{Review} The Ultimate Homeschool Planner

When I first started on our homeschooling journey I spent countless hours planning. I printed off forms and lists and calenders. I had a page for everything I could possibly think I might need to plan. My documents folder on my computer was overflowing with things I had saved but never opened again. Over the years, my planning has streamlined into a few select forms each year. So when I was asked to review Debra Bell's Ultimate Homeschool Planner, I was interested to see how my planning system would compare to hers. And there's not only a parent's planner, but one specialized for students and teenagers!

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is actually pretty ultimate and covers almost all the bases you might need to cover to plan a successful homeschool year, or even to plan a successful year of life.

About the Product:

So what is included in the Ultimate Homeschool Planner?

It starts out with the a yearly calendar- 4 of them actually. So mine has a page (front and back) containing a calendar for the 2012-2013 through the 2015-2016 school years (running from July to June). I normally print off a July-June school calendar every year, so this was a good thing to be included.

Then there is a good 10 or so pages of a User's Guide. Now, I know we all know how to plan, but this User's Guide had a lot of really good information in it and it all comes from a seasoned homeschooling expert! She gives a lot of great information on planning sessions, prioritizing your school year and how to get the most out of your planner. She also goes over the ins and outs of using the student and teen planners.

Then the planning pages start. First with a year-at-a-glace page. This is a place where you can put in your days off, holidays, extra curricular activities and anything else that might need to be planned around or take a high priority to book work. I used this page to mark our co-op classes, birthdays, important farm dates where life-school takes precedence over book work.

Next, there are goals pages for each student (up to 6 students). There are places for academic and personal goals. A yearly goals sheet has always been something I print off each year. Other pre-planning pages include a family priority list and student resource list (and yes, a resource list was something in my planning pages as well).

Then comes the monthly planning pages. These are undated pages with space to write the month, year and dates as well as a few spots to write any notes for the month. Each month is a 2-page spread.

After the monthly pages are the weekly pages, where you can transfer your monthly plan into a more indepth weekly plan. Each week is a 4 page spread. The first 2-pages are a blank planning grid with 6 rows and 6 columns. I really liked that they were blank to allow me to find the best way to plan for my family. I played around with listing subjects, days, kids, etc before settling on days going down and subjects going across. These pages are also undated, which gives you a lot of freedom and flexibility on your school breaks. The 2nd part of the weekly pages are dedicated to Sunday and the week in review.  I am a secular homeschooler and was able to tweak these pages for my use. I really enjoyed the spaces to jot down the week's memorable moments and other positives for the week. Those sort of things- that focus on the positive- really help to keep burn out at bay.

Once the planning pages are done, there is still a lot left to this planner. There is a section on record keeping for recording grades and reading lists. There are pages giving teaching tips from learning styles to reluctant learners. And finally a high school planning guide to help with that daunting task of planning for homeschooling high schoolers!

The Bottom Line:

 

Page for page the Ultimate Homeschool Planner has just about every page I would normally print out for any given school year and then some extra. I found I used it for more than just a homeschool planner,  but as a life planner. There was room for all of my my dates-to-remember and activities as well as the educational plans.

What did I like the most?

 

• I really liked the fact that the pages were undated. Homeschoolers come with all sorts of schedules, not everyone goes from June-July and we all take different breaks. So the fact that I could label the calendars in the order I wanted, was really nice. 
• The flexibility of this product is amazing. You can see it most in the weekly pages. I have used other planners that pre-write the subjects or days of the week or  student 1, 2, etc and the fact that I could use the grid to fit my specific planning style was a definite plus.
• All of those extras! The teaching tips, the planning tips, the records forms! It was nice to have all of those extra pages in one place.

What would I change?

