Homeschool planners -- Homeschool Planet? Any others?

[provenance61]

I've typically done to-do lists on Cozi for our kids.  Our teen (just starting 9th) is super bright but has difficulty with planning and organization (to the point we do lists on post-its for even getting ready).  He actually requested more of a schedule this year because we have a lot going on, rather than an ongoing to-do list.

 

I looked into Homeschool Planet b/c of recommendations, and this looks good.  But I'm wondering -- any others good to look into? 

 

I'm especially interested in ability for our children to look at their schedules, and also to set reminders (if possible).   We all tend to get into doing one thing, and lose track of time.  :)  As an added bonus...do any moms use a planner like this to schedule their own time?  I'm thinking this could be a good thing as well.

 

[OneStepAtATime]

I have used other systems, but so far I like Homeschool Planet best.  Nothing is perfect but this one works for us (including me).  I set up the year for each of us (took a couple of days of playing around to get solid at doing this) including academics, house chores, animal care, etc. and every day print out the list for that day.  I was doing lists by the week but things get shifted a lot here so it made more sense to just do it by the day.  I review quickly at the end of each day and check off everything that has been completed/shift over things that are still being worked on.  Takes minutes.  You can set the schedule up by time or just have a list.  For DD she likes the time listed even though she doesn't follow it exactly.  It just gives her a ballpark of how much time she should be devoting to each subject.  I have the lists printed the night before so if someone gets up early they already have it available and can get started.  

 

As for setting reminders, I usually set alarms on my phone to coincide with the HSP list but there may be a way to do something in HSP itself.  I just don't log on and stay on HSP all day so I never thought to look.  My phone is usually with me so I use that.  The kids have phones, too, and use those for their alarms.  Our alarms are synced with Google calendar, too.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I used Homeschool Planet two years ago, and then got a free lifetime membership to Lessontrek so I used that last year. It was fine, but did not have all of the features that Homeschool Planet has. I really need to make my own life easier and simplify planning so I'm back to Homeschool Planet this year. It does everything I need it to do! 

Edited August 29, 2016 by poikar

[deerforest]

I tested every single one I could find over the summer, and I'm currently settled in with Homeschool Minder http://www.homeschoolminder.com which isn't one I have heard a lot of people talk about, but it's been the best fit for us so far. I have some issues with it, but their support has been phenomenal. They are very responsive, which is important. I'm still on the fence about whether I like using one at all. DD still wants a paper-based assignment book, and I tend to document what we did rather than what we are going to do (other than big picture).

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I like the digital myself, but I want my kids to get used to using an assignment book. So I make my to-do lists in Homeschool Planet and print out their weekly lists to put in their assignment binder. It's a good compromise for us.

I tested every single one I could find over the summer, and I'm currently settled in with Homeschool Minder http://www.homeschoolminder.com which isn't one I have heard a lot of people talk about, but it's been the best fit for us so far. I have some issues with it, but their support has been phenomenal. They are very responsive, which is important. I'm still on the fence about whether I like using one at all. DD still wants a paper-based assignment book, and I tend to document what we did rather than what we are going to do (other than big picture).

 

[mamamoose]

I had a hard time figuring it out and finding it useful--what exactly do you all use it for?

[Sammish]

There's also Scholaric. We used it for a year and liked it well enough, before I realized I'm just a paper and pencil kind of girl, and switched to a paper planner. 

[ByGrace3]

I have tried a bunch, and am a big fan of Scholaric. I liked Homeschool Planet as well, but couldn't figure out how to batch schedule like I can in Scholaric and that was one of my main reasons for a digital planner...it might be user error, but to me that says it's not super easy user intuitive...

[3girls4me]

One other to look at - Homeschool Manager. We are enjoying it. My friend and her husband developed it, so I may be biased :)

[3 ladybugs]

I am using this and I am loving it! http://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/free-printables/7-step-curriculum-planner/ I can customize it exactly how I need it to be and I also have my normal planner in the beginning of it. 

 

Here is a video of my planner: