Happy Planning Your Homeschool Year

I wasn’t going to be one of those planner girls. You know the ones. The ones with the Happy Planners, piles of washi tape, and stickers.

Will. Not. Do. It.

Then, the allure of a pretty happy planner called to me and I found myself “just looking”. The next thing I knew, the friendly planner gal standing next to me introduced me to a fancy hole punch that would allow me to put any pages that I wanted into the planner.

Which meant that I could insert the forms from my homeschool planner into the pages of the Happy Planner.

Sold.

And that’s how I became one of those planner girls.

{This post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for my time in exchange for my honest opinion. See my full disclosure.}

Homeschool Planner vs. Life Planner

This past school year I tried to keep up with two planners.  I had a homeschool planner for my school plans and super simple bullet journal for the rest of life.

My bullet journal worked out incredibly well. I loved it. Household planning was very under control.

Unfortunately, my school planner really fell apart this year. I didn’t keep up with it the way that I wanted to and I felt the effects of my disorganization at times. As a homeschooling mom, my life and our homeschool aren’t separate items.  I knew that something needed to change, but I wasn’t sure of the solution.

This is probably why I found myself seeking answers in the planner aisle at Michael’s.

One Planner to Rule Them All

Then I saw it. The Happy Planner.

The 18 month BIG Happy Planner. In the Daydream style. I opened it.

I knew this was it. My solution.

I was immediately drawn to the three blocks available for the weekly calendar.

• Top block: Household (meals, chores, appointments)
• Middle block: School activities and priorities
• Lower block: Blogging and work (a new section I need at this point).

I had no doubt I could make this work, but the Happy Planner alone lacked what I needed for the nitty gritty homeschool planning and record keeping.

I knew I could print all of the forms from Pam’s Plan Your Year Kit, but I wasn’t sure how to put it all together.

Then someone in the aisle showed me the happy planner punch.

You mean that I can make those special hole punches in any paper in the world and I can put them in this planner?

Yes. Yes, you can.

{insert the sound of angels singing}

I am in! I am SO in.

One Happy Homeschool Planner

Later that week, I finally sat down with my Plan Your Year Planning Kit and my new Happy Planner.

Don’t they make a lovely pair?

The Plan Your Year Kit comes with so many goodies:

• 79-Page Planning Guide (pictured above)
• Over 40 editable planning forms
• Audio workshops with Sarah Mackenzie and Mystie Winckler
• Free lifetime updates and bonuses
• Free Facebook community

Of course, I quickly dove into the forms and began printing. Pam includes so many great options so you can customize your planner.

With my handy Arc Punch (recommended to me so that I can punch laminated sheets and cardstock), I was able to get to work on building a school section for my planner.

After I satisfied my urge to print the lovely pages, I took some time to read through the planning guide. In her guide, Pam walks you step by step through the “big picture” of your school year to the daily routine for your children. She offers tips, ideas, and a variety of options.

One thing I love about Pam’s guide is that she isn’t offering a “one size fits all” formula. Instead, her desire is to guide you so that you can design a plan for the school year as unique as your family.

Homeschool Planner Set-Up

I shared my planner and a few ideas on a Facebook Live video. If you want to see the planners working together in action, then you can watch it below:

• At minute 10:38, I share my favorite form that I am using to lay out my whole year!
• Around minute 18:00 I share how I am trimming the planning sheets from Pam’s kit to fit in my monthly layout sections and still look like “inserts”.

In the video above, a viewer suggested that I laminate the page that I love so much to keep it nice and sturdy.

I tried it and shared later that day how well it worked:

The Homeschool Planning Kit from Pam includes lifetime access to all of her downloadable forms. Every new form that she adds will be accessible to anyone who has purchased her kit.

What I love about Pam is that she listens to her customers and when there is enough demand for a particular form or layout, then she tries to make the time to create it. There are new files available in her Facebook Community that were requested this year.

Right now the Plan Your Year Kit is $24, but on June 20th the price will increase to $29 so this is a great time to purchase it.

Happy Planners are available at many of your local craft and hobby shops as well as on Amazon. Of course, you can go crazy with stickers and washi tape, but that is your call.

There is nothing as pretty and promising and HAPPY as a fresh, clean planner. Now go enjoy planning your homeschool year!

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Mary Wilson

Mary is a writer and mother to four kids ranging from elementary to high school.

She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.

She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

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