 

• If I could add one page, it would be an attendance form of some sort. Many states require homeschoolers to keep an attendance sheet, and while sometimes there are specific forms for each state, having one bound in the planner would be one less piece of paper to lose!
• I would prefer that the weekly planning pages are sandwiched between the months, instead of all the months then all of the weeks.
• The binding. I have a love-hate relationship with spiral binding. I love that it lays flat, but no one in my family, me included, can keep a spiral-bound book intact. The spiral just starts moving up the book as we open and close it! I know there are other ways to bind that can't unravel! 

The Student Planner:

 

I also received a student planner to review. This one much smaller in size- which makes it easy for kids to carry around without getting bogged down by another book. It's set up similarly to the Homeschool Planner with blank month pages and blank weekly pages. There are also a few record keeping pages and a lot of cool "help" pages in the back. There is a ton of information located in those pages, and reminds me of a big-kid version of a mini-office lapbook you might see a Kindergartener or 1st grader use. There everything from a historical time-line to conversion charts to a grammar guide and  root words list. And those pages were just perfect for my fact-loving son.  One of Debra Bell's goals is to help kids become independent in their learning, and using a planner like this is one step along the way to becoming responsible for their studies.

Where to Get One:

If you are interested in purchasing a planner of your own you can get them from Apologia's website. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is $28, while the Student and Teen Planners are $19.

Printable Blog Planner Review

In the past my blog planning consisted of whatever happened to be in my head at the current moment. On a good day I might have a few posts scratched out in a random notebook somewhere. For the most part it worked, but I tended to get into trouble with posts that were a little more time sensitive- such as reviewing items for companies. So keeping track of all my blog-related stuff in one place started to sound like a good idea.

Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations  has created a a 60 page printable blog planner that has all the necessary parts to be totally organized. It's got month-at-glance pages, weekly post tracking pages that include social media reminders, lots of extras to keep track of all the little parts of blogging and plenty of room to make notes and ideas.

I'll be honest, making changes is hard. I had to constantly remind myself that using a planner was a better idea than scratching random notes or relying on my memory. But after using the planner for a few weeks I can see definite improvements.

What I liked most:

• I really liked the extra pages included in the planner such as those to keep track of weekly blog hops and twitter hashtags. There are so many of those to remember that no one can keep them all straight!
• The Stats tracking page. I have never written down any stats and usually only check them sporadically, but writing them down and seeing progress is a definite push to work harder.
• The full month-at-a-glance calender. I tend to post in spurts, which is something I have wanted to change. So when I see that I might post 4 times in a week and then not again for another week and a half, I am more likely to take steps to spread the posts out. It's also a gentle reminder to get writing if you haven't posted in awhile. 
• The social media reminders. Social media is big right now and it's a lot to keep track of, so being able  to check off all the places as you share your posts is great. 

Was there anything that didn't work for me? Of course. Everyone's organizational style is different, so there were a few things I would change if I were making my own planner. But overall, this planner is just what I needed to get more organized. I will note that this planner might not work really well if you are just starting out in the blog world as it might be a little overwhelming at the very beginning, but once you've gotten your blogging-feet wet, this planner would be just perfect.

If you'd like to get your own planner, visit  Homeschool Creations to download it today. It's free!

Want to know what other bloggers think about this planner or the many other available planners? Visit Mosaic Reviews to see more!

Making Long Term Homeschool Goals

This post can now be found on The Free Range Life. Here is the link to Making Long Term Homeschool Goals.

Random Thoughts and Random Pictures

Today is July first. We usually start our school year the first Monday in July, but this year the first Monday is the 4th and that put together with the fact that my mom is coming to visit today and will be here through next week I have pushed our start date to the 11th.


I guess that is a good thing...since I am not completely ready to start. I'll get there, but I've been distracted by other things and it makes it hard to focus on what needs to be done right now. But I've gotten Cohen's math figured out, about 90% of the language arts we will do this year, most of the history- except the fun stuff- planned. Science is my last major thing to do. I was all set to go in one direction and then I got pulled in another based on what I know they are interested in- so I had to start over on that one.


