Posted in Reviews

About the product/service:  As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received the TOS 2009 Homeschool Planner to review.  Now, I have to say, right away, that this product is totally misnamed.  I mean, it is so much more than a homeschool planner.  Seriously, folks, it's like a life coach!  LOL

I'm not kidding here people!  This planner has EVERYTHING!  Well, everything I could ever need anyway, and even some stuff I don't need!  LOL  (I'm thinking here of the page for garden planning.  I wouldn't have a green thumb if I took a green permanent marker to it.  It would probably just turn brown like my plants do!)

I'll try to describe it for you, but I don't know if I can do it justice.  But here goes..

First, there are calendars.  The cool thing is that you can type stuff on to the calendar before printing, leave it blank to pencil in later, or even just keep it on your computer.  Then in each month's section, there is an article, some supplemental information, and two recipes.  There is also a page of links to products available at The Old Schoolhouse Store on the month's topic.  The July theme, for example, is the thirteen original colonies.  (That would be American colonies, of course.)

Then there are the pages for household forms.  There are just so many forms here!  Use these forms to organize everything from your grocery lists, to your Christmas Card lists!  (Be sure I'm on it, too.  I get so few these days!  Could be that I never get around to sending any out?)

Then, of course there's all the homeschool stuff.  I kid you not, there really are forms for everything school related you can think of.  There are ideas to keep your toddlers busy and there's an article about getting your teen into college. Then there's a form for everything in between. There are forms for keeping track of subjects studied, crafts completed, library books borrowed, chores completed, grades earned, etc., etc., etc.  I'm getting tired of typing here, so I'll just move on!  LOL

Then there are just all the extras!  Pages to help your little one practice the alphabet, lists of all sorts of interesting facts, on and on it goes.  Let's just put it this way, you could spend 24/7 using this planner and still not get to everything.  It just has SO much! 

What are the pros of this product?  Well, I think you can figure out from my description above that there are lots of pros.  I like that you can type right onto the forms.  That's my main gripe with most PDF stuff.  I like that it does not take the approach that all homeschoolers teach alike.  There are even forms for unschoolers in the planner.  I like that there is just so much information here! 

I guess it's not bad!  LOL  :)

What's not to like?  I thought a good, long, time to come up with three things I wish had been included in this planner.

1.

2.

3.

Sorry, folks, they have thought of everything!  Honestly, if you buy this planner and find that they have not thought of something, you just leave a comment and I will let the good folks at TOS know about it! ;)

The Crazy Mom take:  OK, I really like this product.  Now, the real test will be if I am smart enough to actually USE it!  I tend to be a bit of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kinda gals.  I NEED to use planners!  I think the first thing I am going to do with it is plan next year's school year.  Each year I just scribble out my plans in old notebooks and then lose them before I order the books.  LOL  I also never follow the great schedule I come up with because I can't find it!  This year I will type everything right onto the planner page and it will be sitting right here on my computer.  Then I can print it out and lose it as many times as I want to!  :)

Of course, if you are an organized sort of gal, you will probably be even more excited about the planner than I am. So check it out and happy planning!!!

What's the bottom line? $39.00

I am going to give out of 5 out of 5 smileys!!!

Check it out!  http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_193&products_id=10450

See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/698913/

*The Smiley System: 

I can't really recommend this product.

 I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

 This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

 Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

 This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!