Apologia Ultimate Homeschool Planner: Review and Giveaway {Closed}

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AND the WINNERS ARE……

Adrienne, Comment #68 and Jenn, Comment #115

Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and for being part of the Hip Homeschool Mom Community!

 

 

HHM Team Member Review…

Hold onto your pencils, Moms…TWO of our Hip Homeschool Team members reviewed this product…and state that it is a MUST HAVE!

Louanne’s review:

I received the Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell to use and review and there are a lot of great features. First off, I am an organized person by nature – and that makes me REALLY picky when it comes to planners and how they are laid out. I also like the feel of having a paper planner to write in rather than having everything digital. I like how she asks you to look at your family priorities and then build your homeschool goals around that.

Debra Bell has space in here for a yearly planning retreat, monthly planning and weekly planning. There is also a page before each week to record things like prayer requests and how your family will reach out to others to show hospitality/to serve. I know it will be encouraging for me to go back and read over these notes at the end of the year.

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The monthly calendar pages are great for an overview of family activities. The weekly pages are my favorite part of the planner. You can organize the columns in whatever way will help you the most. This has made the last three weeks of tracking our daily school a breeze. It’s also helping me to see areas in which I was a bit too overzealous while planning, and areas where we can add more. I really like seeing our week laid out with a spot for each child and for my personal commitments.

The more I use this planner, the more I like it. I like seeing the big picture, but also being able to break our school down into smaller segments. There is also a section for tracking reading lists, field trips and grade records. In addition to it being a great organizational tool, it’s pretty and the planning pages all have some sort of encouraging quote or Bible verse that have to do with education and learning. I highly recommend this planner by Apologia Press.

Louanne lives in Texas with her awesome husband and two daughters. She loves Jesus, cookies, reading and scrapbooking (when she has time). She homeschools and also runs a mentorship program for at risk children through her church. Louanne also enjoys finding coupon deals, making gifts with her Cricut and Taste of Home cookbooks. Louanne blogs at www.dwimble.com.

 

 

Samantha’s review:

I am a planner, and therefore I love homeschool planners. I have looked at lots of them, ordered several, and thought I had found the perfect one. That was until The Ultimate Homeschool Planner arrived at my door. Allow me to share with you why I love it so, in no particular order.

The cover-

Is plastic, and will not get ruined if it touches something wet. The appearance is also very attractive. My favorite feature of the cover is that it has pockets! I adore pockets, and this planner has one in both the front and back of the inside. They are the same sturdy material as the cover.

The inside-

There is a year at a glance calendar, user’s guide, one-year planning grid, a place for goals and plans, as well as space for monthly plans. There are extras like reading lists, grades, and tips for mom-but not too much-just enough for me.

The planner itself is undated, which is great for those who don’t follow the “normal” academic year-make your own calendar! The bulk of this great planner’s pages are simply for your weekly planning, with great emphasis on the spiritual. I LOVE that. There is space to make your spiritual pans for the week before it begins to ground your week in the Lord.

The other thing that actually brought tears to my eyes, was the space for “This Week’s Memorable Moments” and “Evidences of Grace”. How many homeschool memories have been forgotten, never to return? Not with this planner!

I am so impressed with all of the thought and work that went into this planner. It is customizable, with space enough for six children, and puts God first in your school week. What more could you ask for? I am officially in planner paradise.

Samantha is a Christian homeschooling mom of six, married to Rick, her high school sweetheart. Rick was called to be a preacher, Samantha was called to homeschool, and loves blogging about their journey. She is interested in Bible study, photography, exercise, organizing, and sweet tea. You can find Samantha blogging at Sam’s Noggin, as well as on Twitter or Facebook.

 

 

 

Now For The Giveaway!!! 

We will be selecting TWO winners for this fantastic planner.

 

Giveaway Info:

REQUIRED ENTRY

• Leave a comment on this post telling us why you’d like to win.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (leave a separate comment on this post for each extra entry)

• Click the facebook “share” button at the top of this post and share this giveaway with your facebook friends

• “Like” Apologia on Facebook

• Tweet about this giveaway: I just entered to win the @ApologiaWorld Ultimate Homeschool planner giveaway with @HipHmschoolMoms http://wp.me/p1swZe-XW

This giveaway will close at 11:59 PM CST on September 30, 2011

All entries posted after will be invalid.

We will select our winners using And The Winner Is WordPress and will announce the winner within this post sometime after .

***This is only open to US Residents.

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228 Comments

    1. This is my original entry and I just want to make sure that it took…

      I love what I have seen of Debra’s planner, especially the annual planning retreat (what an awesome idea). Thanks for the chance to win it! 🙂

  37. This is our first year of homeschooling, and I would love to try this planner! I think it would help out greatly with organizing everything.

