I am using this summer to plan for the next school year, as do most homeschool moms. and I am proud to say that I cleaned up my planning notebook that I’ve been using for years. It is nothing glamorous. No fancy cover or pretty handwriting. In fact its an annoying bright orange.

But it does contain my homeschool teacher brain! I am going to share with you my simple set-up in hopes it will help you simplify your homeschool year.

I start with a pencil pouch. Right now I only have a few markers and a pencil in it, but it is also a great place to store flash cards, index cards, paper clips, white-out, ruler, or any other little gadget you may need at the tips of your fingers.

I use dividers to . . . well . . . divide my stuff. I have a section for my master schedule, lesson plans, records (test results, grades, etc), master copies, forms (homeschool groups, cover schools, etc), and chores. You could make these to fit your needs, but this is what I needed. I have room to add more if the need arises.

I start my book (and the beginning of each year) with my goal sheet. It includes the name of our school, our motto or Bible verse, colors, song, purpose, philosophy and goals. I don’t fill them all out, but it is nice to have at the front of my book so that I can stay focused.

For lesson plans I made my own form to help me plan one month at a time. It gives me a great overview of what is ahead and I just mark things off as they get done. This has worked great with me since I use unit studies. It is my lesson plans and records all rolled into one. You may use my form if you like.

For the chores section I keep a list of chores and who is responsible for them. I also keep a baseball holder pages to slide in the chore cards. This keeps me a little more organized because they are all in one place.