Disorganization and lack of follow through plague the teen years.

How many times have you heard “Oh, I forgot about that assignment,” or “I don’t remember when my co-op project is due”? It’s frustrating.

It seems to be never-ending. My teens are typical in this regard. Due dates and advance planning seem to be this mysterious concept for them.

What I need is for them to be ready to turn in assigned work, either to me or to the teachers in their outside classes. They should be able to keep track of the time that they spend on their courses. And they need to see the big picture as it plays out over the course of a school year.

I love planners, all kinds. The trouble is I’d been struggling to find a good planner that would help my boys to achieve the goals I have for them. Most student planners are either just a basic calendar with space to write assignments, or they contain so much extra stuff that it was overwhelming, for me AND for them. I thought there were no perfect solutions and that I was stuck doing all of the planning and accountability.

I was wrong.

The Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens is published by Apologia.

At first glance, I saw the possibilities. It isn’t a full-sized planner. It tucks neatly into a backpack or even the pocket in a 3-ring binder. The covers are colorful vinyl, impervious to Nutella and coffee (the chosen preferred nutritional items which are most likely to make a mess at my house.)

Inside, there are a good assortment of pages for various records, including:

Daily schedules for first and second semester

He can set his schedule up for all 7 days of the week, including co-op or outside class times & days, extra-curricular activities, etc. At a glance, he will know what he has going on.

Un-dated Monthly calendars

No worries about feeling you have wasted time because you had them start using it mid-year, or because they forgot to document for a couple of weeks! He can begin using it whenever you get it.

Un-dated Weekly calendars

There is space for 6  subjects per day, as well as 6 blocks for Saturday/Sunday, a Notes column, due dates, appointments, and devotions records. Each block has clock face style circles for your student to record his time spent on each subject or activity, for easy credit recording. There is also an SAT study word and definition across the top of each weekly spread.

Grade records

The year is split into 6 sections, allowing for different subjects and grade recording.

Various Record Forms

Reading list, Activities log, 6-week Active Lifestyle activities log (basically a fitness tracker), and Credit tracker

Quick Reference Guides

English rules and citations, math and science guides, historical events timelines

Post-High School Planning

College Admissions, High School Checklist, Scholarship helps, a section for Notes, and Yearly Calendars through 2023. There are even stickers to use as visuals on the monthly and weekly calendars!




This little planner has everything a busy high school student will need to get himself organized and keep track of his schoolwork. For YOU, they have this amazing lesson planner with lots of pretty pages and great forms too! They also carry this wonderful American Literature curriculum we’re using this coming year.