Review of The Old Schoolhouse Hey, Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner

Can you believe that summer is here already? That means that many of us homeschool moms and dads are getting our curriculum together for next year. And that also means that we are doing some kind of lesson planning, too! We had the chance to review the new Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 from The Old Schoolhouse, and while, I'm still a little bit away from being completely ready to plan everything out, it is really helping me form a plan!

First, we have challenges with scheduling our school year. With 5 kids homeschooling this year, I almost want to pull my hair out at the thought of having everyone scheduled out for the whole year. This planner is set up, however, to either jot all of your plans down from July 2016 through June 2017, or just wing it and write things in as you go during the year.

The Planner itself is very flexible. There are big-picture planning tools (like the yearly calendars) and small-picture tools (lots and lots of weekly plans.) What I find best about it, is that the weekly plans are literally just square grids with a place to write the week up at the top. You can use the rows to put down subjects, days of the week, or the name of your children. Anyway you want to organize them is up to you! This is -- in my opinion -- the best thing about a good planner; I have been known to even switch how I use my calendars during the year. If I were to write in my plans in pencil, there are plenty of ways to change and adapt how I lay everything out, if/when I change my mind.



The planner also has interesting tidbits of info and notes of encouragement!  Fun facts about the iron, for example, make this planner a bit whimsical and unique. There are also letters to moms and dads that are meant to lift you up and keep you positive in your journey.



Lots of extras pepper the planner. Goodies that you can look forward to using include yearly and monthly goal sheets with spaces for the following areas:
  • educational
  • spiritual
  • physical
  • personal talents
  • life skills
  • financial
  • relational
Since it doesn't specify how to use these, you are more than welcome to write in goals for your kids, yourself, or everyone!




Other neat extras include check-off attendance charts for up to 5 students, Book Read This Year lists, curriculum planning sheets, a homeschool contact list, writing prompts, story starters, and a "facts and figures" section with timelines, state facts, and more!

High-school parents will find the bonus "how to create a transcript"with the planning pages for creating one a super helpful feature. It really put my mind at ease, since we are having our high-school Senior complete college applications this year and we need to put together a transcript before we start applying.



So what sets this planner apart from others? In addition to just being an overall very helpful planner that is really flexible for however you choose to use it, it's printed on very high-quality paper, is durable, and made with spiral binding. I can see it taking the beating that I give a planner during our crazy school year!

You can check out The Old Schoolhouse, a company I've used in my homeschooling journey for years, at their Facebook, Twitter, G+, Instagram, and website

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