I've never been one to carefully detail out every single task we are to do in our homeschool. Despite my laid-back manner, however, I looked forward to building a basic plan for our homeschool with this review of Homeschool Planet.
I should first tell you that I have tried lots of planners over the years, each promising a fully-customizeable solution to multiple students. Since I've been disappointed in the past with planners, I knew exactly what I wanted (and what I needed) in an online digital planner, and this fits my needs in so many areas.
First, it is easy to set up, although it does take some time. You may choose to just set up each student with their own profiles, fill out the basic information, and enter detailed planning info (such as daily goals) a few days or even a week at a time. This is the perfect time of year to start using a planner such as this, because you have some time before the school year starts to fill in all your info.
Once you have students and basic class schedules set up, you can get into the nitty gritty. Admittedly, the more time you spend putting in details, the more you'll get out of this planner. So what can you use it for? The possibilities seem almost endless.
While the planner can do pretty much whatever you set it up to do, here are my favorite features that we use in our homeschool:
You can track assignments by student, along with the due date. When you log in to see assignments for a particular student, you can see all the late assignments on one screen and decide how you want to handle it.
For homeschoolers who follow strict tracking of attendance to meet state guidelines (or who just want meticulous records) you can see -- at a glance -- all the days your student has attended. You can print out reports for your files with a click!
One of the features I really love is the transcript generator. Since my daughter is a Junior, we are just now applying for scholarships and looking forward to college entrance requirements. This program takes the guesswork out of the process of recording info for a transcript, along with generating an "official" transcript that should meet most institutions' requirements.
For the really busy family (like us), I'm a big fan of off the "views" you can use to see your schedule, assignments, appointments, and deadlines at a glance. Choose to view by the day, week, or month. Items are color-coded for easy reference.
Finally, one of the things I would use the most is the resource section. Since we do a classical curriculum where each student reads 12-21 books a year, keeping track of all that we need to buy, borrow, or return can get tricky. We also want to track what we've read outside of the curriculum requirements. The resource tool lets us do just that! (A new feature of the site lets you upload your own documents for easy reference, if you're not one to type everything out. This is perfect for assignment or reading lists that you want to keep records of, but don't necessarily need to interact with regularly.)
The BEST part of the program, however, is how "big-family" friendly it is. I have used so many planners in the past that require me to type out each lesson for multiple children who are doing the exact same thing. The Homeschool Planet tool makes it easy to copy lessons and lesson plans over from one child to the next. This is a big time saver!
Finally, because the program lets you upload "resources", it's great for storing pretty much any document that pertains to your homeschool. For the mom who struggles with clutter -- like me -- this is good news! No more wondering where you put that letter from the virtual teacher. It also keeps everything stored on a "virtual" space. I can access all my info easily from my computer, tablet, or phone -- anywhere.
I can honestly say that this is the first time I've been impressed by a homeschool planner, and it appears that Homeschool Planet has thought of everything. It's an affordable way to manage your school and your home; it even tracks chores!
Wanna Save? Get 2 months for just $2 when you use code HSP2FOR2 through the end of January!
I should first tell you that I have tried lots of planners over the years, each promising a fully-customizeable solution to multiple students. Since I've been disappointed in the past with planners, I knew exactly what I wanted (and what I needed) in an online digital planner, and this fits my needs in so many areas.
First, it is easy to set up, although it does take some time. You may choose to just set up each student with their own profiles, fill out the basic information, and enter detailed planning info (such as daily goals) a few days or even a week at a time. This is the perfect time of year to start using a planner such as this, because you have some time before the school year starts to fill in all your info.
Once you have students and basic class schedules set up, you can get into the nitty gritty. Admittedly, the more time you spend putting in details, the more you'll get out of this planner. So what can you use it for? The possibilities seem almost endless.
While the planner can do pretty much whatever you set it up to do, here are my favorite features that we use in our homeschool:
You can track assignments by student, along with the due date. When you log in to see assignments for a particular student, you can see all the late assignments on one screen and decide how you want to handle it.
Finally, one of the things I would use the most is the resource section. Since we do a classical curriculum where each student reads 12-21 books a year, keeping track of all that we need to buy, borrow, or return can get tricky. We also want to track what we've read outside of the curriculum requirements. The resource tool lets us do just that! (A new feature of the site lets you upload your own documents for easy reference, if you're not one to type everything out. This is perfect for assignment or reading lists that you want to keep records of, but don't necessarily need to interact with regularly.)
