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Hi, my name is Kaylene, and I have a planner problem. *Hiiiiiii Kayleeeeeeene*

Seriously though, if there was a planners anonymous, I’d be there every week. I’m betting some of you guys would be too. As busy moms we have so much to keep track of that we are forever on the hunt for the perfect planner to fit all of our needs. My obsession with planners hit a new level when I started homeschooling. How in the world would I plan out an entire year of homeschool lessons? I needed a pretty powerful online homeschool planner, and I found one in Homeschool Planet. But how do I use Homeschool Planet to plan my entire homeschooling year?

Planning our Homeschooling Year with an Online Homeschool Planner

*Please note this post was sponsored by the Homeschool Buyer’s Co-Op. All opinions are 100% my own, and I was not required to provide a positive review. See my full disclosure policy here.*

Getting a Yearly Overview with our Online Homeschool Planner

In my state, we are required to do 180 days of school. Well, technically my kids aren’t old enough yet to be forced into the 180 days, but we are trying to establish that habit so that when we have to keep track it’s easier! We are also year round homeschoolers. We’ve struggled with other homeschool planners before because we don’t follow a typical schedule. We school year round, Tuesday-Saturday because of visitation schedules. A traditional Monday-Friday calendar just doesn’t work for our family. With this online homeschool planner we can easily customize it to our schedule. In Homeschool Planet you get to set your first day, last day, what days you do school, and any days off with simple clicks of the mouse. Friends, I tried scheduling this on paper and it was a disaster. I kept changing my mind about vacations and time off. It was eraser central and by the end I could hardly read it let alone count to make sure I hit 180! Homeschool Planet counts the days for me, so that I can make sure I’m always within state limits.

Keeping our Year Flexible

When I was scheduling our homeschooling year, Homeschool Planet kept track for me of how many school days we had scheduled. I scheduled “off days” for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and took off Mr. C’s birthday. Other than that, it lists us schooling through the whole year. We have 49 extra school days scheduled at this point, so almost 10 full weeks off. Why didn’t I schedule these days off when my online homeschool planner makes it so easy? For starters, I am fully aware that things come up. Kids get the tummy flu, mommy gets a migraine, an extra visit with their biological dad, whatever, these things happen. If I plan out every day off, I won’t have any days off ready for those days we decide that everyone needs to just stay in jammies and watch movies all day. I like those days, so I keep plenty of reserve days off. Also, I am due with a baby around the holidays. I have no idea when this little one will actually make their appearance, or how long I will be able to teach at the end of my pregnancy, or how long it will take us to get back into a “normal” routine. I could make a guess, but why when I can just take the year as it comes? Homeschool Planet makes it really easy to change up your schedule when things happen. Once I know when my “maternity leave” should start, I can schedule it in and our lessons will go on hold. Everyone gets sick for three days? Next time we log in Homeschool Planet will automatically shift our schedule back three days. When homeschooling, life happens, and I need my online homeschool planner to be flexible when it does!

Using an Online Homeschool Planner to Set a Weekly Class Schedule

Once we had our year scheduled out we were able to get a bit more specific. We added all of our classes into Homeschool Planet’s system. This year those classes are Bible, handwriting, math, phonics, language, history, and science. It only took a few minutes to input the classes and schedule them throughout our week. We do history on Wednesday and Thursday and science on Friday and Saturday. As soon as I set up the schedule in the online homeschool planner, it automatically entered it from the first day of school to the last, skipping over any days I’d already marked as days off. I was able to set up what times each day we would complete each lesson as well. We use our schedule loosely, but it’s nice to have an idea of how our day will work out!

Taking the Online Homeschool Planner Offline

This may just be my favorite part of this online homeschool planner. Mr. C doesn’t really use the computer, but I really wanted to be able to help him see what was on our schedule each day and have something that he could mark assignments complete on. This kid is obsessed with checking off to-do lists. *Wonder where he got that from!* Homeschool Planet has the option to print out a daily or weekly schedule, either in color or black and white. We print out Mr. C’s list a week at a time, I write some notes about the specifics (page numbers, etc) and he gets to mark what is completed each day! It also allows him to work ahead if he chooses to so that we can have the occasional Saturday off. Now, if you have tech-savvy kids, Homeschool Planet will also email or text the daily or weekly assignments to you or your child. I love how this online homeschool planner helps kids to be more independent in their studies. We’ll need that when our new baby comes and I don’t even know what day it is!

Planning the Other Stuff

Homeschool Planet really set out to create an all in one family planner for busy homeschooling moms, and they succeeded. I’ve already explained how easy it was for me to plan out our entire homeschooling year, but you can also use this planner outside of the homeschool. I can schedule my work hours, write to-do lists, schedule my kids’ chores, make shopping lists, and way more with this planner. It could easily be the only planner needed for a busy mama.

Want to Try This Online Homeschool Planner?

Our family loves Homeschool Planet, and I’m sure that yours will too. You can sign up for a free 30 day trial with no credit card needed! You can also connect with Homeschool Buyer’s Co-Op on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+.

About Kaylene

Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so “weird” to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.