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Review: The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner

I was introduced to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC  last year, and I honestly can say that I was really missing out on a wealth of information before then!  I cannot believe how much information I have gleaned from just the magazine alone.  Then, after I found them on Facebook, I started hearing about The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planners.  I will admit that the $39.00 price tag really made me pause and think before I purchased it.  My thoughts were:

  • Is this planner really worth the $39.00 they are asking?
  • Is all the information going to pertain to me?
  • What about the calendar?  Is it something that will really work for us?
  • What about the forms?  Are they really as good as everyone says they are?
  • Is the planner really worth the $39.00 (PDF) or $44.00 (CD)?

The answer to all these questions is a resounding “YES!”  Yes, I am one of the honored bloggers that gets to review this product, but I can say, without a doubt, that I would definitely purchase this planner! 

There is so much information contained in this planner, and it is so easy to personalize to your family’s needs.  They offer several different styles of calendars for you to choose from, all customizable to fit your needs.  Here are a couple of examples:

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Then there are all the different homeschool forms to choose from:

  • 36 weekly planning forms (each individually numbered)
  • A customizable weekly planning form

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  • Another customizable weekly planning form with a place at the bottom for daily chores and a place for Prayers & Praises!
  • A “Daily Plans For School Year” geared from 1 child to multiple children

Again, there are several different options to choose from!

They also have forms for a Summer Schedule.

Another one of my favorites is the Assignments & Due Dates form:

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This will really come in handy for me this year since we have a high schooler and a middle schooler.  This will be a great way for them (& me) to be able to keep up with all of there different assignments in our co-op group. 

There also forms to help with high school planning, high school transcripts, college planning, & calculating GPAs, as well as for recording test scores, attendance, for grading periods, & even progress reports & grade cards.  This planner makes record keeping easy even for the organizationally challenged person, like myself.  And, if you’re an Unschool Family, well, they didn’t leave you out either!  They’ve got forms to help you keep up with all your daily occurrences & records, too!

There are so many different planners, that I could go on and on about each one, but I won’t.  I’ll leave those for you to check out once you purchase The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner for yourself.

A couple of my favorite forms included is for keeping up with the “Books Read This Year”.  (See above pic.)

As an avid reader myself, I have always encouraged my children to always be reading something and, thankfully, they all love reading.  This will help give me a great way to keep up with all the different books that they read throughout the year, as well as what they thought about a particular book.  This will help me to be able to customize the learning experience even more. 

Another favorite of my is the “Bible Memorization Record” and the Bible reading schedule (365 days or 90 days).  As a Follower of Christ, this is very important myself & to my husband.  This is a great way for your children to be able to read through the Bible & do it in a way that they can form to fit their individual needs. 

I honestly could go on & on, but I want to give you a few more highlights before you decide to rush off & purchase this for yourself!

A few others are:

  • Field Trip Planning
  • Co-Op Information
  • Curriculum Recording Sheets
  • Curriculum Planning/Wish Lists
  • Conventions
  • Homeschool Inventory
  • Preschool Forms
    • ABCs
    • Numbers
    • Colors
    • Etc.
  • Daily Schedules (several to choose from & customizable)
  • Musical Instrument Practice
  • Scouts
  • Sports
  • Dates To Remember
  • Important Phone Numbers & Contacts
  • AND MORE!

Not only do they have forms for homeschooling, but they also have:

  • Recipes
  • Meal planning forms (weekly & monthly)
  • Grocery Lists (several to choose from & customize)
  • Forms for important family information (i.e. emergency information, insurance, contacts, etc)
  • Food Inventory Log
  • Chore charts geared for all ages from preschool to high school
  • Personal Finance & Budget Forms
  • Fundraising Forms
  • Kids Financial Forms
  • Exercise Log
  • Home Improvement
  • Gardening
  • Car Care
  • Gift forms for budgeting, giving, wish list, etc.
  • Vacation planning forms of all kinds
  • Prayer Journal
  • Address book
  • Blog forms
  • AND MANY MORE!

And don’t forget all the helpful articles on:

  • Homeschooling
  • “The Prepared Pantry”
  • “Making Discipleship A Priority”
  • Budgeting
  • ETC.

And all the chart included.  A few of these  worth mentioning are:

  • Kitchen Conversion Cheat Sheet
  • Roman Numerals
  • Prime Numbers
  • The Planets
  • Periodic Table
  • Animal Classification
  • Types of Poetry
  • US Presidents
  • History Timeline
  • United States & Capitals
  • Important U.S. Documents

Like I said, I could go on and on.  There is so much in here to help you with not only your homeschooling, but in keeping your daily life & family life in check.  This is a great package that, to me, shows just how intertwined homeschooling is with our every day lives & activities.  Everything is a learning experience & should be treated as such. What better way to help you keep track of it all that with The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner.

