Homeschooling can generate chaos unlike anything else if you do not have some sort of planning and record keeping system. There are a variety of homeschool planners and organizers available online, both free and for purchase. The organizers are in several formats, the most common free planner type being PDF files. There are also organizer pages that are in word processor or spreadsheet format. Unlike PDF files, these can be changed and customized to fit your homeschool then printed. Online record keepers that are accessed through the Internet are also available. Finally, there are several excellent software programs that allow you to keep a wide variety of records on your computer. These programs have many different options for creating reports and assignment lists and some even offer the ability to create transcripts. The one that is best will depend on your family, your organization style, and the ages and learning styles of your children.
TheHomeSchoolMom offers free homeschool planners in two formats: spreadsheet (Excel and Open Office) and PDF downloads. You can learn more and download TheHomeSchoolMom planners for here.
Free Online Homeschooling Organizers
Home School, Inc. has a comprehensive planner called PER - Plan, Educate, Record. PER is a "FREE web based planner for your home school. Use PER to plan ahead, or as a diary to record your children's learning accomplishments. PER does the clerical work creating flexible schedules, calendars, summaries, and reports. Use with any homeschooling method or curriculum. PER creates a safe place to show you what your family has done, is doing, and will do!"
Homeschool Skedtrack is a "free online lesson planner, scheduler, and tracking system rolled into one. The heart of the system is the automated scheduling of activities that frees you from the headache of rescheduling everything once an activity/lesson is missed."
Homeschooling Records is an online record keeper with the benefit of accessing your records from anywhere. You assign a proportion to each category (tests, worksheets, etc.); within a subject and the application will calculate all of the grades for you. The records are printable and downloadable to MS Excel. This application has a class scheduler as well with drag and drop features.
Free Homeschooling Organizers To Print & Complete
Free Homeschool Organizer Download - TheHomeSchoolMom Homeschool Organizer is a weekly planner with assignment sheets designed for moms with any number of children. Simply choose the number of columns you would like to have on your Assignment Sheet (up to 3), and print as many as you need for your students. The organizer has a "week-at-a-glance" style planner that can be used in any three ring binder. The planner includes a Unit Study Planner and Unit Study Worksheet as well as an Unschooling Record Keeper.
New Beginnings' Planner - 180 page undated planner download to help you create your own Idea Curriculum Planner. The planner page offers step-by-step instructions and the download includes a variety of styles from which to choose.
Organized Home Household Planner Forms - If you are looking for a place to help you get started on your way to organization, Organized Home is that place. Be sure to look around the whole site and take advantage of the many free articles, but the real jewel are these household planner forms.They offer dozens of forms for just about any organizational need you may have!
Chart Jungle - Daily, weekly, and monthly homeschool schedules; image files to be printed from your browser
Free Homeschooling Organizer Software & Spreadsheets
Gradebook+ - Free customizable spreadsheet-based homeschool planner with sheets for course assignments, attendance field trips, report cards, and more.
Affiliate links are used below where available; TheHomeSchoolMom makes a small commission for these sales.
Subscription-based Online Homeschool Planners
Homeschool Tracker (affiliate link) - Choose exactly how much information you want to record for each student. Quickly and easily create single or repeating assignments, appointments, chores, and more. Need to reschedule? Simply drag and drop items on the calendar or use our powerful rescheduling tool to move everything forward. Homeschool Tracker offers flexible workflows that match your style. Plan an entire year, or just go day-by-day. Monthly, annual, and two year subscription plans available.
Homeschool Planet - A full-featured online planner that allows for multiple logins. The user interface is intuitive and friendly, allowing entry of data without the need to visit multiple windows. The planner can be viewed as a calendar or list as preferred. Other features include automatic rescheduling, daily digest, email and text message reminders, attendance tracking, grading and transcript creation, and more. Free trial available.
Syllabird - A simple & flexible planner with a modern interface. Features include automatic rescheduling, student accounts, printable schedules, shareable course plans, and all of your homeschooling documents available from any device. Syllabird's Parrot service can convert your existing paper courses into digital Syllabird courses just by taking photos of the paper records. A free trial or one-on-one tutorial is available.
Homeschooling Planners Available for Purchase
Price key:
$ 1-20
$$ 21-34
$$$ 35-44
$$$$ 45+
Donna Young - YoungMinds has put together the largest selection of record keeping forms for homeschool that I have found. Forms are available in either PDF or Word format. PDF documents cannot be edited without expensive software, but Word documents can be edited on your computer and the resulting forms can be printed. If you wish to customize your forms then you should choose the Word format. $$
The Old Schoolhouse Planner (affiliate link) - An extensive PDF download that is updated for each year. You’ll find hundreds of useful pages in each year's planner including new and updated forms to help you:
- Plan and record all of the dynamic aspects of your homeschool year from top to bottom.
- Schedule your social activities effectively.
- Organize your technological resources.
- Manage money wisely (and teach your kids this important life skill too).
- Be the queen of your kitchen.
- Foster family pride by establishing family goals and recording family tree information.
- Record important medical information including medications and family medical history.
- Run a successful home business.
- Get ready for the holidays.
TOS' planner is available in versions for primary grades, middle school, and high school and is available as a CD or a digital download. $$$
Homeschool Day Book - Easy and quick homeschool record keeping. Keep detailed records in only minutes a day. Printable reports summarizing daily, weekly, or monthly activities. Very easy to use and super simple setup. Free trial with all features activated. Windows only. $$$
Homeschool Reporting Online - Internet-based record keeper; 30-day free trial; discount for HSLDA members; free for umbrella organizations or schools $$$$ (Based on annual membership vs.one-time payment)
