Another online planner? Wait! Don’t run away!! If you’ll give me just a moment or two to show you how the Homeschool Planet made my brain and family dependent on their –  Homeschool Planet Planner – I promise it will be worth it. You don’t homeschool? Don’t let their name fool you. If you have to track people, activities, multiple calendars, create events/event planning – pull up a chair.

I started my journey with probably much the same apprehensive thoughts you have right now. I’ve reviewed a half dozen of these programs. I’ve used a single program that was started as a downloaded software and has shifted to online – I know it. I like it. It’s easy for me. I don’t need something else. When I try something else – Arduous. So it was with this mindset that I applied for my free 30 day trial, before the review, to see if it was something I’d honestly put to use.

0

I started with entering in my family members. I added a photo, their names and entered their personal email and cell number. Why enter the cell number? Oh Baby. Any list you create can be emailed or texted to them. My hubby works retail. I’ll show you later, but I can text him my list to his phone while he is at his store. I can email our calendar, planner, activities, etc to my sons. This. Is super cool.
(Last Name, Cell, Email, and future web addresses  Whited Out for Review.)

Speaking of access, I’ve been using my phone when I am away. They use a mobile website, I have an Android phone – the size limits what I can see and do. Even though there isn’t a specific App, I can see enough on my phone to make sure my dates are not conflicting when deciding to say yes or no to an event.

I have enjoyed Lesson Planning with this program. I am teaching a class this week and needed to split out all of the activities. It was easier for me to create a student called Creek. (Creek Exploration) For each day, I can add Notes, which helps me with the titles on the day. I can add tasks, websites, resources. Pretty amazing. Clicking the Show Me! button gives me a video of how, and clicking More. . .  pop up screen shows me what I can add. Always remember to scroll down and click Save or Save and Close so your session is saved.

At first I just had the Notes put in. This really helped me, but I couldn’t get it to print. I emailed the company and they quickly answered with how to create assignments instead, so that it shows up in the Assignment Report. They were able to look at my database and talk to me about my “Creek” lesson plan. Pretty Cool Customer Service!

The photo below is for my calendar. I have shared my Baseball Calendar in, and also my personal Google calendar in. I have my son’s summer school schedule, and my older son’s work schedule. The Creek Exploration class shows up as well. All in one spot.

I know the photo above looks cluttered, but so is my brain. Ha. This is a full screen shot of how my tab opens when I turn on my Chrome tab. My family is at the left, our calendar, and then the widgets I have chosen. My To Do list for reviews, my To Do List for my personal tasks at home, and my shopping list for our local mart store. I can set up shopping lists for several stores, then send them as a text to my phone.

There is a Planner View and a Calendar View. So far – I prefer the Calendar. The Planner is a bit cleaner, and the links easier to see. If I add links as a resource, like for our math, or craft project, I, or Jonee – can click on it right from the schedule.

So for resources – I’ve added Unlock Math – and added the URL. Whenever I assign this to Jonee, the link is the name given in the schedule. We just click on it, and it opens. I . Just. Can’t. Even. Tell you . How awesome that is.  Let me try. It is awesome.

The photo above and below is for the sharing feature. This is officially where the program captured my wee lil over planning heart. I have paper calendars. Homeschool Record Keeping software that prints reports from one computer’s database, Several Google Calendars, and a white board on my wall. Now – I can use Homeschool Planet for my lessons and assignments, print reports from any computer and log in on any device. I can share in any calendars that have a URL. I can Share Out this calendar to Google – which helps me see my whole month easily. I can also, as you see below, determine how much or little is pushed to my Google Calendar. Done. Hooked. I love it.

Widgets. Mama loves me some widgets. You can personalize the theme colors for your desktop, and then personalize the sides and bottom of the calendar area. Several choices for widgets, then several choices to create them. Like I shared above, I have my to do list, and my TOS Reviews to do list open. I also have drop down lists with my Shopping List Widget. Joy. – Always remembering that I can text myself my list. . . . What?

What can I say? I love it. It is my new brain. It will print any list I choose, and also create transcripts for high school. The crew has been pestering the folks at Homeschool Buyers Co-op with questions this past month. Many of our suggestions have create changes. All of my questions have been answered in detail with a personal person within a day. What? Yep. They are awesome.

My family loves lists. If I make a list, put it on the white board, we will walk with intention throughout the day. We are not quite exact time people outside of appointments. Do this, then that. Do the other thing, then get back to this part. Enough information and database structure to organize my thoughts and keep items separated. Not so much database operation by me to make me frustrated.

Every screen I’ve used has felt like a  ‘wizard’ style screen. So sleek and simple to navigate and put in minimal information, with the option to fill in a lot of detail.