Welcome to TOS’s 5 days of homeschooling essentials, day two.

My #2 for of homeschool essentials is a planner. For me, it is the Ultimate Homeschool planner by Debra Bell.

This planner is a life saver when it comes to homeschooling. It allows you to plan for up to 6 students. Everything is blank so you can fill it in as you wish-dates, grids, names. At first, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that. But after using it for a few weeks, I was in love! Many children initially think that being homeschooled is a bad option, especially when one of the things they look forward to about going to school is being with their friends. But as they soon understand, doing this is for their own benefit. Your tutor may not have all the resources that your school can provide, but through the use of the internet, everything is within your reach. Deadlines are also set to make it feel like a schooling environment. “I’d rather be playing with my friends than doing my homework“, is the type of mentality that will leave any student behind on their work. But there are online solutions to help, which means you will be on your way to getting a good grade.

As well as online services, there are many ways that you can be productive while being home schooled. Through traditional methods like using a planner, you can write days of the week, student names, or subject titles in any of the weekly grids. Then, there are monthly pages; each month gets a two page layout. These are also blank, so you can begin, end, and skip any months you’d like. For instance, we didn’t really do much in December, so I didn’t fill in the month of December. What I also like about the monthly layouts, is there are enough daily squares for those really weird months where the days fall in such a way you need a fifth row on the calendar.

There is a lot of space for notes, and each week begins with a page for a scripture focus, and goals. There is also allotted pages for each week’s “memorable moments” which I use as a journal for the kids. Even though we don’t need so much planning power just for preschool, this is a wonderful, thorough, Christian based resource.

Everything I journal and prayerfully plan for children’s educations is neatly organized in one place; that, I love.

There are some complaints about having to write in all the blank dates, etc because the moms didn’t like their handwriting…

I agree. I don’t like my sloppy handwriting. But, I also think it is a great piece of memorabilia for my children one day. I cherish the journal I have of my mom’s when she was pregnant with me, and the handwritten envelopes from my grandmothers. Along with being an amazing planner, this can be a piece like that my children can look back on one day.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is my second homeschool essential! Check it out on Amazon for an inside look and to read reviews.

Don’t forget about the iPad mini giveaway! Enter here:

iPad Mini Giveaway: 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials

 

Want to read about other blogger’s homeschool essentials? click on a link below:

Mary @ Winecup Christian Homeschool

Jenni @ Conversaving

Meghan @ Quiet in the Chaos

Karen @ Tots and Me

Beth @ Weavings

Tawnee @ Adventures in Homeschooling

Karen @ My Harbor Lights

Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings

Kristi @ The Potter’s Hand Academy

Tara @ This Sweet Life