Organization Inspiration - The Happy Planner

Recently, one of our Homeschool Hoopla friends reached out to me to ask what I do with my planner once it's printed. Great question! (I can't believe I didn't think to mention binding options when the Planning Your Year post was created!) There are at least two options, both of which I will mention, the latter of which I prefer and will go into greater detail.

1. Have it spiral bound at Office Depot or Staples

There isn't a Staples near me, so I can only describe in detail what it's like to work with Office Depot, but I assume they are very similar. When I have something (like the planner) printed and spiral bound at Office Depot, I like to indicate cover specifications for the front and back. That could mean asking for the front and back pages to be printed on gloss cover paper, or printing the front and back pages on normal paper and requesting what are called "decorative covers." If this is what you choose, I recommend the "plain frosted" on the front, and "black regency" on the back. (Side note: If your family is enrolled in Classical Conversations, ask your local director for information about the Office Depot and Staples business discounts. At Office Depot, using this discount saves me a significant amount of money on printing services.) I also highly recommend that you consider paying the couple cents extra per page to have the planner pages printed on 28 lb. paper, because it is nice and thick, smooth, and wonderful to write on.

2. Invest in The Happy Planner

This is an investment I made two years ago, and I absolutely LOVE the flexibility and customizability of this system! Basically, the spine or binding of this planner system is a series of discs, and the pages you choose to put into it are punched with a special shape that "hugs" the discs and holds them in place (see image below). Anything you print can be added, removed, or rearranged until your heart's content. To get started, you'll need a planner and a punch. You can purchase these through The Happy Planner website, or at Michael's. Always check for sales and coupon codes!

There are a few different sizes of The Happy Planner: mini, classic, and big. When I first started using it, I had the classic size (about 7" x 9"). While I loved the compact size (very easy to handle, and purse-friendly), everything I printed had to be scaled to 84% and then cut to size in order to fit. At first it was no big deal to me, but over time it became a bit of a hassle. This year, I decided to go big (8.5" x 11")! This allows me to use regular legal-sized prints and put them directly into the planner.

Ultimate versatility is what I value most about this planner. The possibilities of what I can include here are endless. Anytime I'm given an important document or handout that I don't want to lose, and want to be able to reference for a length of time, I punch it and put it in my Happy Planner. In addition to the Beautiful Family Homeschool Planner pages, here are some other things I have in my Happy Planner:

• CC Director planning pages

• Monthly calendar

• Weekly Bible study questions

• Blank paper (for random note-taking)

• Important schedules and handouts

I have even created big Happy Planners for my older kids this year. I simply purchased some extra discs (you need 9 for the classic size, 11 for the big size), printed and laminated FREE covers from this website, punched them and attached them to the rings to get started. Then, I added the following:

• Weekly student planning pages

• Weekly memory work

• Cursive copywork pages

• Music note pages (for their piano teacher to write practice assignments)

• Blank paper (for random note-taking)

The weekly student planning pages and the music notes mentioned above I designed myself, and I'm glad to share them with you. Click the following links to download the files you wish to use:

• Weekly Planner Pages - Koala

• Weekly Planner Pages - Triangles

• Music Notes

Blessings,

Beth