Planning to be a Blessing

A planner designed with the homeschool mom in mind? What’s not to love? In the case of The Schoolhouse Planner, there’s not much I don’t love! I considered purchasing it last year, but put it off reluctantly because I don’t really need help planning lessons with most of our materials coming from Sonlight. Why reluctantly? Because, like many moms, I used to be a planner junkie. I loved lists and charts, calendars and planning pages. But over the past few years, I got complacent. I felt like I had keeping house and teaching under control...until this spring, when I missed not one but three close family birthdays and continually forgot to do something my ever-patient husband had requested me to do. I realized that something needed to change. And then along comes this opportunity. From experienced moms who need something to restart their dormant organizational genes to those moms who are just starting out, this planner takes all the guesswork out of a homeschool year.

First, the facts. The planner is a downloadable e-book, 375 information-packed pages. Each month comes with a blank calendar, a featured content area with an article written by experts like Dr. Jay Wile and Steve Demmie, links to additional resources, and easy recipes to fit into your homeschool day. Beyond the monthly pages come the forms for managing your home and managing your school. Most planners look at one or the other, but this one integrates both. Visit The Schoolhouse Planner page at the The Old Schoolhouse Store to see some samples.

Now that we’ve taken care of the objective facts, here come the emotions. I love, love, love the content areas that are included. While most of my curriculum comes in a box, ready to use, I am always feeling the need for some list. We do a lot of memory work, with the decision of what to memorize being somewhat spontaneous, based on something that occurs to me as we are reading our history or science. With the list of American colonies, States and Capitals, Greek Roots, and Periodic table, my kids won’t have to worry about running out of brain food. (not that they usually do) I am also amazed at all the forms, household and education, that are included. As a Michigan homeschooler, I’m not required to keep a lot of records. Because there are days when I wonder what exactly we have accomplished, I have begun keeping records but did not have an exact idea of what I should be recording. These forms have provided some guidance. Although the planner is a PDF file, you can type right in many of the forms and print them for your binder or files. What kinds of forms? How about...

Home Repair checklist

Garden planner

Menu planner

A Bible reading schedule that starts in July (so I can begin again after failing to keep up what I began in January!)

Website login and password information

Shopping lists

Loaned and Borrowed list

Field Trip Log

Extracurricular Activities Log

Nature Journal 1 & 2

Journal Sheets

Science Lab Sheet

Discipleship Recording Sheet

Unit Study Records

Unschooling Records

Website and Vendors Log

Co-op Information

Support Group Information

Outside Classes & Lessons

Continuing Education & Recreation for the Homeschool Parent

Co-op Planning Sheet for Teachers

Weekly Co-op Planning

Co-op Weekly Planning Outline

Library Items

Assignments & Due Dates

Attendance Chart

Community Service Record

General Book Report

Early Elementary Book Report 1 & 2

Homeschool Book Inventory

Preschool Activity Box

Preschool Planner

Educational Activities for Preschoolers

Alphabet Practice

Teaching Supplies and Inventory List

All-Purpose Wish List

These lists remind me of things that I don’t even know I’ve forgotten. The authors have done all the thinking for me. I’ve printed them to bring with me on the planning day I hope to take later in the summer. I do have to remind myself that this planner is like the buffet line. I don't have to take one of everything.

So is there anything I don’t love? Yes. But I hate to say this, because I feel like I’m being picky. Like when my husband works hard to pick out a sweater as a Christmas gift that isn’t the right color. I feel like I should be thankful that he thought to venture forth into the mall and attempt to find something I would like. Who am I to quibble about small details? But it’s the details that make or break the product. Ok, so what don’t I love? It’s cute, but it's not pretty. I actually purchased a planner about a week before I knew I would be reviewing this one. And I’m going to keep both. My other one has a tapestry binder, with pages that have victorian watermarks and scripture along the bottom of every page. Initially it was going to be just my devotional journal and home-making planner/organizer. Now I’m working to print the pages from The Schoolhouse Planner so they will fit in the pretty one. If The Schoolhouse Planner came in a floral version and a schoolhouse version, I’d be completely hooked. Perhaps it's just me, but I often feel a lack of the pretty and feminine in my busy life.

So, other than forgetting those all-important birthdays, what else convinced me to look into planners? I read "Planning to be Blessing" by Tricia Traxler, the owner of Graceworks Planners, from whom I purchased my "pretty planner." This article showed me why I need a planner. I can run my home so that we have clean clothes, food on the table, and reasonably clutter-free living spaces, without much of a plan, running on autopilot. I became convicted that I need to be more purposeful in planning my days so that what I do is not just the bare minimum, but a blessing to my husband, my children, and my friends.

In The Schoolhouse Planner, the authors have blessed us with their efforts. Now we can plan to be a blessing to others.