Hey Mama! Planner ~ a TOS review

I am a paper planner kind of girl. I need my Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 to keep track of my school life and plans. I was so happy when I received one to review from The Old Schoolhouse (TOS – yep, the parent company of the Review Crew).

I don’t really know where to start with what I really like about my Hey Mama! Planner. The Hey Mama! Planner has almost 200 pages to work with. Printed in beautiful sepia and black tones throughout, it is bound with a metal spiral binding. The covers are glossy, printed cardstock.

I think what I like best is the constant encouragement found within the pages of the planner. Right off the bat, there is a Hey Mama! letter of encouragement. These Hey Mama! letters are found at the start of each monthly planning section to remind you of the important job you have but more that God created you just as you are to be THE perfect mama for your little ones (and big ones). Every single month.

Table of Contents

So what all is in the planner? Well, everything I need and so much more. There are so many calendars and forms that I don’t need anything else for planning. Well, maybe some blank paper but that’s a different story. Calendars, weekly planning pages, goal pages for months, semesters and years, attendance charts, contact pages, curriculum lists, and a whole bundle of other lists for topics of interest or dates needed. Chock full!

The weekly planning pages are probably the main portion of the planner for me. I use those day in and day out. I am saying use because this is the planner I currently have. There are 36 weeks worth of pages. Since we tend to do more school than this that I want to keep track of, it is permissible to copy additional pages to keep with the planner. I would love to see this planner include 52 weeks since so many homeschoolers educate all year round, even if it isn’t full-blown school mode. weekly plan page

These pages are my mainstay and help us track what we are doing and/or what needs to be done. The pages are set up in table format, with 6 across the top and 8 down the side. One of each of those is for labeling, in my opinion, leaving 5 across the top and 7 down the side. This means I label and date the top ones Monday through Friday, Down the side, I label the subjects that we are working on. When I am writing in what is happing or planned, I use three colored pens: blue for E, pink for L, and purple for J. There is actually a fourth (red) that I use to show things that are the same for all three girls. This allows me to fully utilize the space on the pages.

Our monthly notes page

I also use the monthly planning pages a lot. A LOT! On the notes for the month, I keep track of our read-alouds, any videos we watch, all of our field trips, any reviews and due dates we have going on, and all of the volunteer work that happens. To show you this in actual use, I am showing you the May 2016 pages for our family. **For the 2015-2016 school year, there was a digital version of the Hey Mama! Planner available with a membership through SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I printed off my copy of the Hey Mama! Planner and had it bound locally. These pages look the same in the 2016-2017 printed Hey Mama! Planner. Well, with the right dates. 🙂

our monthly planning page tracking my reading

One other thing that I do that is really personal for me: I keep track of the books I am reading just for me. I do that above the Hey Mama! letter each month. This tracks the fact that I am doing something just for me but also encourages me to keep it up.

I am currently working on setting up goals for next school year. The goal planning pages are going to be a big help for that. There is a monthly page, a semester page, and a yearly page, plus a curriculum planning page. There are 4 or 5 copies of each of these in the Hey Mama! Planner. Some families have need of more copies of this than are included; it is okay to copy the page if you need more.

With Miss E in middle school now, we are looking towards what she will need by the time she graduates. These planning pages are going to be a huge help for that, with a couple of pages at the end dedicated to helping create an academic transcript. Again, if you have more than one high schooler or are planning for more than one, you may need to make a copy of the transcript page. (You could also print it off of SchoolhouseTeacher.com if you have a membership.)

Hey Mama letter and monthly notes page

I don’t know many people who can get along without planning so why not use a planner that is full of encouragement and helps. The Old Schoolhouse has created a wonderful planner with the Hey Mama! Planner, full of encouragement with the Hey Mama! letters and Bible verses throughout. This is a fantastic resource that I highly recommend and have used for two years now. I use mine all the time and I can’t imagine using anything else.

I have a coupon for you to order your own Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017! Visit TheOldSchoolhouse.com and order the printed planner using the code CREWCODE for $10 off. What a fantastic deal! If you live in the U.S., that would give this a cost of $19. The coupon is good until July 15, 2016, but if you are like me and put it off, you forget. So – Order yours today.

**There is also a digital download version available. The coupon is NOT good on the download version.**

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