Annika's 6 months old....why do babies seem to grow so fast? She's got 2 teeth now. Rolls all over the place, is starting to scoot around and is thoroughly enjoying her first fresh peach season. Sleep is the one thing she hasn't quite mastered. I have finally gotten her to fall asleep on her own for the most part...but certain things have to be in order for that to happen.


Such as her song. She has a favorite song- and I have found that she will go to sleep and stay asleep longer if it's on repeat. So now we all know the words to Taylor Swift's Never Grow Up. That and she has to be in my bed. Which might pose a problem once she's mobile and a pillow corral will no longer keep her. I would also like to sleep all night one of these days....

For the first time in almost 3 years we still have living zucchini and squash plants. Usually by mid-June the squash bugs have taken over and all my plants lay wilted on the ground. The bugs are there and a lot have wilted, but I do have a couple left. They are beginning to lose their battle though, a self-planted pumpkin and my 2nd to last zucchini plant wilted yesterday.

Also for the first time in about as long we are getting good cucumbers. The lemon ones are really good, the cucumber beetles are near non existent and I have about 20 or more cukes plus 3 quarts of pickles in my refrigerator right now.


And one more...Eggplant. Usually between the flea beetles and the potato bugs my tiny little egg plant seedlings get eaten up within a couple days of planting. They never have a chance....but this year...

I rearranged our school/playroom last week. I was trying to make room for a couple desks since my older 2 would benefit from not being at a table with everyone else. They need more elbow room and less distractions. I still have a problem area....the fact that our playroom also serves as a barn. We currently have no other good and convenient place to store our animal food- so I have 50lb bags of rabbit, chick, chicken, scratch and goat food in the playroom....


Paul's interning with the TN Farmer's Co-op this summer. He's graduating in December and we've talked a lot over the past year about what that means. We aren't sure where we will end up, but regardless we plan on moving from our current home at some point. Is it bad that I get more excited about a nice barn than a nice house?

One Week

One week of summer vacation left. I am mostly ready- still finishing up our first science unit. We are doing Earth science this year, starting with astronomy. I am having fun requesting books from the University of Tennessee library- which has a pretty good juvenile books section. I am breaking Paul's back everyday this week with books to pick up- at least he doesn't have to go find them too. UT has this nifty service where you just request the book and they pull it off the shelf and you just pick it up at circulation.

But until next Monday, it is summer.

The Day the UPS Man Came

I ordered a bunch of things for next year and it came today. I love getting new stuff...

I ordered a couple math books for Cohen...who has been asking, no begging, for me to get him a math book for months and months. He was so excited.

I went ahead and ordered the manipulative kit that went along with it....it came with a lot of things, like these fraction tiles. And a bunch of counters and blocks and such.

Once I ordered all the books- history, handwriting and math. I went shopping. For random stuff to bump my total up to the free shipping minimum.

So I got books


And 12 sided dice

And some art supplies....

Other than now I can happily plan, the great thing about getting a package is this:

When they opened the box, Cale and Rylan played with pattern blocks for long time. Cohen worked with the fraction tiles, Lakin counted bears and then they asked if they could do their books. At 7pm during summer vacation. Rylan and Cale did their handwriting books and Cohen did about 4 pages in his math book. Then I had to force them to take a bath....

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

1 month. Give or take. That is our summer vacation around here. July 5th marks the start of our new school year, so my summer vacation is in full swing. What does that mean? Planning.

It means a zillion word documents constantly on my desktopStacks of library books to go though

An ever growing list of bookmarked websites do revisit, like Lesson Pathways.

And as much as I love my computer- I love my binder too. With all my schedules and unit plans. It's where I keep samples of their work and keep track of just about everything.

Like my (constantly evolving) book list for each kid. Books I might want them to read. Ones they might enjoy reading. And a list of all that they did read. My boys are somewhat reluctant readers. They have yet to find those books that they can't put down, that they read for fun, or that they will read at times other than when I tell them too.

