How I am doing Lesson Plans this year

I homeschool in North Carolina, where there are no requirements to keep or turn in lesson plans. I still keep them; I want to know what we did whether anyone but me ever sees it or not. I also loved lesson planning when I was a classroom teacher (sometimes even more than teaching itself : ( ). I am a "Type A" so I also like the control accountability that keeping lesson plans provides. Last year, I used the homeschool planner "The Well Planned Day": http://www.homeeducatingfamily.com/shop.html
I really liked it; the subjects are already printed out and each two-page spread covers one week of schooling. It also has articles and other printables (like tear-out report cards) that are relevant and helpful. The problem was I was always writing out the assignments twice: once on the assignment cards that go into each workbox :

(The download is only 30 cents right now on currclick.com http://www.currclick.com/product/21205/Joyful-Steward-Assignment-Cards?it=1 and includes cards for numerous subjects with a grid for each day of the week. I print them on printable postcard card stock that I purchase from Amazon)

...and then again in the planner. This may not sound like much, but it felt like a waste of time and as a general rule I avoid extraneous work to protect laziness efficiency. So, this year I am doing a different system. For starters, I'll make sure to keep a copy of the planning grid that Winter Promise provides for each week (and add the dates and any modifications we made):

For some subjects that are in a book/ workbook, I made copies of the Table-of-Contents to keep in my plan book and will just write the date that each assignment is completed (I am doing this after the fact in case the plans change, as they often do!)

This is from Math Mammoth.

Finally, for the rest, I am going to use those aforementioned assignment cards! I have figured out a way to save them and have them double as my lesson plans. I purchased 3x5 recipe-card protector pages, and I will keep the cards (after the week is up) in there. We've only done one week, but it looks like this:

This was my 5th grader's Science assignment card that was in his workbox for this week (that ended today). Next week, once that week is over, I will put that card right next to this one in the second slot (now blank). Once I get to the 5th week, I will use the back of the week two card (I printed them front/back) just to make it less bulky (as opposed to using a new card and slipping it in.) So, when I turn the page, the first card will be week 5 (which is also the back of week 2). I am making sure to write the name of the books/ resources we are using somewhere on the card, usually at the bottom. The other thing I like about my plans this year is they will be organized by subject and student rather than by day/week, so I will get a more cohesive idea of what each has covered. Now that I am gearing up to complete a high school transcript, I think this will be even more helpful. 

Some random notes:

*when I taught 6th grader I NEVER used red pen b/c I didn't want students to get "bleeding" papers back; now I like to use them (especially to write out assignments) because I think it is attention-getting and cheerful (?)

*I tried Homeschool Tracker and it takes me far more time to type stuff up than just to write it. I also didn't find it intuitive to use so I gave up quickly

*In my plan book (which is a 1-inch 3-ring binder I got from Dollar Tree), I taped a sheet in the back that tells me:

~the exact name of the assignment card file so I don't have to search/ remember;

~the exact page numbers to print and a reminder to print front-back (I am using the blank assignment cards this year and writing in the subject for greater flexibility)

~a note to cut off part of the edge before tearing the cards apart so they will fit into the recipe protector pages

Hopefully God won't laugh now that I've made plans : )