The Special Needs Schoolhouse Planner from TOS is a Must Have!

photo credit

We received this amazing and very unique homeschool planner CD Rom from The Old Schoolhouse in June and I was SO thrilled I couldn't wait to get started with it!!!!  I am not am member of the TOS Crew, just a very excited, brand new homeschooling Mama of a son who has some special needs!!!

It is unlike any planner I have seen out there yet!  And I love searching for planners!!!  I am what I call an eclectic planner lady.  I print bits and pieces of a variety of planners to build one that fits me and our family's needs.  I have to say that the Special Needs Schoolhouse Planner is a large chunk of my 2011-2012 Planner!

It is filled with very practical and easy to use forms that you can type into easily to fill before printing out or you can just keep it online.  I love organizational tools and I must admit this is one of my favorites!

Some of the great forms include:

Several different formats of monthly calendars that you can enter your own information into!  I chose the one that is so large it spans across two facing pages in my Home/Homeschool Planning Binder.

There are forms to track everything that families with children with special needs deal with on a daily basis including:

• Therapy trackers
• Doctor's appointment trackers
• Eating Trackers
• Medication trackers
• Medical history trackers

AND an amazing 12 page IEP that you can use to plan and organize all of their care, care givers, doctors and therapists and goals and objectives for the year!!  I was blown away when I saw this!

There are pages to help you with developing life skill routines for everything from brushing their teeth to checking out books at the library with pictures to help them too!  There are chore charts and behavior goal/reward charts.  There are pages of pictures to cut out and attach to your children's dresser drawers to help them put away and find their clothes and get dress by themselves.

There are lesson planning pages and daily and weekly planning pages for school and life in general for your child and for you!

There are 191 pages in this planner!!!  And here's one of the qualities that an eclectic planner like myself just LOVES!!!  You can print only the pages that you need for your family! And there are even calendars that are dateless that allow you to add the months and dates in so that you can use it year after year!  

And there is one more thing that is included that has a major affect on our family.  There is a special section that is filled with articles to educate and encourage parents of special needs children as parents and homeschool educators. 

The articles include:

"Why can't he just focus?" by Carol Barnier

"Focus on your Children's Strengths" by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias

"Celebrating Ben" by Richelle Spargur

"Homeschooling Special Needs Children in a Large Family" by Betty Eisenhour

"Sensory Processing" by Melinda Boring

"Finding your child's hidden brilliance" by Renée K. Walker

"Teaching children with sensory loss" by Renée K. Walker

"Special Needs Homeschool Curriculum" by Jennifer Bolton

"Teaching to their Needs" by Catherine Schembri

"Special Needs after High School" by Rebekah Wilson

Melinda Boring's article on "Sensory Processing" opened our eyes to some things that may explain some of the challenges that our son faces.  Thanks to her insightful words we have an appointment with an occupational therapist so that he can be evaluate and we can find better ways of helping him with some of his special needs that we have been struggling to understand for so long!  

This "Special Needs Homeschool Planner" has had a wonderful impact on my organization and peace of mind as we begin our homeschool year...but it is more than that...it is a resource that is helping us to discover ways we can better help our child to become more confident in his daily life as well.

In case your children are do not have special needs I highly recommend their other planners!  

The 2011-12 SchoolHouse Planner on CD

The 2011-12 High School Student SchoolHouse Planner on CD

The 2011-12 Intermediate Student SchoolHouse Planner on CD

The 2011-12 Primary Student SchoolHouse Planner on CD (which I am seriously considering getting to  use with our son as well!!!)

Like I said before...I am not a member of the TOS Review Crew...I am just a new homeschooling Mom that found something that is working for us and I had to share it with you!  I will be sharing more homeschooling planners and resources with you in the coming weeks...like I said I am an eclectic planner type person!  

Question:  So...I must know!  What Homeschooling or General family/home planners do you use in your home/family that you love?  I would REALLY love to hear about them in the comments!  Feel free to include links so we can all check them out!!!

Dancing with our children at the foot of the Cross,

Mrs Mary Joy Pershing

Summer Homeschool Life in our Family

Our family is really enjoying our new homeschooling adventure!

In June we started with studying God's Word to learn about our home and family as community...then we started studying our town as a community.

Michael, our 3 yr old, is learning his colors by finding "treasures" around the house that are the primary and secondary colors...

One of his favorite colors is yellow (this week!)

Red is a favorite because of the ever motivating "Easy button"! 

