weekly homeschool planner printable

Let’s talk about a weekly homeschool planner. Did you know that one of the biggest hang-ups for homeschool mamas is planning? Not just the idea of planning out lessons, but also what they’re going to use to make the plan.

Download your weekly homeschool planner below.

When we first started homeschooling, I knew I needed a planner. I had specific things in mind that I needed to plan and track and I started looking for a planner to do that!

I found the mother of all homeschool planners and immediately became obsessed with filling it out each month. But I quickly realized that I was doing a LOT of erasing every week because I was trying to keep my planner current with what we were actually accomplishing every day.

It was borderline exhausting.

I began to research methods of homeschool planning and came across “back-planning”. I share more about it below, but basically it sounded like the way to go for our homeschool.

Over time I’ve developed a system to make planning even more efficient in our homeschool and now I’ve created a weekly homeschool planner printable to help you do the same!

The printable will help you map out the must-do’s in your day and actually help you get more done in the long run!

But before we dive into that, I know there are a ton of questions about homeschool planners and not every method of planning is right for every homeschool mama. So, here’s a little more info 🙂

What should be included in a weekly homeschool planner?

Big picture vision

If you do not have a big picture vision for your homeschool, this is crucial to keep you on track and passionate about teaching your babies. Without a “why” we often fall off the wagon because it seems unimportant or much like a hassle to us (kind of like dieting…)

However, a lot of mamas make the mistake of picking a vision for the year – Like I did. A vision for the year is really great! Don’t get me wrong. But throughout the year, our homeschool needs and focus might need to shift a little. So now, I like to create a vision for the year as well as a vision for each week we homeschool.

To create a big picture vision, simply ask yourself what’s important to your homeschool this week, month, or year. Not specific tasks, but overall feelings, inspiration, and ways to grow for your homeschool.

Goals for the week / month / year

This is kind of like setting your big picture vision. Goals keep us motivated to move forward. And unless you’re just really super passionate about homeschooling every single day, you need a little something to keep you going when you’re tired, burned out, or plain ol’ over it.

Goals are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant tasks that your can do within your homeschool week. And when you hit your goals, you freaking celebrate them like the rockstar homeschool mama you are!

Attendance tracker

Even if your government does not require attendance tracking, keep up with it for yourself. It’s rewarding to look back over it at the end of the year and see-on-paper that you accomplished a year of homeschooling.

Amy at Rock Your Homeschool has a fun attendance tracker that lets the kids interact with keeping attendance as well! It also gives them a visual of how many days are left of schooling 🙂

It’s free, we love it, and you can get it here.

What is the best weekly homeschool planner?

I’m not going to pretend that one homeschool planner does it all for me. The truth is, I use a lot of different planning resources each week to make our homeschool run smoothly.

However, what works for me may not work for you. So here’s a breakdown of the different homeschool planning options so that you can choose the best one for yourself!

Digital Weekly Homeschool Planner

Digital planning is becoming the next best thing, probably because you can reuse stickers and planners over and over again!

| Related: How to get started with digital planning for your homeschool

I use my digital planner because it’s fun and a creative outlet for me! However, our daughter uses a digital planner exclusively to keep up with her homeschool tasks. It really is something you need to try to see if you’ll like it!

Paper Homeschool Planner

Obviously paper planning has been a go-to for most mamas and still to this day is the number one way to track your homeschooling efforts! But there are A TON of different homeschool paper planners and even more PRINTABLE homeschool planners!

You’ll have to figure out what’s most important for you to track and start the process of elimination until you find the one you love most!

I will say that out of all the homeschool planners I’ve tried, I keep coming back to Well Planned Day year after year. I do not use EVERY page in this planner, but it is my favorite BY FAR.

Weekly Homeschool Planner Sheets

Then, of course, you can skip the big planner and use weekly planning sheets (like the one I have created for you below!) to track and plan for your homeschool!

Weekly sheets keep things simple! And when you’re done, simply add them to your file folder for the year (if you need to track that) or toss it and print another!

You could also grab these dry erase covers and use these markers to plan each week and never print another planning sheet again!

How do I create a daily schedule for our homeschool?

Again, you really need to do what’s best for your family and your method of planning and preparation. But here are a few ideas to get you going!

Skip the schedule

I know a ton of homeschool mamas who have ditched a schedule and simply homeschool throughout the day. We actually homeschool similarly to this! Our oldest knows what she needs to do for the week and takes initiative to have it done each day.

I focus more on teaching moments throughout the day with our two littles. But we like to focus more on a homeschool rhythm than a specific schedule.

| Related: Tips for a homeschool rhythm you’ll love

Prioritize must-do’s

When you look at your homeschool plan for the week, highlight the things that you MUST DO in order to have a successful homeschool week. For us, we know that our state requires learning in English and Math no matter what. So those are always on our must-do list.

When you highlight your must-do’s, it takes some of the pressure off of having a full homeschool week when someone gets sick, when you have a lot of errands and appointments, or when you’re simply feeling burned out.

There’s so much freedom, breathing room, and grace in the homeschool must-do list.

Back plan

I mentioned earlier that back planning was a game changer for our homeschool and I love it so much!

Back planning is essentially doing school throughout the week and then writing everything you did in your planner at the end of each day.

Instead of “planning” your week, you have a generic idea of what you want to get done and then “track” it in a planner. This method works great for unschooling mamas!

Planning tips from other homeschool mamas

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post and have gotten some great nuggets about homeschool planning! Don’t forget to download the free weekly homeschool planner below!

Before I go, I wanted to share a few planning tips from other homeschool mamas! In the November Homeschool Bundle, we asked 10 mamas for their best planning tips in homeschooling. I’m going to share a few with you here, but you can check out the other answers (and more) inside the homeschool bundle this month! Click here to download.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite homeschool planning tip or method is!