How to make a homeschool planner for under a dollar

A homeschool planner doesn’t have to be polished or printed; it only has to be easily accessible and useful to you.

If you wanted, you could take a 20 cent spiral notebook, place the date on top of the page, and begin writing. It wouldn’t be wrong, and it would probably work wonderfully! (I’ve actually done this a number of times myself.)

But most of us, especially if we are planning for the next year, and if we want to be able to actually find the ideas and records we keep for later use, want something a bit more, something with finesse, beauty, and organization.

Now, it is a good idea, especially if you do have the extra money, to support other homeschooling families by purchasing well-thought-out physical planners and printable planners (such as The Well Planned Day and the one created by Yours Truly), but sometimes the money just isn’t available. This is when necessity must become the mother of invention!

If you can afford a 50 cent composition book, and if you have some basic school/office supplies laying around the house, then you can create a planner that will meet your needs and rival any that are commercially produced!

For the one I am creating I am going to need to include the following sections/pages:

• A place to organize what each child will be working on

• A yearly calendar

• Monthly calendars

• A place for planning each week

• A place to record what we have actually been doing

• A place for journaling

• Places to keep track of appointments, meals, even blogging

• A way to add some beauty to the whole composition

Here is a little idea of some of the very simple elements I am combining to make my planner. As you can see, they are items most of us already have on hand:

*Please note: rubber cement is superior to glue sticks because it does not cause the paper to “warble.” It bonds best if both surfaces are covered completely, allowed to dry, and then carefully placed together (you only get one shot at this).

The first thing I have done, because I am female and must, must have some creative beauty (or I die!), I have taken my composition book and covered it, even added a little orange ribbon for a bookmark (

Next, I found a simple, whole-year calendar from Donna Young, printed it out, cut it out, and pasted it in my composition book. As you can see, I just had to add some pretty flowers and a butterfly!

The “tracking” part came next; I created these pages by creating my own photo corners out of some scrapbooking scraps I had laying around the house, then I put a 3×5 card in each one. I do this because, if I know anything, some plans are going to change, so I need to be able to pop revised cards in as needed (this is where I write down the materials and goals for each child).

This next photo is of the calendar I created for August. I am sharing this one because I was very pleased with how the decor turned out! I also wanted to save others time and frustration by showing how to easily separate the page into equal squares for the calendar days.

Here are the dimensions of the calendar to make it easier for you to duplicate:

Here is one set of pages I am putting in my book for each week (the photo turned out a bit hard to read, but on the right-hand page I have listed “planning,” “recording,” and “notes.” You could actually start here and not have to create another page if you wanted!):

Here is another set of pages I am including. I am taking this idea from the Mead weekly/monthly planners, which I have found is very helpful:

For tabs I am using sticky “flags” covered in clear tape (for longevity).

To better keep track of things, I am using a notation system I have developed over many years. Here is how it goes:

I haven’t filled every page in yet, nor have I decorated each page that I have finished, and this is just fine–it gives me something to do while we’re watching a good movie or while I am waiting in the van for someone (I love how these projects give me a good reason to diddle and doodle!).

I have plenty of room in the back to add in all sorts of sections if I so choose. Part of the fun in creating something like this is watching it develop and fill up with all sorts of “stuff” that makes up daily memories.

What sections would you suggest?