My September Personal Curriculum Plans

books, projects, and tiny adventures I’m saying yes to this month

What is it about a new planner that is so wildly tempting to me?!?

I don’t even want to admit how many times this August I have been standing in a store, holding a planner and thinking of all the ways “I could use it”.

I will literally stand there telling my kids or quietly talking to myself about all the plans I could make if I just had this beautiful new spiral bound notebook…. its so pretty!!

So full of potential!!

In the end, I sadly put it back on the shelf because one of my secrets to adulting is:

“if a system is not broken, don’t fix it”

I know myself.

If I buy that planner I will spend a few days working on it, filling it out, adding in stickers and notes, but then by mid-September it will go untouched. Because the openness of my Bullet Journal calls me on busy days and the planner with lots of structure feels overwhelming.

I always go back to my blank dotted pages that let me create what is needed for the week ahead. I love analog planning but I have learned that for me it needs to be a blank page.

Structure seems so exciting when I’m standing in the store holding a crisp new planner or when I am relaxed and thinking of all the things that I will get done. But in those “middle of the week” moments it feels like a waste of time spent doing extra planning instead of executing the tasks that are piling up.

So, as I created structure for this school year (in my homeschool planning, writing work, and homemaking) I returned back to my Bullet Journal and my basic notebooks.

[ You can learn more about my Bujo system here and my academic planning here. ]

And honestly, I am loving it. 🤓📓

Planning brings me so much joy.

I love looking ahead to this next year and dreaming up projects, things to focus on, and all the details.

….and since I’m anti-gatekeeping I will share my free PDFs with you:

my weekly schedule & commitments: Weekly Schedule Planner Templates

my school year schedule: 2026-2027 Planning Pages

I mapped out Lara’s High School classes: High School Transcript Template

some writing planning: Substack Notes Tracker(inspired by David’s webinar from How to Write for a Living)

updating my routines: 📝Free Habit Tracker Printables

5 Reasons to Adjust Your Morning Routine for Fall

**Most of these printables have posts that I’ve written if you want to go further. Just use the search option on my homepage. 😉

So, as you can see, planning is a large piece of my focus as summer ends and the school year begins. But I also have a few other goals for this month.

Let’s jump into my plans!!

here is my September inspiration collage:

Here’s what’s anchoring my month:

👩‍🏫📘more homeschool planning — Prepping for our school year takes me a few weeks of focused work, and time collaborating with my kids. I create loose plans and then often need to readjust after a few weeks.
📝1st day of school & back to routines — fresh pencils, new notebooks, and a morning routine reset
household tasks — caring for my houseplants, sourdough starter, and random decluttering that needs done
morning routine refresh — I want to set my alarm earlier and get back into my Bible Study habits and maybe a few morning walks with the dogs.
watercolor & sketching — returning to some simple art that I enjoy without expectation of specific output
Bullet Journaling — as I said in my story at the beginning of this post, this practice grounds me and helps me move forward on my tasks without unnecessary time spent on planning.
library trip — my teens mentioned wanting to take school work to the library or a coffee shop just to do something different for a school morning, so we will probably try it out.

Ambitious-planner-April wants to add a few new hobbies and projects, but I’m going to keep expectations low because September is typically a month that feels very full.

I am also going to give myself space to move more slowly into fall since this summer has been so busy.

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my TBR and why it made the list:

[note: this post is NOT sponsored, I'm just sharing what I enjoy]

Non-fiction:

📖 Chase The Fun: 100 Days to Discover Fun Right Where You Are by Annie F. Downs — I love the reminder that fun isn’t something we have to earn after everything else is finished. Downs makes the case that making room for delight is actually an important part of a full life. I have a tendency this time of year to get bogged down with everything that needs to be planned and completed, so I’m hoping this book with help me lighten up a bit.

📖this book is a companion to her book: That Sounds Fun. If you haven’t read that one you should definitely check it out!

. . . . .

📖 Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg — Please come join us for our relaxed book club! Niamh Celeste and I are co-reading and posting our notes every Thursday.

We’re just getting started so it’s the perfect time to jump in!

When I’m in the middle of back-to-school season I find returning to the basics a healthy practice for me. I don’t always need to be finding new experts to make big changes. It is good to be reminded of books that have shaped me and grounded me.

So I will be pulling some oldies-but-goodies from my shelf for this month. (This also helps my tight September budget.)

some re-reads from my bookshelf:

📖 Raising Hell, Living Well – Freedom from Influence in a World Where Everyone Wants Something from You *Including Me by Jessica Elefante. — Unfortunately, in the society that we live in today, we each have a responsibility to filter the flood of information coming into our homes. There is no longer a reasonable set of guidelines or rules being followed for the tsunami of content we come up against. In each chapter she systematically breaks down how we are influenced and the complicated invisible layers we are up against. By Part VI she shows us how to reconstruct our lives above the influences and in a way that aligns with our values.

📖🎧 Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable Peaceby Sarah Mackenzie — This book is one I often return to at the beginning of the school year. It is a bit of a reset for my parenting and helps me be more relationship focused in my planning.

📖 Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott — Lamott writes with sharp wit and deep empathy. When I read her words I feel seen and understood. Her book reminds me that creative expression is a messy, step-by-step process, and that I don’t have to get it right on the first try.

a figurine sitting on top of a stack of books — Photo by Jo Anaya on Unsplash

Fiction:

🎧Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke — (satirical, psychological thriller) I’m over half way into this book and I’m having mixed feelings about it. So this is not a recommendation, just a note on what I’m reading. I’m definitely compelled to keep reading but its a bit disturbing. 🤨 It reminds me of Educated by Tara Westover (a memoir about growing up isolated in a survivalist Mormon family in rural Idaho).

📖 Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson — (YA, fall rom-com)  Lara just finished this one and told me it’s a fun must read. It’s about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town while the town prepares for an annualfall festival. Very Gilmore Girls vibes.

I tend to be a mood reader when it comes to fiction and my TBR is very long. So I will update you with my recap post if I’m able to get to more. For now, here are some favorites I recommend.

from my bookshelf:

📖 Marilla of Green Gablesby Sarah McCoy — (historical fiction) Set in 19th-century rural Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, the story begins with 13-year-old Marilla Cuthbert. It’s all about her teen years and young adult life. I enjoyed the back story of the characters who I’ve known for so long as adults in Anne Shirley’s life.

. . . . .

books that I have loved listening to aloud with my kids:

📖🎧Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (Book 1)

📖🎧 When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (Book 2)

These are wonderous adventure novels with an epic journeys and memorable characters in the tradition of The Wizard of Oz. And the main character has a helpful dragon by her side.

. . . . .

📖🎧The Vanderbeekers Series by Karina Yan Glaser

Realistic children’s fiction with a family with 5 kids living in a brownstone on 141st Street in Harlem, New York City. I love the family dynamics and neighborhood adventures in this series. You could easily read just the first book on it’s own.

Remember: Well written fiction can be enjoyed at any age. 😉

So, how about you??

What have you been reading lately?

📒🍂 Happy Reading —

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