Schoolhouse Planner and TOS Digital Review. Win a subscription!

The Schoolhouse Planner

I now have my own copy of The Schoolhouse Planner, and Wow!  This planner includes everything you could possibly need to organize and inspire.  I’ll never have to spend time creating my own forms, or searching online for them again!  You can print them out OR fill them in right on your computer.  There is something for every kind of homeschooler as well – those who keep grades, those who don’t, and those who unschool.  For a peek at the contents:  Have a Peek At The Planner

Some of my favourite features of the Planner…
Recipes – Each month includes a couple of new recipes.  If you’re like me and get bored cooking the same old favourites, it’s nice to have some new ones to try.  I love the Alfredo sauce recipe, it’s delicious (although I prefer to use cream instead of half-in-half).  The “Fantastic Honey Pork Tenderloin” will be the next recipe I try.  Topic of the month – includes very handy links to resources available in the Schoolhouse Store.  Some of the topics covered:  History – I’ll be printing out the handy Timeline of Inventions pages as part of our History studies this year.  And the History Timeline is a terrific snapshot of all the dynasties, periods and eras; Geography – Includes a handy list of countries and their capitals; Math – measurement conversion formulas – very handy when you live here in Canada where both the Imperial and the Metric system are used.

Articles – by homeschooling experts in their field – a whole year of inspiration.  Includes links to their websites for more resources.
Homeschool Forms – I will be printing out the “Beginning and Ending” page to record the vital stats and photos of each of my children at the beginning and end of the homeschool year.   For those who love to plan ahead, a 12 year curriculum plan outline is included.   As a homeschooler who doesn’t use “grades”, I particularly like the “End-of-Year Evaluation Form” and the way it states Date, Subject, and Thoughts.  For those who do use grades, an “End-of-Year Report Card” and “Test Score Recording Sheet” are also included.  Forms for Unschoolers are included as well.
Household Forms – “Monthly Homekeeping Reminders” includes all those things we seem to forget like flipping the mattress and cleaning under the refrigerator.   Also included are “Weekly Menu Planning” sheets with Menus listed on one side of the page and grocery list on the other.  There are Chore Charts for children with great little icons representing their chores.  These look a lot like the ones I spent time making up myself for my children – what a time-saver. 

Is there anything I would change about the planner?  While there is some Canadian content, such as Canadian holidays included on the calendars and the CN Tower being listed on the 7 Wonders of the Modern World, it is an American publication, so understandably there is American content such as The Declaration of Independence and a list of American Presidents and American States.  It would be terrific if in the future they offered a Canadian version or supplement, or versions for other countries.  Also, there is a 24-page Address book which I believe could have been offered as a page or two to be copied/printed out.

For more information, reviews, or to purchase The Homeschool Planner, click here.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine – Digital Edition 

Ah…The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I love to receive it in my mailbox, and curl up with a tea and read.  But it takes a long time to get here to Canada, which means we’re waiting weeks after it’s been published until it arrives.  If you’re anything like me, it’s HARD to wait that long!  I love receiving the Digital Edition as well.  Not only do I receive it “hot off the press”, but it’s also somewhere I can never lose it – on my computer! 

It has all my favourite articles such as The Natural Schoolhouse,  International Schoolhouse (this month the focus is on Canada) and Little Artists, as well as the terrific reviews on new products.  And I just LOVE clicking on website addresses and going straight there, instead of writing down the websites, and never getting around to typing them into the web browser, LOL.  Here is another great feature:  is one of the articles just perfect for a friend?  You don’t have to lend her your magazine, simply print or email the article for her!  The Digital Edition does not take up space on your computer.  The file exists online and you “flip” pages just like a real magazine, by clicking on the corners.  Of course you can also type in page numbers and fly right through to the article you want.  If you’d rather, you can download the offline edition of the magazine as well, although the online version seems to work better on my computer.  If the Canadian subscription price of the magazine is keeping you from subscribing, the Digital Edition is almost half the price!

Haven’t read The Old Schoolhouse Magazine before?  Download a FREE copy of the Summer 2007 Digital Edition here to see what it’s like.  Want your very own subscription?  Click here for more information.   And I almost forgot to mention, you get free gifts with your subscription as well.

How about a FREE SUBSCRIPTION?!  Four issues – a whole year of free issues! All you have to do is post a comment about this blog post below, including your name and email address and you will be entered in a draw to win a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to the Digital Old Schoolhouse Magazine!  Draw will take place on August 27, 2008.