Have you heard of bullet journaling?
It’s a not-so-new fad in personal journaling. The idea is to implement a simple system of symbols and methods in order to streamline your tasks, lists, diaries, notes, goals, and other things we scribble on paper or digitally. Once you grasp the suggested symbols and methods, you’re good to go.
How does this help the homeschool parent?
Homeschooling parents don’t need one more thing to do, but streamlining our organization is something that many homeschool moms talk about. Bullet journaling is a good method for making this happen. It’s tough to juggle curriculum choices, grades, attendance, field trips, extra-curricular activities, goals, therapy appointments, college application process, etc. It might be helpful to have all of your notes about these things in one place, on an actual piece of paper—not on your phone!
How do I use bullet journaling?
Personally, I have a handful of pages that I have set aside for homeschooling. I have a set of curriculum tracker pages that contain lists of the texts that my kids are using for each topic. This keeps me organized and helps me see where our weak spots are or where I need to prepare to make decisions regarding curriculum. There is a page for each child. Since it is the beginning of the calendar year, these pages are currently blank, but I plan on documenting their individual goals, success stories, challenges, and other interesting things about their development this year. I keep grades, number of school days, and the upcoming weeks’ assignment sheets in a separate notebook in our school cabinet, but I am considering merging the two books. I also have a page for inspiring quotes and a “to be read” booklist for myself and the kids.
Will it work for you?
Bullet journaling seems to be most appealing to individuals that appreciate personalized methods and items. If creating your own calendar and formats for to-do lists gives you the willies, then move along my friend. But, if designing things that are beautiful to you is something that is exciting, then give this idea some thought. (My barometer of whether I am excited about something or not, is to see if I will stay up 20 minutes later to work on it…If the answer is YES, then count me in!) If you research bullet journaling online, you can find clear ideas about how other people use this method. Also, you can find as many ideas on Pinterest about bullet journaling as you can for making a plain yellow cake. The sky is the limit.
Keep an eye out for how these methods can be used by your children to organize themselves!