(I'll share more about motivation miracles it performs soon...LOL)

All of our children have been enjoying our first Unit Study as we learn about our local community...the tiny town we live in.  Last week we took a walking tour to discover some of the history by visiting with people in our community...I learned as much as the children did!

The real "Frisco Rail Road" Caboose that is a favorite spot of our kids.  Marks the beginning of our town as a rail road town in 1864.

This Historic Houston House (built in the late 1800s) where the community soup meal volunteers visited with us and posed for a picture for Josh's Town Study Binder.

We visited our town hall and many other locations too...took lots of pictures to add to our research of our community...where it came from...what it is now...and how we can share the Gospel as members of it.  

On the edge of town we visited one of our family's favorite spots...The Little Piney River...

where we learned to splash our big sister...

skip stones...

This week we did some research into the history of the places we visited last week on-line.  Josh really got into it!  Tomorrow we will head to the Little Piney Community Park to help with some planting and weeding as volunteers...our first step into serving our community.  Then we will head to the river to cool off afterward!

Will and I talked today and decided that to take the month of July to just relax, use teachable moments and natural learning, reading aloud together, board games, some movies, crafts and enjoy summer fun as a family.  This way we can really enjoy our final couple of weeks with our daughter Annie before she goes home to her Mom's house too.  

So this afternoon we took a little time to just enjoy a beautiful summer day in our backyard...trying out the new sprinkler soaker that one of their grandmas gave them...

We will move into a Unit Study I am putting together on our state of Missouri closer to the beginning of August.  Josh is completely fascinated by the Missouri road map we put on the wall in our dining room.  He is glued to it announcing cities and towns as he finds them!  It should be fun!

It is an amazing experience figuring out the best ways for our family to learn together and as individuals.  The excitement in their eyes and the natural curiosity about things we are studying is such a blessing.   Its a work in progress...but one that I wouldn't trade for the world!

So there you have it.  A small peek into the beginnings of our summer homeschool experience.  

Question:  What are some ways that your family enjoys learning together in the summer time?  We would love to hear about them!

Dancing with our family at the foot of the Cross,

Mrs Mary Joy Pershing

Learning is not Limited...

Yesterday was a special day in our family.  It was the first day of our first official year as a homeschooling family.  

Michael-  first day of 3yr old Preschool

Josh - 1st day of 3rd grade (8 yr old)

We prayed about this decision for a long time.  Neither Will nor I were raised in homeschooling families.  But it is something that I have felt called to for years but wasn't in a position to do it before...and Will has always felt a strong leading to home school, even as a retired public school teacher.


We prayerfully decided to spend the first year of our marriage building a strong foundation as a couple, as a new family, and preparing to home school both of our younger children as soon as God showed us that it was time.  That time came in April of this year.  


The changes in Josh were amazing from the first day we pulled him out of the local school.  He is so much less anxious and stressed since that day...so much happier.


We decided that the best approach to homeschooling for our family would be to have a year-round schedule so that it would flex with our family's needs and schedule better...to follow a lifestyle of learning and discipleship.  


We have all been looking forward to the start of this new school year when we would have a fresh start...we are discovering a lifestyle of learning.  


The precious conversations we have had while doing the dishes together when he had some questions he wanted to ask me...the life skill teaching opportunities...the amazing ways that we are able to bring the Word of God into everyday life...blessings beyond measure.


Learning is not limited to the "school times" each day...learning and discipleship of our children happens when we wake up...when we are walking through town...when we are reading together...working together...playing together...and praying together.  The greatest joy is in sharing with them from God's Word how we are to live and walk in His way...to be able to live the instruction that God gives us as parents:

"You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."  Deuteronomy 6:7

We are getting to know our children in ways we didn't have the opportunity to before...each day is an adventure...we are spending time with God each day asking Him to lead our learning.  Some days are more challenging than others and we learn more everyday how to best help them to learn...and in the process God is teaching me even more about my own journey.  I am so blessed that He gives me the strength I need on the challenging days...I think we learn more during those times than the easier days!


I promise to share about our adventures and materials that we are using very soon.  In fact, we will be having a giveaway of some of them in early July!


I am also looking forward to sharing some of our real life and faith lessons we are learning as we walk this new homeschooling journey together as a family.  


Question:  What is something you learn about yourself as you teach your children?


Dancing together as a family at the foot of the Cross,


Mrs Mary Joy Pershing

Enjoying participating in these gatherings:

Homemaking Link-Up at Raising Homemakers

Healthy Home Link-Up at The Legacy of Home