  41. Would love to win this. I have been following Debra Bell’s blog since the summer and have been wondering if her planners were as wonderful as they sound. Thanks for the great reviews1

  46. Debra Bell wrote one of my all time favorite Homeschooling Books and I imagine her planner is amazing! For me, seeing something on actual paper helps me stay organized and I would love this for our Homeschool Planning as well as our Daily Lives.

  53. As a new homeschool mom who also works three days a week I need all the help I can get to stay organized:)

  60. I think there were some problems. When I tried to post that I shared it kept saying it was a duplicate post and what I said on my first post just says “EXTRA”. Since I only see my name the one time I will assume that is my original entry and say:
    I shared on facebook

  61. EXTRA,,,as a hip home schooling grandma, I really need this!!!
    You know us old people need help remembering things!

  62. I’m planning on homeschooling next year and I am thankful for the opportunity to enter to win. It would be really helpful. I really like Debra Bell’s books!!

  66. OMG! What an awesome giveaway! I would put this thing to use right away! One of my short falls is planning. I need all the help I can get! With two boys at totally different ages and grades this sounds like it would be great for us!!

  70. I LOVE this….it would be perfect for my 5 (soon to be 6) kiddos!
    I love that they put God in the planner first.
    And that I can put my memories from the week in too.
    Thanks so much!

  74. I’m a stay at home mom to 6…I need to get a new plan for our home & homeschooling, this maybe just the tool that will help 🙂

  83. I need a new planner and this one looks fantastic!!!!! I really want to win:D Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this beautiful planner:D

  84. Wow! This looks great! I’m a mommy of 3 little ones and this is our 1st homeschool year – throw in my hubby’s impending deployment and our upcoming move (…that will make 10 in 10 years!) – I would love a little help organizing this year!!

  85. I LOVE good old paper planners, and this one looks GREAT. I can keep track of all my boys school plans, prayers, my youngest OT/Speech/Autism therapy lessons I do at home, and can take it with me, unlike digital ones. This planner looks so nice, and love the way it’s put together. I have a Highschooler this year so I have to keep track of everything he does. It gets hard trying to use a planner for each child. I’m already using The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Teens by Debra Bell, so I think this would go great with it. I can’t Tweet, I don’t know how. Sorry

  88. I would love to win this homeschool planner! This is our first year to homeschool and I have found some neat organizational planners, but not exactly what I was looking for. I love the layout of this one. I love the challenges for the week and then a reflection. It makes you intentional about your week. LOVE IT!! Seems to help you in all areas…not just homeschooling. Hope I win!

  91. I’m struggling to get organized this year & this planner looks like it would help me out tremendously.

  96. It’s my first year homeschooling – a 6th grader – and I am a planner nerd. My heart skipped a beat when the one reviewer mentioned the Evidences of Grace part. LURVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  99. I would like to win this because we all seem to be going in different directions and I want to make sure we have prioritized some family time into our schedules. Thank you!

  100. I would love to win this because I am still on the search for the perfect planner and this one sounds like what I’m looking for. Thanks for the chance.

  108. I’m always on the look-out for ways to keep my life organized so I have more free time to do the things “there’s never enough time” that I LIKE/LOVE to do!

  115. I would like to win because I love organizing our homeschool schedule! Plus this looks way better than the boring planner I have from walmart!

  119. I’m a planner… I like to see everything color-coded, on paper, in front of me. I’ve yet to find the “perfect” planner to meet my needs, so I’ve kind of thrown one together myself. This looks like it might offer what I’ve been missing. Hope I win 🙂

  125. I use Homeschool Tracker to track my grades and transcripts, but I just LOVE paper and pen planners!

  128. I am really struggling this year to ‘get it all together’ A great organizer would be such a blessing.

  131. We definitely make our own schedule, and I love that there is a spiritual emphasis since that is a big part of our goal in homeschooling.

  132. My oldest child has started high school this year. A planner would help to keep track of all the things you need to do while homeschooling a high-schooler.

  136. I would love this planner because this is my first year home schooling and I have 2 different grades. I would love to be a little more organized and I am in search for the perfect planner!

  140. I would love to win this. I need to be more organized. I am not a naturally organized person at all. lol.

  141. I am a single mom of 3 high school homeschoolers. I was also a student myself at our local tech school. However in February of this year we were in a car accident and I had to drop out of school. Now due to high medical bills, and continued doctoring and therapy for my daughter and I, I am needing to find a job rather than go back to school. I would love to have the opportunity to try out one of these planners to organize our schooling, doctor appts, and hopefully soon having foster children. Thanks for considering me–this sounds awesome!!
    ~Jen

  147. I have 3 little girls six and under, and I watch two more little girls during the day! So I am very blessed to be with these girls all day, but in my second year of Home-schooling I need to be more organized. I also am a Girl Scout Leader and an independent business consulant, so I would love to try this planner out and see if it could help me organize everything!! Thanks so much!
    Sarah

  148. I would love to win this planner because I’m an organizational junkie and a list maker. I have to write everything down or I’ll forget it and this would help me stay on top of things.

