Planning for Next School Year including Downloadable Forms!

I know, I know...  It's terribly early to be planning for the 2013-14 school year, but that's how I roll!  Not to mention, my normal planning month, April, will be filled with baby-gazing and resting.  So, I have to get ready for next year NOW!

It will take me a while to complete my planner.  I've made my list of the contents I plan to have:

• Pretty Cover (I'll laminate a pretty sheet of scrapbook paper)
• Title page (with my school title, school year, and the kids' grade levels)
• Envelopes (I put in several 8 1/2 X 5 envelopes so I can put in loose papers without them being loose)
• Calendars Tab
• Our daily schedule by subject (it helps me to know what I want to accomplish each day, but becomes obsolete after the first couple of months, either because I get used to our schedule or it changes)
• School attendance calendar (I get this from donnayoung.org)
• 2013-14 monthly calendars (I've found several free calendars with pretty, cute, or whimsical borders and backgrounds; I've always used plain ones in the past, but I'm going with "fun" this time)
• Plan/Assign Tab
• 54 weeks of planning sheets (I make my own in Excel; 2 pages per week with blanks for all the kids and their subjects.  I fill these in on a weekly basis.)
• History & Science Tab
• History plan (This is where my advanced planning comes in handy; I plan, by chapter of the history text(s) we are using, the topics to be covered for both the Grammar Stage and the Logic Stage along with documentaries we might watch and supplemental books for the kids to read.)
• Science plan (Just like history; although, this coming year, I'm changing texts to a Logic Stage text, so I'll have to figure out what to do for my Grammar Stage children using the same texts.)
• Kids' Grade Plans Tab (Another realm of advanced planning - I go through all of the kids' texts and decide when all of the lessons will be taught and build in breaks; of course by the end of the third month, I'm usually off track, but I like knowing where I would like to be and eventually we catch up.)
• Lists Tab (I make several lists for things I want to keep up with)
• Text books used for each child
• Performance pieces
• 2014-15 text book wish list

I usually take my planner, once put together to my satisfaction, to my local office supply store for clear plastic covers and spiral binding.

I may try to publish some of my forms here in the future.  I don't mind sharing!

Speaking of sharing, I've made a Student Planner for my children, and I'm happy to let you download it!  One page is a relatively blank form that can be printed for the number of weeks of the school year.  Since we home school year round (with several breaks built in), I plan on printing 52-54.  That page is here.  Just so you know, I've made it for the subjects we use; if you don't use those subjects, you can at least use it as a guide to create your own.  The blanks next to the weekday names are to put in the specific dates.

The next page is the page my children can use to write the things they want.  Included are areas to write down their "jobs at home" (i.e., their chores), a To Do List, appointments, and things they are reading/doing.  I've also included "Dreams for the Week," "Creative Corner" (for doodles and the like), and a question at the bottom of the page they can answer (a different question every week).  There are 54 different pages here.

I will print the first page (the school work planning page), then print the fun page on the back side of the school work planning page.  I'll either comb bind each child's book with a cover page of their choice or I'll take it to my local office store and have it spiral bound.

I don't mind if you download them and use them for your own use.  If you choose to share, please link back to my website and don't pawn off my work as your own.  See?  Nothing too harsh!