When I downloaded
The Old Schoolhouse's 2009 Schoolhouse Planner ($39.00), I wasn't sure I would ever have time to look at all it offers. But I did, and now I can't wait to start using it. At 375 pages, it packs several punches on behalf of home and school!
Monthly customizeable calendars, unit ideas, resource lists, recipes.....that's just the first part!
Reading logs, curriculum documentation, report cards, handwriting printables, nature journal templates, field trip checklists, high school transcript forms....still not all!
Scripture memorization charts, prayer journal, Bible study journal and schedule, and more tools to aid in building your family's faith.
Plus a wide variety of useful information, including but not limited to the periodic table, U.S. Presidents and their wives, information about our solar system, influential classical composers, and Latin and Greek roots ("Wow!" said I, at that one), in an easy to use chart format.
There are even sections to help keep track of household finances, and appliance/auto maintenance. From important information for babysitters, to encouraging messages for moms, it's in this planner!
This is not your typical one-year planner--it's a compilation of organizational and informational tools to use for your home and throughout the course of your child's education. That's one reason I'm glad it's in the e-book format. I can print what I want when I need it and even reorganize the pages to some extent, to fit our home and school routines. I think one of the keys to really getting "the most bang for your buck" in the case of the
2009 Schoolhouse Planner is to take the time to get to know it. I've only had time to browse through it over the last couple of days, but I plan to use the next month to really familiarize myself with where things are in it and to set it up for how our family runs.
Several years ago, I tried to set up a notebook on my own to consolidate all the piles of important documents, phone numbers, and pieces of information I needed to hold onto. Whereas I succeeded with a binder that bulged and burped out post-it notes, the
2009 Schoolhouse Planner gets it right in this area. I think the trick to this is two-fold: you can fill in the information before it's printed, eliminating most of the need for sticky notes all over the place, and the creators took the time to give everything its own place and space. And I do mean everything--if you think you might need a form or chart for something, it's probably here.
The more I look at it, the more I am impressed by its flexibility, that it won't chain me to someone else's style of organization. While I probably will use this in a notebook format, it could just as easily work in a file folder system or even a paperless one. Speaking of paper, one concern I had initially was the cost of printing out those 375 pages. As I said above, you can print out only what you need, when you need it. I have already decided, also, that I will reduce the size of the some of the pages, the ones that will work well with this, enough to fit two per sheet of paper, when I need to print them. And while the creators do have it organized into sections, I will probably reorganize some of its components to fit my own system of filing.
There's something here for every style of homeschool regardless of the curriculum used or educational philosophy followed, as the other members of the TOS Crew share in their reviews as well. Admittedly, those of us who ascribe to the more traditional schooling methods will find more in the way of educational forms that fit our needs, but there is a documentation form designed specifically for those who "unschool", as well. No matter the style of your homeschool, just as a well-oiled machine runs better, a carefully-planned and organized school and home run more smoothly.
The 2009 Schoolhouse Planner is definitely what I coin "a living book", in that not only will I be able to customize it to our family's life and school, but I will also be able to add to it with supplemental monthly modules made available through The Old Schoolhouse Store. In fact, I just read on their site that if you purchase a 2009 Schoolhouse Planner between June 11 and July 12, 2009, you will receive all the 2008 Planner Excerpts FOR FREE!
If you just want a book of blank calendar sheets to fill in, hit the bargain bin. If you don't have time to "study up" on all this planner has to offer, you won't get your money's worth. But if you set aside some blocks of time to get acquainted and comfortable with the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner from The Old Schoolhouse, you will find a treasure chest of resources to enrich, professionalize, and organize your home and the school you have in it!
