I just downloaded the new planner from The Old Schoolhouse a few days ago. I couldn’t believe it when I opened it to find that it had 247 pages! Yes, 247 pages of calendars, articles, home schooling helps, and forms, forms, and oh yeah…more forms!
The TOS Planner (which is in e-book format) begins with calendar pages starting in July 2008 and ending with June 2009. The calendars have large blocks to write or type (yes, I said type because you can actually type right in to the calendar blocks before you print) all of your appointments or assignments. Each month you will also find a featured article, great recipes (24 in all), and home schooling resources. Many articles are written by well known home school writers…do Jeannie Fulbright, Amanda Bennett, Terri Johnson, JoJo Tabares, and Amy Pac sound familiar? And the resources are endless. Here are just a few…
Timeline of Inventions
Famous Composers
Famous Artists
Countries and Capitals
U.S. Presidents and Their Wives
Seven Wonders of the Ancient/Modern World
Important U.S. Documents from the National Archives
Periodic Table with Elements
My dad happened to be visiting when I first downloaded my planner and I was scrolling through the pages. When I got to the Timeline of Inventions, my 7 year old immediately began quizzing my dad. “Pepaw, do you know what year the refrigerator was invented?…how about crayons?….how about the DVD?”
After the planner pages comes over 70 forms to help you with home school planning and organizing your household. Again I’ll list just a few…
Annual Plans
Twelve Year Planning Pages
End of the Year Report Card
Test Score Recording Sheet
Weekly Planning
Field Trip Planning
Science Lab Sheet
Important Info for Baby Sitter
Chore charts
Grocery Lists
Budget Planning
It goes on and on…
You can download a sneak peak of the TOS Planner for free or order your copy here.
Also, I promised you another opportunity to enter the contest to win a TOS Digital Magazine Subscription. (Read about the contest here.) So here’s what you need to do…
Just leave a comment to this post answering one of the following questions: What is your best home school lesson planning tip? OR What feature of the TOS Planner is most appealing to you?
Answer one of these questions in the comment section (making sure to leave me an email or blog address) and I will enter you into the drawing for the TOS Digital Magazine Subscription. Don’t forget, you can be entered up to three times…
1. Leave a comment to this post answering one of the above questions.
2. Leave a comment to yesterday’s post here.
3. Post a message on your blog linking back to yesterday’s post about the contest. Make sure to let me know where to find the link when you leave your comment.
The contest is open until 11pm on Friday, August 15th when I will be randomly selecting the winner. Good Luck!!!
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I don't have many homeschool planning tips (I'm just starting out), but one I do have is to "Write it down". It's too easy to plan something in your head, and then get busy and not be able to remember something you planned to do. If it's written down you can just refer to the list/note when you forget - and everyone forgets sometime. Thanks for including me in your drawing for the TOS digital subscription.
ReplyDeletemomofemmett@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteRaising grandchildren is so much different than raising one's own children! They come with anger and sadness because they can't be with their birth parents. Public school further depressed them, so here I am, homeschooling again ... this is our 7th year with them at home. Even though the girls are now 13 and 14, they still love to be read to. This year I plan on reading Nim's Island, The Secret Garden, and probably Angels Don't Knock (again). This is one book the girls have asked me to read to them every year! It's a romance, and a look at the author's view of life after death! Read, read and read some more! Your children will also want to read to you!
My homeschooling tips would be let your children help pick out what they want to learn. Sure they need to learn multiplication, but they will learn that better if they know they have subjects they WANT to learn to look forward to! :) I think the planner is a great idea and love the that there is a timeline in it!!! how cool. Can't wait to look at the preview link you sent!
ReplyDeleteCan I answer both?
ReplyDelete*Homeschool planning tip: Plan Ahead!! And what better than the TOS Planner!! :o)
*The most appealing feature of the TOS Planner.. is it possible to list only one?! end of year report card, calendar, recipes, resources, articles, all the different planning pages, budget planning, chore chart, grocery list, all of it! LOL
Put God first. He will guide you!
ReplyDeleteLet the kids have a say in what they learn beyond the basics, and fill out your schedule in pencil, not pen. Use your schedule as a guide and keep it flexible! If you try to adhere to a strict schedule you will only frustrate yourself and your kids.
The feature I like best is being able to type my info on the pages before I print them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
My best planning tip is to always plan to start your day with something fun. Everyone seems to want to start the day with the drudgery, to get it out of the way first. But if you start your day with a fun activity or a favorite subject, you set a positive tone for the rest of your day.
ReplyDelete~Marcy
www.homeschoolblogger.com/sirgalahadacademy
Plan during your breaks (like summer), write your plans down, keep track and check on how you are doing periodically, I check weekly to see how we are doing and make sure I have kept track of things, and I check monthly on our overall goals to keep us on track.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am planning our units I check what we already own first and then my favorite catalogs and websites for the topic we are doing. I look for lapbook and notebooking projects to do as well as other hands on things. We also like to find at least one historical fiction on the topic if it is history based and we like to find videos... if we can find something the whole family can watch (which is difficult).