Homeschool Planner

Since Sunday afternoon is usually my day to brew myself a latte and plan our school lessons for the week, I thought I'd share with you the planner I'm currently using.

My sister actually discovered this Debra Bell planner over the summer and, like sisters do when you find a good thing, you pass it on!  Having not used a homeschool planner in 7 years, and even then having my planner all typed up when it arrived (we used Sonlight), my only reference to lesson-planning books was my own teaching background in public schools.

Which means I don't have a lot of experience in order to compare various homeschool planners out there, but so far ~ for what I needed and was looking for ~ The Debra Bell Ultimate Homeschool Planner has been a huge blessing.

Even as I use the word 'blessing' to describe my planner, I recognize it may sound dramatic or exaggerative.  However, what has truly blessed me the most is Ms. Bell's intentional design which helps keep my weekly focus balanced and Christ-centered.  Here is how she does it:

The above page is meant to be filled out at the beginning of each week and consists of four categories: Bible Plan, Battle Plan (with Fighter Verse), Prayers, and Hospitality/Outreach.

This page also includes a new quote each week.  The quote I read when I sat down to plan last week, Oct. 1-5 was:

"He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for earth

 - for God rather than for man -

he is the parent that will be called wise at the last."

J.C. Ryle

 

When I say this planner is a blessing, this is exactly what I mean.  I spend a lot of time praying for guidance and direction as I train these children in the way they should go.  And yes, academics are a huge part of that training.  But as their mother, I have the immense responsibility &  privilege of also training them in truth, grace, integrity, self-esteem, justice, kindness, compassion, and courage, among other virtues.  To not intentionally plan these "lessons" into our week would be a disservice to my children and to my role as a teacher in this family.  

 

As I plan out our week, quotes like the one above provide enormous encouragement to rightfully prioritize God's Word and Biblical virtues into our week as these are every bit as important as math, english, history, etc.