Hey Mama! I Have a Planner Review and Coupon Code for You

It's that time of year again.  The time when I reflect upon the past "academic year" and plan forward for the next leg of our homeschooling journey.  Thus, I was happy to receive a copy of the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 by The Old Schoolhouse for review.  I am always looking for new tools to inspire me to get and stay organized and this one looks promising.

My favorite thing about the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 is that it starts in July.  In our state, families have to send an annual education plan/assessment report to local school districts.  Since our family chooses to "school" year-round with a relaxed, eclectic style, I tend to send these reports in June, beginning the next "school year" in July.  I appreciate that with the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 I can plan and track our activities from July forward daily without having to cross off and/or write in dates for the summer months.

A random thing the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 planner includes that ended up being helpful for us the other day is a list of presidents and their wives.  For no apparent reason, my youngest began asking who the third, fourth, fifth, and son presidents were.  I do not have presidential names and ordinal numbers memorized, but did not have to go online to find out an answer for him.  There is a list in the planner!

There are also writing prompts...

... and story starters that I can see coming in handy.

Plus, there's a page of invention dates.  I have never seen such a list in a planner, but find it happily coincidental that the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 has such a list since my oldest child has begun peppering me in our minivan with questions such as, "Mom, when was (insert random item) invented?" Or, "Was (insert invention) invented before (insert another invention)?"  I am not sure what prompted his curiosity, but my response to date has been, "I am not sure. Remind me, and we will look it up.  Maybe for the coming year we can finally begin and keep up with history timeline notebook."  The planner will help with that! 

Other helpful portions of the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 are:

• year-at-a-glance calendars for 2016-2018 (which, of course, can make long-term planning easier)
  
  
  
• dated monthly calendars and note pages through June of next year  (I appreciate that these are dated as I tire of writing in dates in planners)
  
  
  
• undated weekly planner pages (Not including the header column and row, there are five columns and seven rows on each weekly planner page grid.  This offers flexibility, which I am grateful for.)
• monthly goal pages (There are only five of these.  I wish there were 12.)
• semester goal pages (There are five of these.  I do not need five, so will likely use some for monthly goals.)
• yearly goal pages (There are five of these, I assume, to accommodate families with up to five children.  I will use some of these for monthly goals, too.)
• a 180 day attendance checklist (I consider every day a school day, but Sunday, so do not need this, but I know, in some locations, a record of attendance is required, so this chart may be helpful to others.)
• spaces to write book read this year  (I have tired numerous times to keep a book list for our family, but never succeeded for any length of time.  We read a lot and I rarely want to pause to write down what we read, so these pages will become note pages for me, likely for books and resources I want to check out.)
• curriculum planning sheets (We are so eclectic and experiential in our learning that I won't need these.  I am considering using them to track blog review vendors and due dates, though.)
• a homeschooling contacts list (which will come in handy as I sometimes forget or cannot find my phone and having the information written down will be helpful)
• a list of the 13 colonies by date (Trivia like this is helpful with my random-questions kids.)
• information on the branches of federal, state, and local governments (With the elections this year, having such key information on-hand for my children's random questions will be helpful)
• a list of the states and their capitals  (After focusing our geography club on the USA this past year, we should have states and capital down, but, if I am honest, do not.  Thus, this list could come in handy.)
• pages for keeping track of academic transcript information (These are not anything I need or will use, but those with high schoolers will appreciate them.)
• a checklist/skills learned page (I will not use this page either, but for those that will, it seems having 12 such pages would be helpful as the page indicates four weeks/one month.  Oddly, there is only one of these pages.)
• a checklist page for other courses  (I might use this to track all our spontaneous studies and experiential learning.)

The planner also has a generous sprinkling of "HeyMama!" letters that are written by a fellow homeschool mama to encourage and inspire you on your journey.    These, I think "make" the planner.  They add a unique and encouraging touch.

Another unique feature is sepia-tone photos of old time inventions such as a butter churn and a dibber, with short descriptions of them.  These make fun trivia.

Learn More


The planner is 9" x 11" with 196 spiral-bound pages, so it can be opened and laid flat.  You can see a pdf of sample pages linked online, where you can also find digital version. 

 

You can also get the planner (including shipping) for $10 off right now when you use the discount code CREWCODE, which is valid through July 15, 2016.

If you'd like to read more about what other mamas think of the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 planner, check out reviews written by 125 Schoolhouse Review families.



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Here's to a well-planned and organized 2016-2017 homeschool adventure with helpful tools such as the Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner. May the next leg of your journey be fruitful!