I have looked for an academic planner for teens for years. Now that my kids are in high school, I think I found one that will help them manage their own time and their schedule more efficiently. I am so relieved because I was sick of being their secretary and setting up appointments for them. They can manage their own themselves.
This post will show tips on how my teens used this academic planner.
Tip 1: Hand write the class schedule in the planner. This will help you memorize the order of your classes and where they are in the school. 
If you want your class schedule to stand out a little, you can use one color for each class. Instead of writing A – F day, my daughter wrote ALL. She also put P.E and health on the same line.
Tip 2: Use a black sharpie marker to write the subjects, so it helps them stand out. He also included the room numbers to remind him what room he is going to.
My daughter is into fonts, so she wanted to write each class as a different font style to make it her own. Here is what she did.
Tip 3: If you have a year at a glance section in your academic planner, color on the off days and other important dates from the school’s calendar for the entire year. They usually have it available on the website.
Tip 4: Don’t forget to write in your after school activities. This will help you figure out when your free to study and do homework. Block out those areas and write what you are going to do in the blocks.
Tip 5: Always have a pencil with an eraser attached to the planner. This way, you can jot down notes quickly.
Tip 6: Have some sticky notes in your pencil-case or handy so you jot down homework information. Then, place them on the front cover if you don’t have time to open your planner between classes. Then, when you have time, like at lunch, put the stick notes inside the planner on that day.
ADDITIONAL TIP: If your child likes to use their smartphone instead, set up the calendar on it. Every smartphone should have a timetable and a task tracking app. They can type in their assignments in their calendar or task app to help them keep track of homework and test information. Have them start using them before school starts, then they can get used to it, and if there are any issues, you can help revise their process.
I hope these tips help you or your kids keep your planner up-to-date and organized. Click on the image below to get your copy today!
Full disclosure: If you decide to purchase this academic planner, I will receive a small commission from your purchase.
So belated in writing a huge thank you. I was doing some research and stumbled upon this fantastic review. Love seeing how your children individualized their planners. so smart!! Looking forward to this coming back-to-school!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Leslie! I really appreciate it.
Great post, Sabrina! I really liked seeing how your children personalized their planners.
Thanks for the tips. I bought one of these for my son and I am having a hard time getting him to use it but that’s completely user error! I really like the tip about marking important dates on the calendar. My kids seem to be oblivious to the school calendar so this will be a great reminder.
Love this post! It shows how both of your kids successfully started using their planner. It works well for all sorts of organized and not organized kiddos. Be sure to check in with your kids each week to see that they are entering their homework and more. Leslie has created an amazing way to keep kids organized.
I like the tip about hand writing the class schedule in your planner to remember it better. I think there’s something to be said for putting pen to paper to have things learned in your memory. I also like the piece about the sticky notes for homework on the class notebooks. What a great visual reminder. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t have, or work with, teens. But I can vouch for this planner’s creator, Leslie Josel!
I love that you showed the planner in use Sabrina! I love how your daughter uses different fonts! Great idea to go ahead and color code the days off as well. I suppose you could also just tape in a copy of your schools calendar there too.
I love this planner, and I especially love the way your kids personalized it by using different colors and fonts.
Thanks Janet. Most kids need to take ownership of their calendar to really want to use it. Hopefully, that is true for my kids as well. Time will soon tell.