The idea of homeschooling high school can seem daunting even to the most organized and experienced homeschooling mom. In fact, one of the biggest concerns I hear from new and prospective homeschooling moms is feeling ill-equipped to handle the high school years. From credits and electives to transcripts and record-keeping, the reality is that there’s a lot more planning and tracking for both you and your teenager, who is becoming increasingly responsible for their own decisions, schedules, plans, and direction in their academic life.

However, don’t let the details of homeschooling high school get you down — especially when resources are available to make planning and tracking the high school years a snap. The Well Planned Day’s High School Planner from The Well Planned Gal is designed to do just that: It helps you guide your teen as they learn how to manage, organize and tackle this new phase of homeschool life.

Why a Well Planned Day High School Planner?

The Well Planned Day High School Planners are available in both 1-year and 4-year formats and are designed to match existing planners in the Well Planned Day product line. The small (6 x 9 inch) 1-Year High School Planner makes it simple for students to keep track of scheduling and weekly activities and assignments. You can preview the 1-Year Planner on The Well Planned Gal’s website: The 2015-2016 planner is priced at $15.95. It also contains the following additional resources to equip high school students to make the most of each year:

• Informational articles about knowing what to expect each year,  understanding credit requirements, choosing electives, creating a transcript, and tackling standardized exams address the students directly, clearly explaining these topics in a conversational manner.
• Each month includes a tip or suggestion with a link for more information.
• Each week includes a spiritual challenge for the student.
• Space is provided for both making semester plans and evaluating the previous semester’s progress.

The full-sized (8.5 x 11 inch) 4-Year Planner, which I reviewed for this post, contains the same articles and information found in the 1-Year Planner but provides more space for weekly planning and for recording information about projects and goals, sample transcripts, and space for recording college research information. The 4-Year Planner is an ideal way for you to maintain all of your teen’s high school records in one place. You can also preview the 4-Year Planner on The Well Planned Gal’s website: The 2015-2019 Planner is priced at $31.95.

What We Loved

My 14-year-old daughter will be starting 9th grade this year, so it was perfect timing for us to evaluate The Well Planned Day High School 4-Year Planner. At first, my daughter was a little intimidated by the size of this planner compared to the 6×9 Student Planner she’s used to using, however, I assured her that this planner would not only help us plan but record all four years of high school — phew!

What we really appreciated right off the bat were the helpful articles in the front of the planner. There are also pointers to additional resources and tools related to these topics online at The Well Planned Gal. We read the articles together and jotted notes (in pencil!) about our ideas and plans for each topic addressed, such as electives.

Once we solidify our plans for this fall, she will complete her freshman year planning pages and then start recording her assignments and activities on the weekly calendar pages (see below). As with the other Well Planned Day planners, each weekly page has scripture at the bottom and character quotes are provided throughout.

I also liked the semester and year-end summary pages to keep high school records (such as grades and attendance) and reflect back on the year. It’s a great way to keep the most important details in one place while capturing your teen’s personality and reflections through the years as well.

What We Missed

One thing that I would have liked to see in this planner compared to others I use is side tabs to make it easier to navigate through the planner — especially from year to year. I would also have liked to see a table of contents for all articles provided within the planner in case we want to read a topic before we come across it later in the planner (such as the college portfolio article).

Lastly, I think a non-dated version of this planner would be great in case you don’t get a chance to start the planner from the intended beginning, which would leave a lot of unused pages in the middle of your planner, or if your homeschooling year doesn’t follow a traditional school year flow of July through June.

Looking for a different planner? See other NextGen Homeschool’s planner reviews:

• The Well Planned Day Family Homeschool Planner
• Five Different Homeschool Planners Compared
• A Simple Plan Homeschool Planner
• Mardel’s Free Online Homeschool Planner

Are you about to embark on the high school years with your teenager? What are you most excited about? What concerns you the most? What do you look for in a high school planner?