  152. I would love to win! Anything that can help me stay more on top of things would be so helpful! This is my first year homeschooling, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how to balance everything.

  156. I would love to win the Homeschool planner to help me stay organized while I homeschool 2 high schoolers and a middle schooler. I liked on FB and Tweeted too! Thanks for the giveaway!!!

  157. Wow. This could change my world! =o) This is our second year homeschooling… which means I learned from the first year I need to organize a WHOLE LOT more!

  163. Oh wow! I just found this online and thought how incredible it would be to get one .Then I head over to hiphomeschoolmoms.com and what do ya know but it’s part of a giveaway! Yay! Good luck to all 🙂

  166. I so need this planner. I fall so quickly into chaos and forget about why I am homeschooling in the first place. I need a gentle reminder to keep in front what is most important in life.

  167. This planner looks so cool. I am a homeschool mom of five and have tried out many planners in the last 5 years. This one would not only be perfect for school planning, but I love that it has a place for the heart as well. My walk with Jesus is what prompted me to homeschool, and that needs to be planned too.

  168. Honestly, I am not a very organized mom. And, I need to be, WANT to be. This would be so helpful. I am constantly writing myself little notes then losing them. I NEED this planner. 🙂

  169. I love planners and would love to win this. We are in our 2nd year of homeschooling and I feel very overwhelmed and disorganized this year. This item just might be the help I need to get me going.

  170. I think this planner would help me so much. I am a single mother homeschooling my son that has some mild disabilities and major food allergies. I am also self employed part time. This might be just the tool to help me keep only one book with everything in it instead of the 3 to 4 I keep now.

  171. This sounds like a great planner. I am always looking for one with all the right features but have not really found one that is perfect. Looking forward to trying this one!

  174. I could definitely use this! I’ve started to do a lot more with pen and paper for the weekly planning of the 3 boys with one at the middle school level. Between teaching private lessons, taking care of the house and homeschooling (with all the other activities thrown in), I need all the help I can get to stay organized. Thanks for the chance!

  178. This would be so great to win! We are a brand new homeschooling family and this would be a great resource to have.

  179. I have never tried any Apologia products. I would love to try this planner out because I’ve tried others that aren’t helpful.

  185. Have been searching for a good homeschool planner – Excited about this one! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  186. I tweeted about this giveaway. The link-http://twitter.com/#!/Greeneyedrican/status/119916883414757377

  187. I would love to try out this planner. Looks like it would work well for multiple kids. I don’t know anyone already using this planner…so I’d be excited to try it out and recommend it to others!

  193. I am NOT an organized person by nature, and could use all the help I can get! I use Apologia curriculum and LOVE it, so I am sure I would love this homeschool planner, too!

  198. I think it would be great to win this planner because I am a new homeschooling Mom of 2 wonderful children ages 4 and 2! Thanks for the chance to win and God bless you all! :>)

  200. I would LOVE to win this planner! I have been eyeing it for sometime, but haven’t been able to get it, yet. I really need help organizing and planning our homeschooling.

  203. Thanks for hosting an awesome giveaway! I would like to win b/c the planner is undated (yeah!) and I love the spaces to journal about homeschooling victories/grace moments. I love the section for planning time spent in God’s word! Makes sense!

  207. This is my 2nd year homeschooling my 11 y.o. and having this planner would be a big help cuz I also have 21month old twins. We are trying to keep a schedule but…….

  213. I need this!!!! I am a student finishing up my degree. I am a first year homeschooling mom with two boys, 9 and 13. My husband is a pastor, professor, and high school football coach. On top of that both boys play on their own football teams. We are active in church and our community. Evey Monday night all the linebacker from the high school come to our house for dinner and film. I need this planner to keep it all straight!!! I have tried on my own, but I just end up creating more mess! I don’t know if I am studying Amercian history, Tom Sawyer, Martin Luther, or the lasagna recipe! Help!!! I would put it to good use!!!

  217. I need help with organizing my homeschool for 6 children. I believe this planner would be a great blessing.

  221. I would love to win this because Apologia has great materials and I think this would be just as great as the rest!

  225. Well on the offchance that I am chosen, I just want you to know that I already PURCHASED one and I ABSOLUTELY loveee it! I love it so much that I GAVE IT AWAY to a hip hsmom of 6 at my church who mentioned her need for one, just as I happened to have mine with me!! Sooo, I am in need, especially now, since I have already experienced how great a tool it is! Blessings!

  226. This planner looks amazing! We do not follow the standard Monday through Friday type schedule and have a hard time finding planners that would work well. I’m not very good at planning and maybe a planner like this would help me get started.

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