Teaching Personal Responsibility with a Student Planner
A Homeschool Planner Student Edition Review
It’s one of those days that every homeschool mom looks forward to then when it comes we look back longingly at the little child of yesterday and find that we miss them. I’m talking about the day when our child begins to work independently. We want them to have the independent skills, yet we also want them to stay little, knowing that it’s impossible. That’s where I’ve found myself lately.
Throughout the homeschool day, I find myself repeating directions, information and instructions; which can be exhausting. For the last few years I have tried writing to do lists on post it notes, chalkboards and even scrap paper or I’ve printed out copies of my daily lesson plan for my son to use. I’ve discovered that this method leaves a lot of pieces of paper floating around all over the house leaving clutter. Neither of these methods of student organization are ideal, to say the least.
That’s why I was excited to have an opportunity to receive a free copy of the A Plan in Place Student Edition Planner as a part of a sponsored review. As a Christian homeschool blogger whenever I share details about a product I always share my honest opinion of the product and I am not required by the company to write a positive review.
You will find on the website at A Plan in Place, planners for the Highschooler, Student, Early Learner, Teacher and Summer. The first thing I noticed was that when I was placing my order for the Student Edition I was able to customize the planner with a cover image to reflect my son’s likes. I chose the music cover.
Additional Customizable Options
- Add a 12 Month Calendar
- Weekly Schedule 1 or 2 Pages
- 1 or 2 Pockets
- Add a Summer Edition
- Accessories including Tabs, Mechanical Pencil and Pen loop.
(Update: Now through June 30, 2015).
Teaching Homeschool Organization to the Student
It’s one thing for me to organize my lessons and keep them straight as we go through the school year. It’s quite another for my student to be organized. What this planner does is allows him to manage his entire day not only his homeschool day. He can organize his assignments in a way that he feels works best for him, while also structuring his daily time schedule from morning to bedtime.
The autobiography page allows the student to create a record of themselves for the year. It’s like student feature day for the homeschooler. They can glue in a photo of themselves and identifying characteristics as well as some personal details. This will become a treasure to look back on again and again.
You will find in the planner a place for your student to set their personal goals per semester. It includes space for personal, academic, spiritual and service goals allowing them to take control of their character building. For us, I sat and discussed setting such goals with him, talked about possibilities and then allowed him to make his own decision regarding the goals to set. This allows him to truly take ownership of his life.
There are pages to help your child learn to budget. I think the earlier you can teach financial responsibility the better. The pages allow them to set goals for savings as well as a place to write down ideas for earning money, sharing and tracking of expenditures. Little Man had been working to earn money for a while because he had a goal of buying a Nintendo 3 DS. He learned to arrange jobs with his dad, negotiate for the amount each job earned, and save the income until he could afford what he wanted. In the end he got not only the game system but a game as well and some accessories to go along with it.
What I like the most about this student planner is the record keeping section in the back. In this section Little Man can record extracurricular activities, books read, field trips and achievements. Because the student is recording these activities, they get to truly document their personal experiences. It becomes his record of experiences rather than just a roundup of yearly milestones.
There are so many more features in this planner that time doesn’t allow me to go through each of them. A few are a chore list, study planning pages and pages for setting summer goals. I will say that there are some pages that I feel are better suited to the teacher planner or an older high school planner, like the resource list page, but that is just a personal preference, you may find it helpful for your child to keep track of library books.
With so many options this planner will help your student learn not only to organize their homeschool day but their life. They will begin to set foundations for a future filled with responsibilities that they will be prepared to meet.
Follow A Plan in Place
Have you seen A Plan in Place Blog?
+Suzanne Doeren and +Kim Lopez are sharing some great content on their blog site like end of the year portfolios and organization ideas. You can follow them on their social media to stay connected with all their updates and blog posts.
Have you begun using student planners with your homeschoolers? If so, share what your experience has been like in the comments below.
This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s Teaching Responsibility Link Up.
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18 Comments
Jessica W
I haven’t used planners with my kids yet, but I know that my oldest would enjoy and be ready to take responsibility for getting his work done, and the planner would be a big help!
Renee Aleshire Brown
Yes, it will! I think he wil! I know our kids reach an age where they want to exhibit some control over their own life, this allows them to do that under our guidance.
Heather Mac
Both of my teens have learning differences, and struggle organizationally in different areas. This planner was easy for my daughter to guide herself through, and left good mentoring opportunities for us together. Excellent tool for teens!
Renee Aleshire Brown
Heather, thank you so much for sharing your experience with A Plan in Place, I’m sure your first hand knowledge can help others who have children with learning differences to see that organizational skills can be taught and excellent tools can be an assistance in that process.
Lynda Schultz
I have been looking at this planner for my son next year. Thank you for this review it is very helpful.
Renee Aleshire Brown
You are very welcome Lynda. I hope that you find it to be as beneficial as I do. 🙂
Kim
Wow! This looks like a great planner! Thanks for sharing.
Renee Aleshire Brown
Your so welcome. I think it’s great.
Anonymous
Love the idea of a student planner!
Renee Aleshire Brown
It is a good idea.
Susan F Williams
It is time to get my teens started with their own planners. This looks like a great option!
Renee Aleshire Brown
I think so. You’ll love the finance pages.
G3Mom
This is part of my first week of summer goal to find what belongs in a student planner and why it’s important. I didn’t really know what I wanted in a student planner, but this one sounds like a win. Thanks for putting it out there.
Renee Aleshire Brown
Well I’m glad I helped you one your journey to a goal completion! 🙂
Chrystal Bliske
Oh, I’d love to see how my eldest would use this! Nothing we’ve tried with him has worked so far.
Renee Aleshire Brown
Oh I think it might be helpful! 🙂
Christine H
I’ve been trying to put together something for my son, but this looks better!
Renee Aleshire Brown
Putting together a planner takes time. A plan in place carefully thought about the needs of the home school student.