Homeschool Subject Planner

About the Homeschool Subject Planner

In the past, I called this the Quarter Planner Notebook and I have an entire page established called Using the Quarter Planner and that page will have more detail than this page.

Personally, using a subject planner is my favorite way to plan, this is how I have planned every year since I made a subject planner around the late 1990's. At first I used the classic weekly planner and over time, I realized that while the weekly planner is a good planner, it has shortcomings. I made the subject planner to solve the shortcomings, but the subject planner also has shortcomings.

The Notebook

In a nutshell, the Homeschool Subject Planner has lesson plans grouped by subject instead of by week.

The Subject Form

The subject planner form can be the foundation form of all planner-types. When my children were younger, I used my quarter planner forms to map out each subject, and then from there I used the forms to make weekly plans in the two-page classic weekly planner form. When my children were older, I still used a subject planner to map out each subject, but instead of transferring the plans to a weekly planner, the children used the subject forms along with the checklist to move through their classes. On a more personal note, allowing the children to manage their day in this way motivated them. I have an image burned in my memory of giggling and jumping young Young's marking off their checklists.

The Pros and Cons of the Subject Planner

Pros:

1. Each subject can be planned in full on the subject forms.
2. If a student lags behind and moves ahead in one or more subjects, the planner is not affected.
3. Each time a lesson is completed, it can be checked off.

Cons:

1. If you have more than one child, then there will be a lot of page turning in the planner during the day.
2. It is a con if you must have weekly planner records.

• Solution to the page turning:
  The Checklist
  

Solution 1 to needing the weekly record.
If you must have a weekly record to show then, fill in a weekly planner either the week before, or as you go based on what is in the subject planner for that day, or fill in a weekly planner at the end of the week after the week's work has been completed. See: Transfer Plans from Subject Form to Weekly Form

Solution 2 to needing the weekly record.
Donna Young's XLS Homeschool V Planner is a Subject Planner and with it, you can generate a printable weekly planner with lesson plans filled in. However, my V Planner is a premium item, which means that it is not online. V Planner is available with a YoungMinds subscription.

The Printable Forms

In the Subject Planner, you will need:

1. Choose the Essential Forms that you need.
2. Add The Checklist (see also Checklist 2)
3. Add your subject planner forms - after filling them with plans. They are found on this web page: Term and Subject Homeschool Planners and Row Planners. (Row planners might be better for weekly master plans.)
   Tip: try to match the form to your needs, if in doubt, use the quarter planner.
   Tip 2: Remember, unless you are using the term lesson planner forms in an unusual way, do not add a date to the indivdual lesson plans - no Monday through Friday either.
4. Add a few journal pages for important notes.
5. Any household forms that you want to include (optional) After all, if household chores are not in a place that you will see, then a chore might go undone. If it helps, print one of my big notebook block calendars that has one page per month or two pages per month and pencil in appointments, chores, and important dates. Also consider writing a month's worth of lunch menus. Reuse the menu throughout the year.

Suggestions:

• Use dividers for the subjects. A cheap way to do that is to add a tab to a printed cover sheets.
• File a copy of your subject plans for the younger children to use.
• Color code your children and print their subject planners on paper that is their color.

Related at DonnaYoung.org

• Using the Quarter Planner
• How To Make Simple Lesson Plans for Homeschool
• Transfer Plans from Subject Form to Weekly Form and the difference between subject forms and weekly forms
• V Planner XLS/XLSX speadsheet - a subject planner that displays weekly lesson plans

Hello Visitor!

I am currently working on this website to add to its ginormousness. Thank you for visiting, and please subscribe yearly to access my many printable files! Donna Young
May 13, 2021