books but I don't implement them well or at all, so they just sit on my shelves unused.
ReplyDeleteI have never made a planner for homeschooling. I mainly planned appointments and made to do list for myself. After reading about this planner, I could see how efficient and orginized my homeschooling life could be. VERA
ReplyDeleteMy biggest stressors right now are trying to figure out which resources to use for each subject and how to combine subjects wherever possible. I'm planning our third year of homeschooling and still spend too much time trying to check boxes instead of allowing for some flexibility and interest led rabbit holes.
ReplyDeleteI have the hardest time planning because I get overwhelmed. I think this planner would help me so much.
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult part of planning for me is that my husband and I work in the ministry and our days often change unexpectedly because of ministry needs. My husband also travels a lot and so it’s hard to plan specific assignments on specific days because I never know if he will be home to help or not. The planner looks beautiful and I love the idea of not writing the “hoped for assignments” on specific dates during the month
ReplyDeleteMisty H is my name
DeleteHi I’m Casie McBrayer. My email is casielouise@icloud.com. I guess the most daunting part of planning is actually sitting down to plan. I think I’m going to do it “wrong” so much that it’s been probably a year or more since I’ve even planned. 🥶 I’ve actually never kept a consistent planner. 🫥
ReplyDeleteHomeschool was not even on my radar. I was happy to have the opportunity to send my two boys to private school but when they started struggling to keep up with the fast paced curriculum I had to look at other options. We start homeschooling next year and I'm overwhelmed but excited. I'm the type of person that has to follow a recipe to cook so having a planner is essential for me.
ReplyDeleteStarting is the most daunting for me.
ReplyDelete