Plan Book - My review

For the past year or so I have been on a search for a planner that I liked. I like paper and so I wanted a paper planner.

This is my 5th year homeschooling and I think I have used three or four different type of planners. The first two years I just had one student and I would buy an academic planner. That was fine and worked. It had enough lines for me to record what we did each day. As I added another student and more subjects, I need more space.

Last year I used one of the popular homeschool planners. In my opinion and for the way that I used it, it wasn't worth the $26.95. I didn't need the articles or the pretty flowers. I wanted more space to write, to plan, and record.

I spent time last spring searching online for the "perfect for me planner." I looked at various planners, but couldn't come up with one I would consider worth spending the money. I wanted something simple with lots of space to plan and record, to be able to make notes to myself. Something that allowed me to write all my own subjects or books. I found lots of free printable planners that people have created. I started the year with just some pages printed from various sites in a notebook and had a nice pretty lime green notebook to put it in.

I was still on the quest for the "perfect for me planner." Then one day at co-op I saw someone planning and using a big planner. It had lots of space to write all kinds of information. I asked her about the planner and learned it was a Carson-Dellosa Planner. It is for traditional classrooms.

There are a few different designs. The cover is not necessarily pretty so if you ware looking for cute this might not be the planner for you. If you want one that has a section for meals, this is not the planner for you. Mine is usually open so I don't even see the cover. It is about 13"x 9 1/4". If you want something that is notebook size, this will not work. For me the size is fine. It is not too big to carry in my bag when we are out and it sits nicely on the shelf at home.

Since it is for a traditional classroom there are pages relating to conferences, substitute information, seating plan, birthdays, transportation information, and various things that a teacher needs to keep track of. I just ignore those pages though I would if I fill in the substitute information I could find a substitute to fill in. Those pages could be used for all kinds of notes. There is a yearly planning page which would be great to plan field trips and activities or special learning units. There is a daily schedule which could be used to record your daily schedule. It is nice as it lists each day.

This planner does not have dates printed which for me works great as we school year round. Finding a planner that includes the summer can be tough.

On the left is the days of the week, absences, extra duties and reminders. I fill in the date and add any extra things that we have that day like flute, piano, or swim.

On the left page there are eight columns with six lines.

We normally begin with us together with history and geography so those are on the left side. I think list Miss K's subjects on the remaining columns. I add colour by using my markers and my washi tape.

Here is what a blank page looks like. There is a faint dotted line dividing the columns but you could easily combine and make the columns bigger if that works for you.

The right side has 10 columns and for me that is where I write Bob's work. There is plenty of space in the columns that I can combine some things on the same column i.e. Spelling and Editor in Chief.

One thing that the planner does not include are space for weekends. There are times that we do things educational on the weekend and when that happens I just record it with some of the extra space on the right page.

I have been using this for almost three months and I love it. I purchased it at Lakeshore Learning. My list of things for next year includes another Plan Book.

What is the biggest thing that you look for when selecting a planner?


Beth