I've got the basic outline of the year down. We are doing true history for the first time, instead of random books, projects and units. And we are focusing on Earth Sciences this year since we've spent a lot of time with physical and biological over the years. Now I've just got to get the actual lessons planned out.

Curriculum 2009-10

This week's topic is curriculum at the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop over at Life With My 3 Boybarians. Here's a little of what we will be doing this year.

For Math Rylan will be using this:
A combination of Singapore 3A,3B and his Mastering Mathematics curriculum that be has been using since Kindergarten. He is using the Defeating Division book mostly, but will review mutiplying by a 2-digit number and by a 3+ digit number in is Mastering Multiplication book.

Cale will be using this:
Singapore 1A,1B. But in the past 4 weeks that we have been using it I have realized that I prefer a mastery program, so we have taken a break from it for now and are focusing on mastering addition, using the same form as Mastering Mathematics, but using online pages since we don't have another set of work books yet.

For Spelling both boys are using Spelling Power- Rylan as it is written and Cale in more of a weekly spelling test sort of format.

Cohen's using a menagerie of workbooks...2 of which were unused, the others partially used from the other 2 boys. He gets upset if I don't give him workbooks in his box, and goes and gets them off the shelf. He is using a lot of manipulatives too...but he likes workbooks.


Then I picked up a few random workbooks from the $$ section at Target last time we were there. Some preschool, math and phonics ones. They sit on the shelf and if I need them for extra practice or the boys choose to use them they do. Rylan has almost completely finished the Multiplication one...he felt he needed the extra practice :)
With all that said....I get a little anxious when there is too much book work. I *do* like book work for Math, Rylan is a terrible speller and refuses to write if it isn't correct, so we both agreed to do the spelling book. But most of our school time comes from this:
My binder, with my self-made schedule. Numbered day 1 to day 180, so that if we are out one day I don't have to deal with messed up weeks. Sectioned in major subject areas and has areas for read alouds and books to be read. I do about 4 weeks worth at a time, since most of our year is 4 weeks on, 1 week off.

It has lists like this:
and this:

which are a list of about 100+ books, complied from various sources, for each of my readers to either read aloud to me or to themselves. They list the author, which library I can find it at, if we own it, or if we have to find it elsewhere, an approx. reading level and a place for my notes. I use them to pick appropriate books for the other topics we are studying.

My binder also include lots of pages like this...my unit planner page, self made with a place for me to write 4 weeks worth of activities, books to read along with it and book call number for easy finding at the library. Chapterbooks for Rylan to read to himself and for me to read aloud abd important people to study...

We have about 9 different unit we will be studying this year, a different one for each of our 4 week blocks. We are about done with Art, next up is Global Concerns then onto Chemistry. We will do some on government and economics. And ecosystems/biomes and physics.


Speaking of chemistry and physics....A friend of mine introduced me to these great books that are full of great activities and information. We will be using both the Physics (k-3) and Chemistry (5-7) altered for more level-appropriate learning.

Vacationing

Last week I took a vacation....well, a mental vacation maybe. A vacation from many of my normal daily duties...

I completely ignored the weeds growing in the garden

I ignored the dust on the shelves and the hair on the floors

I ignored the dishes- as much as one can when the dishwasher is broken

I ignored the laundry

I ignored just about everything except preparing meals, baths, and playing/reading with the kids when they asked me to.

What did I do?

On Thursday I read this:

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

On Friday I read this:

New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)

On Saturday I read this:

Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

On Sunday I read this:

Breaking Dawn Special Edition (The Twilight Saga)

Although Paul was home some on Sunday so I didn't read quite as much, so I had to finish the book during quiet time on Monday. I was seeing vampires in my sleep. It's been a long time since I have read like that- when I was in high school it was quite common for me to read 400+ page books in one day/night....

But now I am back....I have received 2 of my 3 orders for the upcoming school year. I have most of the curriculum I am going to use, I have 2 units planned, and about 7 more to plan...or at the very least roughly outline...school officially starts the first week in July.