Curriculum Planning for the Non-Planner Planner

We’ve all seen them—the super cute homeschool planners with their perfect pastel color coding, neatly filled-out calendars, and detailed lesson plans handwritten in Pinterest-worthy script. You know, the ones that make you feel like you’re failing before you even open the book? Yeah, that wasn’t working for me. Which is truthfully sad because I find them beautiful, the pretty highlighters, those tape things?? and matching pens! Oh the matching pens…

I needed something flexible. Something that could adapt when a toddler meltdown, an impromptu adventure, or a deep dive into “how do bees make honey?” completely derailed the day’s plans. Something that wouldn’t judge me when I skipped math because the snow was just too good to miss. Enter: The Spreadsheet.

Why a Spreadsheet?

• It never runs out of pages. Unlike my cute homeschool planner that got abandoned in October, my spreadsheet is eternal.
• It does the math for me. (Which is great because I don’t always want to do math.)
• It moves lessons forward automatically. If we skip a day for a field trip or just because, I don’t have to erase anything or rewrite a single plan. It just adjusts itself. Like magic.
• It’s how I take attendance, plan out the year, and track progress. All in one spot. No lost papers, no “Where did I put that notebook?” moments.

How It Works

I’ve laid out every school day in the spreadsheet, marking which lessons we should aim to do. But here’s the kicker—it’s all formulas and algorithms. I just change one lesson, and the rest automatically shift forward. It’s like a personal homeschool assistant, except it doesn’t judge me for taking three hot minutes to find my coffee before starting the day.

Why It’s Perfect for Our Year-Round Homeschooling

We don’t do sit-down work on Fridays. Fridays are for field trips, outdoor adventures, and letting life be the curriculum.Whether it’s a beach day, a last-minute camping trip, or answering the mountains when they call (and they always call). Unless, the weather is so moody that we actually only feel like doing sit-down work, then okay! Let’s do it! I wanted a system that could roll with our lifestyle. 

With my spreadsheet, I can ensure we still get through all our lessons without stress. If we take a random Tuesday off because Grandma is visiting or the kids spend the day building an elaborate creek dam (a very serious STEM project, obviously) and actually happens when Grandma visits too! I just shift the lessons ahead. No stress. No guilt. See those little green boxes? Yeah that means we are way ahead and visualizes to me to take a freakin’ chill pill, we’ve got this. 

Moral of the Story?

If a traditional planner works for you, great! But if you’re like me and need something that bends and flexes as much as your kids do, consider a spreadsheet. Because honestly? The best homeschool plan is the one that actually works for you. So that leads us to our question for the day, what do you do to stay organized? What is your secret sauce?