Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner: The Last Planner You Will Ever Need

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The premise of this book sounds great but it just does not live up to expectations. The majority of the book is comprised of organizational forms that are simplistic and could easily be done yourself with a few minutes on a word procdessor or spreadsheet, and done much more conveniently and with more depth and flexibility on any of the various homeschool organizational software programs that are available. There are a few helpful articles in the book, but they are too few to warrant the price.

I bought this in a desperate moment of wanting to be more organized with my homeschooling, (we all ahve those moments) and since it is the only one out there I thought I would give it a try. It is alful. There is no binding, no colorful front, and the pages are basically copied and thrown in a box. The copies are even crooked on the page! The price for this is outlandish considering the product and I really regret buying it. PLease don't waste your money, you are better off creating your own-- if you are worried that yours will be too unprofessional or will look too homemade-- don't. That is exactly what this one looks like.

This is an absolute waste of money that could be better spent. Een a teacher's plan book would be better than this.

In short, don't waste your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was not a very useful resource or practical planner. The designers really should step away from the one-size-fits-all strategy and let users buy packages of the specific pages they want to use - like Franklin Covey time managers, for example.

I bought this book when I was THINKING about homeschooling, so it SOUNDED great, but once I began homeschooling and realized how many different ways there are to do it, I also realized that no single planner could ever be "the ultimate homeschool planner" for all families.

I have used just ONE of the pages in this book, and I had to make my own photocopies - the book just provides the master!!

You are MUCH better off tailoring a curriculum planner to your own specific needs. If you can't make a word document look the way you want, then use a ruler and notebook paper and photocopy your page. Get a 3 ring binder and some dividers, and some of those page reinforcers to reinforce the holes, and you will be set. You can also have the kids design the cover to slip in the binder if you want something a bit more decorative.

As a new homeschooler who thrives on organization, I was thrilled with THE ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOL PLANNER! Not only is it full of easy to use forms and checklists, but it is a great way to begin and maintain your homeschooling journey.

More than a colorful binder to organize important paperwork, The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is just that-- a way to PLAN your strategy for success. Although other planners have forms for attendance and curriculum, this planner helps you KNOW what you need from the very beginning.

The planner includes a Quick Start Guide, which is great for those who can't read a book cover to cover until they can sit down uninterrupted. So really there is no longer a valid excuse for being a disorganized homeschool teacher!

Sections include: Getting Started, Curriculum Planning, Logging Your Learning, Templates & Units, and Home Management. Since I have only been homeschooling less than six months, I found the Getting Started section invaluable, and spent a lot of time assessing my son's learning level. Currently I am in the process of researching curriculum for the upcoming schoolyear, so the timing was perfect. This way I could be sure I purchased the perfect materials for my son, who is in between grade levels in more subjects than one.

But the questionnaire didn't end there-- it continued beyond the usual scope and sequence for each grade level with worksheets to assess Student's Knowledge, Parent Knowledge, and a Student School Questionnaire. The time management tools are superb, showing the teacher how using Time Blocks can easily create a Month by Month breakdown and Weekly Time Block (schedule). There are also worksheets (templates) for : Focus Goals, Goal Overview by Subject, and Monthly Goal Planning.

What a useful tool this is for those who are organizationally challenged. It's a top notch tool that no homeschooler should be without.

This is one of the best books I've ever read, or owned, regarding homeschooling - and I have owned a LOT! This planner gave me every list I will ever need and many I've never thought about. This is a very organized planner that includes lists for things I have needed many times. I particularly like the learning assessments, the knowledge assessments and the home organization charts. If I had a friend who was just starting to homeschool and wanted to recommend one book - this would be it. A must for any homeschooling family!

Let me start by saying that my husband and many of my friends say that I am the most organized person they have ever met. I bought this book after a great review by Mary Hood. This book was worth every penny! Sure, it's just a bunch of forms that someone could easily make, but who wants to when you can have them made for you? Everything is organized into appropriate sections and it all applies to 'real life' homeschooling. I can tell that this product was thoroughly tested before it was marketed. It is very list-oriented, which works great for me. I highly recommend this book to any homeschooler - new or veteran.

It definitely has some things in it that are helpful but I was disappointed that it appears to be photocopied. I feel it useful just not overly exciting. I'm planning on using it for next years homeschool period and have looked through it but have not used it as of yet. I think it does have a great checklist for things your children need to know at certain stages. Remember to use it loosely though because that's what homeschooling is all about.

Some helpful forms, but quite honestly there was nothing in there I couldn't have either come up with on my own, or found for free online.

Book is useful for a few of the templates you can copy. Otherwise, it's full of a LOT of reading, just to try to get organized... Not at all what I expected.

I really enjoy this book and it has helped me greatly, in getting things a little more organized! This is my first year I have begun homeschooling, and honestly, I am so happy I ran across this when I was starting out. It gives a very good outline of what requirements I should keep in mind for the grade level of my child, and is a reusable source for planning weekly, monthly and yearly schedules.

A word of caution though - this isn't a book - rather it is a binder. It is quite simplistic really, and you could find all of the information on your own just by looking at the internet for a couple of hours. However, this is already put together for you. Also, this is a book I would ONLY reccomend for people just STARTING OUT on the homeschooling path. At first homeschooling can be very overwhelming... and this brings a lot of information in a condensed form... I feel by your second year though, you would already have your own system in place.. and this book wouldn't be helpful then.

Very helpful and complete! (for first year homeschoolers)