Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 14 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 9 months ago by Karen.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

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Posts
July 26, 2014 at 2:04 am
AFthfulJrney
Participant
I’m a paper and pen sorta gal and I was wondering if any of you could recommend a planner that you use to schedule out your year.
July 26, 2014 at 10:15 am
Tristan
Participant
SCM has a paper planner, or what I think of as a planner, it’s HERE.
There are so many different ones out there but most don’t work for me because they can’t fit so many children’s plans in them. I tend to make my own planning pages as we go.
July 26, 2014 at 12:03 pm
HollyS
Participant
I also like to make my own. I print a few pages from DonnaYoung.org and use SCM’s Planning Your CM Education as well. For our daily plans I’ve found it best to make my own. I can customize them for our family size and specific subjects. I keep the pages in a binder.
July 26, 2014 at 1:45 pm
mrsmccardell
Participant
I can email a copy of the one I made. It’s a 2-page spread and includes 2 small sections to track our nature study days and free play….helpful to see at quick glance that it’s happening and how often. Also includes notes and to-do. Currently for 3 kiddos but can fit 1 more. Pm if interested.
July 26, 2014 at 3:45 pm
TailorMade
Participant
While I use CMO for formal documentation, I use a paper planner throughout the day. I’ve learned so much from the SCM planning tips. The FREE “Plans for My Year” download is a helpful starting point. It can be found here under the Step-by-Step Guide heading here: https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/curriculum-guide/
I’ve also been pleased to discover how other moms on this forum create their own paper planners. I’ve added Character Reports to this year’s planners based on several other mom’s reports of how they use them as part of their children’s portfolios and character development.
The actual form I’ve found useful for this next year’s plans is found here: http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/planners/planner.htm#week_2.  When you download it for free, you have the ability to fill it in with your plans for each week, month, or term depending on how much you plan and print out at a time.
I intended to print out an entire year’s plan, broken down into three terms. Each term was to be broken down even further into three sections of time within a term based on how the books and activities are lining out for the year. But, I’ve decided it will be best for me and our children to just print out the first 1/3 of the first term and determine whether, or not our revamped schedule is going to work. I still have the overall tentative plan scratched out on my legal pad, but I’ve invested so much time in the past with getting the ultimate year all planned and on paper, only to have to make so many adjustments that the planners are just lowered to scratch paper status……which is why I love the CMO. Still, I’m hopeful that this year’s plans will be finished on time, with order, and kept in a pretty binder after the fact.
I’m hoping the links work. I can’t copy/paste on this forum, so I always have to type them in and often leave something out.
July 26, 2014 at 5:10 pm
AFthfulJrney
Participant
Thank you everyone for your help! I wish the CMO wasn’t so expensive, because I would probably just use it, but I do like the look of the pages from Donna Young…and that they are free! 🙂
July 27, 2014 at 3:55 am
ForJoy
Member
I’ve used “School Planner for Homeschooling Mothers” which I found at the Rainbow Resource website. It is not listed as a Charlotte Mason planner but it is! There are spots for planning Plutarch studies, Artist study, Musician/composer study, Nature study, copywork, narration, dictation. It’s simple but lovely.
July 27, 2014 at 4:40 am
Katrina in AK
Participant
I saw this post just today, and thought it looked fun, too.
largefamilymothering.com/2014/07/11/how-to-make-a-homeschool-planner-for-under-a-dollar/
I might have to make one…
July 27, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Des
Participant
I have the homeschool helper app on my iPad. I bought it last year and didn’t really use it, I’d actually forgotten about it, but am deciding to try it again this year. Also, if you have onenote on your computer, you can use it.
July 27, 2014 at 6:46 pm
TailorMade
Participant
@ForJoy, Thanks for posting the title from RR. I don’t know that anyone has ever shared this one and it seems like what many of us have looked for quite often as far as paper is concerned. The layout may not work for some, but seems to have what many CM moms aim to cover.
July 27, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Karen
Participant
Des, how do you use OneNote for a planner? I have OneNote and LOVE it for collecting bits of info and I use it sort of as a scratch pad, keeping lists of gift ideas, phone numbers, etc. But how do I use it as a planner?

July 27, 2014 at 11:03 pm
Des
Participant
Karen, I have not used onenote for planning, but have been reading the post on the WTM board about people who have. I’ve just been researching free options and going through things I already have on hand. Most people add different notebooks for each subject, some use one notebook and add tabs for each subject. I’m not certain that I’m going to use onenote for planning, but I am going to use it for scheduling.
July 28, 2014 at 1:15 am
Karen
Participant
Okay, I was confused. 🙂 (situation normal! )
July 28, 2014 at 1:32 am
Janell
Participant
Karen,
I use Onenote 2010 for our homeschool. I have used the CMO for a while and have transitioned us this summer to Onenote completely because I felt it was time for me to be more detailed in planning. My older children share their notebooks with me, and it has been great (my husband taught us how he uses Onenote for organizing his project manager job).
Each child and our family has a notebook. In each notebook I have a tab for each subject going across the top (which corresponds to our workbox subjects in sterilite drawers). In each subject tab, I am able to make a page for every book with checkboxes for each chapter and a spot to date the reading. Each week I highlight the lessons or chapters I want to assign for the week. The older children can attach their narrations and other pdf documents right next to the book chapters read. I also use pages titled Past, Present, Future and catagorize each book page under one (finished reading, current reading, future reading). It’s fun to make book pages because I copy the picture of the books. Very visual. I copy each book page and store them in my library catalog onenote notebook to use again.
July 28, 2014 at 9:08 am
Karen
Participant

This is an option I never even considered – thank you for mentioning and explaining it. I knew I loved OneNote and how we use it – it appears it’s even more useful than I thought!