So Much More than a Planner

Product: 2009 Planner
Publisher: The Old Schoolhouse
Price: $39 US
Notes: Purchase 2009 Planner between now and July 12th and get the 2008 monthly modules for FREE (read on to learn more about this and other deals)

If you ever visited my house while I was living in suburban Montreal, or if you only know me through the carefully selected photography of my blog, you would be led to believe that I am a very organized person. I have to let you in on a little secret. I am NOT organized. I'm not even slightly organized. I go to all lengths to give off that appearance but it's not my natural state of being. If you opened my closets or looked in my drawers, you'd be surprised by the piles of filing, the little notes drawn on scraps of paper, the STUFF. I frequently find myself in tears because I can't find a phone number or I've misplaced an important document. Having moved to Nova Scotia where we can be asked to provide documentation about our school year and having new obligations on The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I realized that I would need something to help me get a handle on the chaos. Thankfully, The Old Schoolhouse gave its Review Crew members the opportunity to try out their 2009 Planner. What a wonderful tool to help the new reviewers get their voyage off to a good start.

I was initially skeptical about the E-book format of this planner as I am very much a pen and paper type of girl, but when when the PDF file arrived in my e-mail account I was relieved. This Planner is MASSIVE and if it had arrived on my front door step in it's 374 page grandeur it likely would have ended up in the back on my closet (yes, as part of the chaos). As is, it is just too big for me, personally, to want to carry around. However, in PDF format I can print off just what I want/need. What's more, I can type all my information into the planner BEFORE I print it, eliminating all those quickly sprawled, untidy notes I write and then hide away because they just don't look good.


This Planner really has it all. With over 100 pages to help plan your school year, it is an organizer's dream come true. If you live in one of the provinces or states where detailed documentation of your school year is mandatory then this planner is a must have. It covers everything from setting short term goals to writing out a plan for the years to come. There are daily schedules and weekly schedules, forms for planning field trips and co-ops, as well as progress sheets, attendance sheets, and sheets for keeping track of all those crafts and activities that can be forgotten over the year, not to mention many more forms to make homeschooling (at least the planning) as hassle free as possible.

In addition to helping you organize your school year, the Old Schoolhouse 2009 Planner is a valuable tool to help you organize your home as well. Being a homeschooling family with a more of a go with the flow approach to homeschooling, I personally will not be using the homeschooling forms so much this year. I will, however, be giving a lot of thought to how our household is arranged in terms of chores, plans for renovations (we are flipping a house while living in it), and our finances. If the household isn't running smoothly than it is hard to have a homeschool that is. I'm thankful for all the charts and forms provided in the 2009 Planner that will help me meet my goals and help us stay on track.

Not only a great planning tool, the planner is also full of wonderful, and USEFUL, information. Each month includes a module containing information about a topic (be it weather, US government/history or mathematics among many others), links to futher information available at The Old Schoolhouse Store and recipes. While my initial thought was that this stuff doesn't belong in a planner, I've come to think of them as little extras that I can look to when I need some ideas. They aren't things that I need to print off and carry around with me. With the Planner in PDF form I only need to print off what I need in the moment and the rest can wait. If you are someone that likes unit studies you would likely appreciate these little tidbits. The Old Shoolhouse has a deal running until July 12th and if you buy the 2009 Planner for $39.00 between now and then you will get the 2008 monthly modules for FREE. If you really like unit studies, then the monthly modules for 2009 can be purchased along with the 2009 Planner for $99.99. While I did not get the opportunity to see the monthly modules for this year they sound wonderful with additional recipes, more in depth studies, and activities and games for the kids. What a nice treat to receive in your e-mail each month!

The 2009 Planner is something that we will definitely be used in our little homeschool this year. I'll no longer be looking for address/phone numbers thanks to the address book included. We will have an idea of what our goals are for the year and how to accomplish them (and within budget). I appreciate the PDF format that allows me to print just what I need. I have visions of a really organize year. We will see how it goes but with The Old Schoolhouse 2009 Planner I think we'll be off to a good start.

I'm Loving-Sharing my Love of Herbs

I love herbs. I love herbs for cooking and I love herbs for healing. This is the first year that I've had anything more than a couple different herbs in pots. I am beginning to teach both kids about the different properties of the herbs an their uses (both culinary and medicinal). They love tasting, smelling and touching the different herbs we are growing. They can tell you that feverfew is a medicinal herb used for headaches and lavender will help you sleep. They like to go out and get the herbs that I'll be using for supper. I'm really loving it.







