Review of The Plan: Unschooler’s Edition 2008 by Julie Forsythe
Let me give you a little bit of background on me before I give you my honest critique. I am a homeschooling/unschooling mom to a teenager, a Kindergartener and I also have a special medical needs baby. Like most unschooling moms, I am very busy! Always opening some learning door, always looking for the next cool experience, and always out of time!
So, while the title may seem like an oxymoron, an Unschooler, with a Plan?!? I can tell you, I am a firm believer in trying to make things work more easily and more quickly, by organization. Everything has a “home” in my house, even the littlest of guys can get the bouncy balls into the “ball basket” or the blocks into the “block basket”. Training them is harder than the organization!
I am also a lists person. You may not be as adept at list making as I am, or as thrilled as I am to check things off, but I guarantee, if you have not found a helpful system before, you have now! Right off the bat, I knew this was a keeper! The cover alone is stunning and so my style! Now, in case it’s not YOUR style, Julie has graciously included a few more to choose from…what a gal! Thoughtful is the theme to this planner.
Each month has, of course, an appointment book section (monthly planner), but the additional things Julie has included are a sure way to help you organize not only your life, but your TIME! A teeny bit of planning and it will save so much time in the long run! And, Julie did all the “thinking”, we just have to fill in the lines! Things like: a budget planner, monthly menu, grocery lists broken down by staples, meat, dairy, household (you get the idea!), medical records, birthday lists and, the piece de resistance... journaling pages to write down some cool Unschooly things your family has done that month! Luckily, because this is printable, you can print extra sheets of whatever you need, as you need them! (I was eyeballing the journaling sheets thinking, “we might need more than 1”)
Regarding the “journaling pages”…I am very happy to tell you, they don’t go from Sept-June...they are year-round! Unschoolers are Always Learning, and this author sure knew that and kept it in mind.
Now, if all that isn’t doing half the work for you, this planner starts AND ends in December! (07 and 08 included) In each December year Julie includes many extras that are so helpful! She includes Holiday Planning pages with family traditions and activities, gift lists (you can checkmark when you’ve bought the item!), Christmas card list, menu and even Suggested Advent Readings.
The last 40 or so pages are dedicated to, you got it, more lists! This gal has thought of EVERYTHING that could be useful in my daily life! Address book section, Books to read, Important info (mortgage info, utilities, creditors such as cars, etc) and the most thoughtful of all…Items Borrowed and Items Loaned sections. How many times have you loaned out last years teacher’s math book and forgotten who you loaned it to? Or borrowed someone’s favorite Inspirational Read and months later found it sitting where it doesn’t belong? These sheets are a welcome addition to my home, and I bet to yours also!
Now, lest you think I am all praise, The only thing that would make this better would be an assurance that Julie will keep creating them for future years! Ok, ok, kidding aside, I would LOVE to see this pdf become type-able…so that some of these lists can be typed prior to printing. I think that would ease in the transfer of all the info into next year’s book!
Thanks Julie, your time and effort making this will cut down our wasted time.
Sincerely submitted,
Elissa Wahl
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