Hey Mama! Planner - A Review

I was provided the Hey, Mama! Schoolhouse Planner for 2019/2020 Year to review. Created by homeschooling mom, Gena Suarez , the planner is just one of the many useful homeschooling products available from The Old Schoolhouse®.

Planners seem to be a big deal these days. Everyone is selling one. I have used a personal planner for many years, almost every year. My planner enthusiasm is, like many, highest at the beginning of each calendar year. The hopes and dreams inspired by having a place to write it all down, to organize thoughts and plans, starts the year with added motivation to achieve those dreams. Hopefully it helps facilitate a doable plan of action to make it all happen.

Come August and September the same enthusiasm hits again, only with the intention of preparing for the school year. Fall is the beginning of the academic year, as we all have come to know it. Planning for nine months of academic learning is exciting and sometimes daunting. A planner to write it down in, keep track and record activities, is more than useful, it is a necessity. A standard planner doesn't always fit the criteria of what a homeschooling parent needs for planning and record keeping. Homeschool moms have been adapting typical calendars and planners for as long as families have been homeschooling. Notebooks, wall calendars, file folders (one per student, maybe) there are as many solutions as there are families.

The Hey, Mama! Schoolhouse Planner for 2019/2020 Year is a published calendar/planner that puts it all in one place. It is designed by a homeschool mom with homeschool families in mind. The author, Gena Suarez, is an experienced homeschool mom who has put together this and other extensive resources for homeschooling families. This planner is one of many of the resources available for families at The Old Schoolhouse. (You can find all of them at The Old Schoolhouse®).

Gena provides a solution to the problems presented when trying to use a standard planner for students by creating a planner specific to homeschooling. As a homeschooling mom herself she knows the ropes. She knows what reminders and prompts are useful for a family while homeschooling.

The Hey, Mama! Planner Homeschool Planner for 2019/2020 includes a devotional at the beginning of each section. These provide welcome encouraging reminders for those in the midst of the homeschool journey. There is a curriculum planning section, attendance record pages, books read pages and semester and yearly goals pages. There are enough of these specialized pages for five homeschool students. Using this planner also provides a place for notes and info for maintaining records of completed projects, activities and curriculum. There is a transcript template as well as a useful skills acquired checklist.

For our family, this is officially the last year of homeschooling. I am about to become a homeschool veteran mom with an empty nest. We have none the less, begun to use the planner for mapping out my youngest's transition to a full time dance program and a few college courses. She will be taking over the planning and record keeping herself, as she embarks on a somewhat non-traditional pursuit of higher education. This planner will give her a wonderful head start with prompts of some of what she needs to consider as she moves into the bigger world and continuing her education.

The Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner 2019/2020 Year has sold out of close to 98% of the this printing and they do not plan to print more until next year. Get your copy soon!

Homeschool Review Crew Applications are Now Open

This year, I've had the opportunity to participate in the Homeschool Review Crew. The Homeschool Review Crew is one of the divisions of The Old Schoolhouse® which also includes a quarterly published magazine, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and Schoolhouse Teachers which is an excellent on-line resource of self-paced classes for students and families. As a result of being on the Homeschool Review Crew, I have had the option to use and review products that we might not have tried otherwise. We have discovered excellent learning tools to use to our home school.

Each review was done after using the product with a student or students for a recommended period of time. Most here were done with my daughter, my current home school student. We have discovered useful curriculum and incorporated many new resources into our home school efforts as a result of doing the reviews.

There have been so many benefits to being a member of Homeschool Review Crew. An obvious one is the access to curriculum and products that I might not have tried otherwise. There have been side benefits beyond just added homeschooling materials. There is access to a supportive community of homeschooling moms and mentors via an online forum. Questions regarding products and reviews are welcome there, as well as, feedback for written reviews. 

Another added value for me has come from the increased writing that I have had to do. The external motivation that comes from a commitment with deadlines helps produce results! Being a part of "The Crew" has bumped up my writing confidence and my writing productivity. It has given me a group of supportive homeschooling moms who are also writing consistently and available for encouragement and information.

If you have any interest in participating, reviewing new products and improving your writing because you'll being doing more of it. Check out the info by clicking the banner below.