Finding a planner that suited the way we homeschool was hard, so I decided to try and organise all our homeschooling ideas, activities and learning with a bullet journal and have had great success with it. It is a great record of all we have achieved over the course of the year and comes in very handy when it is time for me to write up my yearly homeschool report.
What is a Bullet Journal?
Maybe you have heard of a bullet journal before and want to learn more or, maybe you haven’t of a bullet journal before. Either way, you have come to the right place. The bullet journal is a planner system that was created by Ryder Carrol. I highly suggest you watch his video to get a basic understanding of his vision for this amazing journal system. Basically, the bullet journal was designed as an easy planner system that allows you to track the past, and plan for the future while keeping your sanity.
While any blank journal can be turned into a bullet journal, not every planner written in a blank journal is a bullet journal. The original bullet journal has its own recipe, but many people these days have added lots to theirs including a huge dose of art.
Supplies
There are a few basic supplies that are needed to start a bullet journal. A journal, pens and pencils, and a ruler. For those who love to get creative, washi tape, stencils and stickers are a great way to decorate your bullet journal. For my favourite supplies, pop over here.
Journal Spreads
The main parts of a bullet journal include:
- An Index
- A Key
- A Future Log
- Monthly Spread
- Weekly Spread
- Daily Spread
The index is the first thing that needs to be set up with your bullet journal. This helps save time and flipping around your journal looking the page you are after. If you have purchased a Leuchtturn 1917 dotted A5, it already has an index waiting for you and, the all the pages are numbered which saves a lot of time. If you have a journal that doesn’t have an idea, just label the first three pages as ‘Index’ and add two columns. The first small column is for the page numbers and the second, large column is for the topic or subject of what is on those pages. On the very next page, start numbering the pages. You can do the whole book at the start of just number as you go, the choice is yours!
The future log is a great way to prepare for the future. You can choose how far in advance you wish to go, three months, six months or even twelve months, it is totally up to you. If you choose to plan for six months in advance, set up a double page spread with the six sections, three on each page. Write the name of the six months, one above each section and complete with the appointments you already know. You can add more as you need to.
After adding the necessary pages, I starting creating spreads for homeschooling, though I didn’t stop there. Even though I started out just using my bullet journal for homeschooling, it has now turned into a place where I organise everything as I was getting tired of all the notes I had laying around one my desk.
The main homeschooling journal spreads my bullet journal contains are:
- Year at a Glance Calendar
- Monthly Logs
- Book Logs for both boys
- Curriculum Ideas for the boys
- Homeschooling Supplies
- Website Tracker
- Brain Dump
- Field Trips and Activities
- Homeschool Projects
- Homeschool Budget
- Homeschool Report Ideas
Other ideas for pages, that would be great to add are:
- Routine Planner
- Goals
- Wishlist
- Quotes
- Weekly Layouts
- Monthly Layout
- Color Index
- Pen Test Page
- Habit Tracker
- Gratitude Log
- Prayer Requests
- Bible Verse Journalling
- Bible Studies
- Verses to Memorise
- Sermon Notes
- Doodle Page
- Bible Reading Tracker
- Family Favourite Recipes
- Cleaning Schedule
- Meal Ideas
- Meal Planning
- Emergency Bag
- Birthdays / Anniversaries
- Car Maintenance
- Budget
- Savings
- Food Inventory
- Life Quotes
- Workout Routine
- Dreams
- Bucket List
- Contacts
- Sleep Tracker
- Memories
- Movies to Watch
- Music I Love
- Family Traditions
- Kids’ Routines
- Medication Tracker
- First Aid Checklist
- Health Tracker
- Diet Tracker
- Fingerprints
- Family Goals
Blogging Ideas
- Blog Brainstorming
- Blog Post Ideas
- Blog Improvements
- Blog Stats
- Blogging Goals
- Blog Information
- Affiliates
- Giveaways
- Hashtags/keywords
- Reviews
- Bills
- Sponsors
- Income/Expenses
If you have looked around for examples of Bullet Journalling, you would have come across some amazingly beautiful journals with the fancy calligraphy, the stamps, the washi tape and lovely intricate doodles. Your bullet journal doesn’t have to be like this. Not everyone has the time or the ability to draw some of those amazing designs. Make your bullet journal work for you, it doesn’t have to be fancy.
A bullet journal a great way to keep organised, it is easy to set up, a lovely way to keep memories, it is small and compact and allows to get as creative as you want.
Check out the list of materials that we use with our bullet journals.
How do you keep organised? Do you use a Bullet Journal? Would you consider giving it a try? I’d love to know!
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Hi. I just wanted to know how do you do with multiple kids. This year my kids will be 9, 8, 7 and 6 yo. It’s just hard for me to imagine. Each has different interest. And some time they compete with each other and then there’s a drama…
Hi, I only have two kids so it is quite easy for me. For multiple kids, you could have a separate page for each child and their activities. Many of the pages, such as field trips, project ideas, supplies and budget would be the same for the whole family. You would only need individual pages to record their actual activities. The good thing with a bullet journal is you can change your layouts whenever you want. A daily schedule would probably work well for your family. Such as these ones: https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/top-5-bujo-ideas-in-2016/ and https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/daily-plan-bar/