This may sound strange, but I am not a planner. I tend to “fly by the seat of my pants.” If I am honest with myself, I know that this causes me unnecessary stress and extra anxiety.
So, why do I persist? Well, the answer to that probably won’t surprise you. And no…it’s not because I enjoy being super-unorganized.
The answer – well, quite frankly because planning takes time and time is something I severely lack. As a homeschooling mom who works full-time from home, I often feel overwhelmed and like there are not enough hours in my day. Even if you do not work from home, I know you get me, right? I mean, we are moms who are investing our energy and brain cells into teaching our children all of the skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in life.
On top of homeschooling, working from home, field trips, and library due dates, I handle our bills, appointments, remember to coordinate around my teen’s work schedule, and try not to forget the groceries that we need from the store.
I am embarrassed to say I am super unorganized. My office is the first thing people see when they enter my house due to the glass french doors that reveal my desk to curious eyes. Visitors will glimpse my current “planning system” – cheap spiral notebooks. For an organized person, pen and paper may prove to be enough, but I have sloppy handwriting and my notebooks are everywhere. They are not color coded or labeled and if I am lucky, they may have a date on a page.
If I am feeling the need to be neat, I have this terrible habit of “starting fresh” with a NEW notebook. This ends up being a horrible mistake because it adds another dimension to my lack of organizational skills. If I have to find something I wrote down in a brainstorming session, forget it!
So, I spilled my secret to you – my life is chaos when it comes to planning and organizing. I recently found something that is going to change all that and I am excited to tell you about it.
Homeschool Planet. Have you heard about it? It’s been around for a while, but as I admitted to you, I am not a planner. I have actually tried to use online planners before, but the time spent figuring out a new system is exhausting and makes my notebooks look like the easy way out.
I was viewing a demo on Homeschool Planet and was BLOWN AWAY by how easy it was to set-up. Then I discovered they have instant-loading lesson plans for many of the curricula that we use (or will be using) in our homeschool.
The lesson plans are not the dreaded “teacher guides” that I refuse to use, but more like a scheduling system to plan out what to do and when. My daughter thrives on checking off boxes and my lack of planning deprives her of that. With Homeschool Planet not only can I create all her “check boxes” in a very short time, but I can also add in her chores. Combined, that makes it score an A+.
What if we take a day off un-planned? Well, it take about 2 clicks to shift all the lessons forward. Seriously, these features are endless. You can even use it on your smartphones and send yourself (and your other family members) reminders via text or email.
So, my goal for 2019 is to get ORGANIZED. I also want to clear off my desk, but one thing at a time, right?
I am going to start using Homeschool Planet as our homeschool lesson planner. I am most excited about their Easy Grammar lesson plans for scheduling this curriculum out. Easy Grammar is not numbered with lessons for the elementary years (this will make Easy Grammar SO much easier to spread out evenly). It will also serve as our homeschool record keeping to make portfolio time so much easier!
I plan to create an account for my teen, who graduated last year, so she can add in her work schedule. My personal account will have some basic work commitments, personal appointments, household duties, grocery lists and more. I may create an account for my husband so he can see everyone’s schedules and I can push reminders to him when I need him to pick up something at the store.
The lesson plans we will be using:
Note: Lesson plans are NOT teacher’s guides. If you are like me, that is a huge relief. Their lesson plans not only schedule out each day’s assignments for YOUR school year, but they also have enrichment links to activities, dictionaries, homeschool worksheets, videos, etc. This makes individual subjects much enhanced!
There are over 700 lesson plans available with more releasing all the time. We are talking with them soon about creating lesson plans for our Daily Skill Building Series. I have some big ideas for this, stay tuned!
You can try Homeschool Planet for FREE and throughout the month of January you can get 2 months for just $2 with coupon code HSG. This offer expires 1/31/19, but you can get 30 days free anytime.
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Carrie is the owner & operator of Homeschool Giveaways. She has been homeschooling for over a decade and has successfully graduated her first homeschooler. She has two girls and works side by side at home with her awesome husband. She has been saved by grace, fails daily, but continues to strive toward the prize of the high calling of being a daughter of the Most High God.
