As disorganized as I can be, I've always admired those homeschool families who seem to have it all together.  I can plan and prepare for weeks before the first full schoolday of the year, but it never quite happens the way I envision it.  Within the first two weeks, all of my plans have become a disorganized pile of lists on an ever-growing stack of revisions as I scrap one plan and try another.

I've tried everything from regular school planners to special homeschool notebook planners, computer programs to online forms.  Nothing worked for me.  Everything I tried was either too rigid, too easy to misplace, or too expensive (printing daily assignment lists, for instance).  I finally resigned myself to the idea that an eclectic homeschool- especially one which uses the mastery system- simply does not lend itself well to planners.

When I heard of The Schoolhouse Planner, I was skeptical.  "It might work for some, but not for me," I thought.  In fairness though, I decided to give it a try.  As a skeptic, I must warn you- I am not easily impressed.  This however, is a truly remarkable product!

Having an e-book format with type-able PDF forms makes The Schoolhouse Planner flexible and easy to use.  Should I misplace my hard copy, I can simply re-print it!  The combination of many different types of forms gives me the ability to print only the forms that will suit my family's needs.  I can plan 4-6 weeks in advance and modify lessons as needed, quickly and easily.  Lesson plans can print on two pages, so even if I change plans two or three times I don’t waste much paper and ink.

Whether you unschool, follow a traditional school-at-home curriculum, or do anything in between, The Schoolhouse Planner is ideal!  I was most impressed by the objectives planning sheet, the many different types of log pages (including logs for crafts made), and the household forms.  In fact, from the historical documents to the monthly calendars, the variety of homeschool forms, budgets, grocery lists, menu planners, chore charts, picture schedules*, prayer journals, and more, The Schoolhouse Planner is almost 5 books in one!  (I can't believe they are only charging $39 for it!)

In fact, the only complaint I have is the lack of a one page "schoolyear calendar" running from July to June.  I'd have to say that's not a big issue when you consider all of the features it does have.  All in all, I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to using The Schoolhouse Planner to keep my home AND school organized this year.  Well, as organized as I can be, anyway.

*Special Needs Alert: The Schoolhouse Planner has a number of pages such as this one perfectly suited to children (and moms) with Autism, ADHD and other special needs!