The same day we planted the herbs outside, Morgaine got scratched by one of our cats. Imagine that she is freaking out because it is stinging, jumping up and down holding her finger.

Morgaine: I need a bandaid! I need a bandaid!

Me: Oh, Morgaine, it isn't really bleeding. It just needs a little time.

Morgaine stops jumping and crying and goes to the front door. Perplexed, I follow her.

Me: Where are you going, Morgaine?

Morgaine: I'm going out to get some thyme.

So out she goes and grabs off a couple leaves of the thyme growing in the garden, eats them and then informs me that she is doing much better because she had some thyme.

I haven't corrected her on this because, well, it works. Who says thyme CAN'T be used for scrapes? If it works, it works right? Though, perhaps, I should let her know before she grows up and has kids of her own!

Place of the Week: Point Aconi

This week's place of the week is the panoramic Point Aconi.










Beautiful area. Loved the view. Was petrified of the cliffs. Just one of the many nice photograph opportunities in Cape Breton.

Lots of Stuff Coming, Folks

It'll be a busy few days on the blog...

My first official review will be posted;
I have an "I'm loving/Friday favorites" ready;
We got some amazing photographs of another stunning Cape Breton location;
I'll be posting about Right Start Math;

Our computer was being really, really finicky and it was making doing anything on it a complete and total chore (I was seriously spending more time rebooting the computer than working on it). Thankfully, that has all been resolved now, YES!!!

I'll likely post one entry per day each day this week.

Check back soon!

What we are up to....

Yes, another short one folks....

We are:

1. Studying aviation and making our own paper models (post to follow soon);
2. Loving Right Start Math;
3. Working on lots of renovation project....my one month challange has taken much longer than a month;
4. Digging gardens...yes, still;
5. Meeting new people every day;
6. Getting ready to review several homeschooling products (one review to come very soon);
7. Tweetering (Tweeting???) Umm, yeah, THAT....I'm Mama_Manuscript if you want to find me and hear random tidbits about my day....you'll also get to meet other homeschoolers and some awesome people so maybe it's worth it, who knows (I'm VERY Twitter resistant).

Place of the Week-Fortress of Loiusbourg

Time for a new feature on this blog. Since I am totally in love with my little island of Cape Breton, I thought it would be a nice idea to feature her on my blog weekly (at least over the summer months). Once a week, hopefully on Mondays, you'll be able to come on an adventure with me as we get to know this little place we call home. Sometimes we will travel far, and sometimes we'll take a trip in my own backyard. I am looking forward to sharing with you.

This weekend's visit was a real dream come true for me. I've wanted to go to the Fortress of Louisbourg for just about as long as I can remember. I've always felt that I was born in the wrong era so it was a real treat to step back in time. From the moment that you get off the bus you are treated like it is 1744. The people doing the reenactments at the fortress were really wonderful and shared a wealth of information about what it was like to live in Louisbourg at the time. They were great with the children and patient and were able to answer their questions while staying in character and in such a way that the kids could understand (the blacksmith was phenomenal).

Liam favorite part was talking to the lady at the tavern and learning about all the games the soldiers would play to pass the long winter months.

Of course the animals were a big hit with the kids and I loved looking at the different herbs that were growing in their gardens. We had a lovely period lunch as well and the kids were delighted with their "Pain Perdu" (French Toast). Visiting the fortress (which was a French settlement in 1744) also gave us the opportunity to pull out our French and reintroduce it to the children. We've even continued to speak it at home from time to time.



This lady was using a wonderful contraption to make a rotiserie chicken for Sunday dinner. It smelled absolutely divine. Liam announced that he was going wait right there until Sunday. He also had the chance to see how different dyes were made and when we got home we actually tested making yellow dye from onion peels.



This is the view of (a part of) Louisbourg from the fortifications around the governor's home.

The only thing that would would have changed about the trip is that we should have planned to make a full day out of it. We arrived in the early afternoon but there was no way that we could see it all in 4 hours with two kids. We managed to visit about 40 of the 60 different attractions but we did not visit as long as we would have liked and in the end we were rushing through things just to see as much as we could (leaving poor little Morgaine feeling a bit exhausted). Next time we will definitely pack a picnic and arrive early in the day giving us more time to visit at a slower pace.

I think that visiting the Fortress of Louisbourg was a wonderful opportunity to teach Canadian history. Having the kids step back in time and see first hand what it was like to live 1744 years ago was great and it was especially wonderful that everyone was so willing to talk to the kids at their level. I am sure that we will visit many time over the next few years.

I'm loving- Rain