I know some of you are thinking, but I only have an elementary-aged child, or a middle school-aged child, or a high school-aged child, or even a child with special needs.  I don’t need all of this information.  Well, they have planners geared for each one of you!  I’ll even provide the links for you (prices vary on these):

The 2011-12 Primary Schoolhouse Planner

The 2011-12 Intermediate Schoolhouse Planner

The 2011-12 High School Schoolhouse Planner

The 2011-12 Special Needs Schoolhouse Planner

They realize that homeschoolers are not a one-size-fits-all group and have tried to think of everyone, & they have tried to cater to each group as best they can. 

I hope that you will consider this planner when looking for your homeschool planner for the upcoming school year.  Believe me when I say that I have looked everyone for a planner to fit my family’s needs, and none of them did like this one. 

And, if you’re looking for a great homeschool magazine full of information and stories from people like yourself, you need not look any further:

You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, for the great privilege of reviewing this wonderful product! 

God Bless!

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Book Review: Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda

 

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Here, Home, Hope is a story of a 39-year-old woman, Kelly Johnson, who appears to have it all together, the perfect husband, the perfect family, the perfect house, the perfect life.  Until she finds herself facing a brush with possibly having breast cancer which then finds her in the middle of a midlife crisis; not sure who she is any more.   I will admit that I had problems relating to Kelly, myself, but I believe that a lot of women out there will not have that problem.  I did really enjoy her Things 2 Change (T2C) Post-Its that she used to keep a list of all of the things that she wanted to change about herself & her life. 

I felt that some of the conversations in the book were a bit forced but, over all, it was a good book.  I will have to say that, after a bit of a slow start, it ended up being a good book. 

Here’s a peak at the  book trailer. Kaira Rouda also has a Facebook page & Twitter page for her new book. Head on over & see what others are saying about Here, Home, Hope, which is also available for Kindle’ target=_blank>Kindle.

 

**I received an advance copy of the digital book through One2One Network for review.**

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Busy, busy, busy…..

I have been sorely neglecting keeping up with my blog here lately.  But, in my defense, I have been swamped the last week or so.   Last week, our church, Clearwater Baptist Church, hosted VBS, and I was in charge of the snacks.  I look forward to it every year, but boy does it wear me out.  I guess it’s a good thing that I forget from year to year how time consuming it is.  I will say that this year was the best year yet for me because my children are old enough to really help out with the preparations during the day, and it was so nice to watch them put their all into it knowing that others were going to benefit.  We talked, we laughed, and we had a great time working together.  I love having times like this that bring us closer together as a family. 

We also went to J-Fest the Saturday before VBS, which was awesome, and we went to Riverbend last night in Chattanooga and got to see Casting Crownsperform.

If you’ve never heard them, you’re really missing out. They are such spirit-filled, Christ-centered group.  They are truly a blessing to my family and me.  We love their music.  I can’t tell you of a time that I have listened to their music where I did not receive a blessing. 

The next item on our agenda:   AWANA camp for the girls!  We will take Melia & Katie to camp on Saturday & then pick them back up on Friday.  They count down the days each year from the time they leave till the time they return.  They have so much fun there & have many friends that they only see once a year.  But, they also look forward to the spiritual growth that they receive while there.  My prayer is that God will use this time to really grow them in His word and daily life.  I know I always receive a blessing out of all that they tell me when they come home. 

I will have to say (and I am ashamed to admit this) that I have been neglecting my personal time with my Savior lately.  I have allowed just my daily life & just little things in general to get in my way of spending time in His word & in prayer like I should.  I have been making a conscious effort this week to slowly make this a part of my daily routine once again.  I know I have a serve a loving and forgiving God, and I am so thankful that He takes the time to lovingly remind me when I am neglecting the things that should matter most. 

As for the rest of our summer, who knows what all we’ll do.  I know our garden has done very poorly.  We got it planted in time, but then it poured for several weeks, then the tractor tore up, then a late frost…..   Well, you get the point.  I will take whatever comes up & count it as one of my many blessings God has given me.  He knows what I (we) can handle. 

We are also gearing up for our next year of homeschooling & we’re all super excited about it!  I’ve got a great review coming up on a product from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that I know you’ll want to see, so stay tuned! 

The Old Schoolhouse magazine Back Issue Bundle

And, in case you’ve considered subscribing to them, but have held off, you Don’t miss the 2011 Homeschool Gifts Bouquet– a special promotional offer that gives you a two-year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and 19 special gifts.

 

This magazine should be a must-have for all homeschoolers!  There is always so much information in these magazines that I can hardly wait to get my next one, and I always seem to be hurrying to finish the last one before the next one gets here because there’s not only tons of information in the magazine itself but, with your subscription, you get access to the Teacher’s Toolbox, which is also full of wonderful information and helpful tools!  Go check it out!  I’ll share more later in my review!