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saigemom
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Mason Education from Simply Charlotte Mason?
I am considering purchasing it. We are chunky/ecclectic homeschoolers, but next year my ds will start 6th grade and I'd like to (my dh would like me to  ) have more of an actual plan. Right now math and spelling are really the only have to's.
Thanks.
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Paula in MN
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Yes, I have. It is a tool to help you plan for the year. There are good ideas, lots of charts, etc. to fill out to help with planning.
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 Paula
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TxTrish
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I used this (with the DVD) with a group of other homeschool mom's last spring.
We liked it.
I found the lists and examples very helpful.
The outline of what to do daily, weekly, yearly, over the entire course of school were particularly helpful.
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Tina P.
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I have it and use it every semester. Love it. Implementing (especially the schedule part) is much harder than planning for me, however. 
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Sarah M
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I have it. I don't really use it (yet), but I could definitely see myself using it more as the kids get older-- 4th grade and up, maybe? We are too unschooly in the early/primary years to make it work for us now, but I know that it will be helpful when I get a bit more formal.
The worksheets seem very useful.
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SuzanneG
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Sarah M wrote:
| I have it. I don't really use it (yet), but I could definitely see myself using it more as the kids get older-- 4th grade and up, maybe? We are too unschooly in the early/primary years to make it work for us now, but I know that it will be helpful when I get a bit more formal. |
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This would be me too.
I watched it, and it really helped keep "planning" in perspective for me. She makes it do-able. I don't "need" it yet.....but can see it being helpful in the next couple years when there are more individual kiddos doing their own work. It helped me connect the IDEAS behind CM into the daily-nuts-and-bolts.
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Mackfam
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I have it and find it to be very helpful, especially in terms of offering a way to plan out a big picture of a plan for a child that allows for individuality within the child and the family, and helps me to keep the dots/details all connected so that we're moving towards big pictures for each child in easy, bite-size steps. I'm pretty visual, so breaking things down like this in a visual way, on a sheet to keep tucked in my planner for reference is very helpful for me. I refer to the book and my semester/big picture plans mainly during the summer, but find myself looking at it just to refresh my memory as I'm planning out a high school plan right now.
The general idea is for the book to assist you in walking you step by step in planning in this order:
The Big Picture
Your Year
Your Term
Your Week
Your Day
Each section is detailed and there's a lot of hand holding throughout the book. I like that I can be pretty general in the Big Picture, but the closer I move in my planning towards daily plans, the more I am able to visualize what the details might look like.
I'm pretty content with how I break down the details of the plan into monthly/daily plans, so I don't change what is working for us there. That means I don't really make use of the week and day planning sections, though I did read through them to mine them for ideas to incorporate.
There are a lot of helpful sample schedules to use as inspiration points, and really, the book is quite full of useful reference material for reviewing the basics of a CM education.
If you're planning in a CM style, this is a good tool to have on the shelf for use and for reference. If you've already got a good big picture plan in place, and are comfortable with how you plan or strew or provide guidance for the day, then this book would probably not be a worthwhile investment.
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Becky Parker
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Wasn't there a CM paper planner available at one time?
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 8:52pm | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
| Wasn't there a CM paper planner available at one time? |
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I'm not sure, Becky. I don't remember one. Could you possibly be thinking of the CM Organizer?
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Jen Mackintosh
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Paula in MN
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Becky Parker wrote:
| Wasn't there a CM paper planner available at one time? |
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I have the paper version, not the CD/DVD one.
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Becky Parker
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Okay, I'm confused (nothing new  !~).
Jennifer, your link is to the item I thought this thread was about.
Paula, were did you get the paper version? I don't see it at the site I was checking.
Thanks!
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Becky
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Mackfam
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Oh dear. I got so confused.  And I'm only on the first few sips of my coffee so I can't promise this will be any better...but I think I can sort this out now...and since I'm the source of the confusion I'll try.
The OP, saigemom, asked about Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education - this. This is what I was referring to and reviewed in my post. Different options available include ebook, printed book, printed book and DVD, and DVD. I have the ebook which I printed.
Then Becky asked about a "plannER" - and the only one I could think of was this one - the CM organizer which is a database I think. I don't know of a paper planner through Simply Charlotte Mason. BUT -- I do know of a CM style paper planner if you're interested -- Tanglewood Education offers a very inexpensive download of their Corebook, Nature Notebook, and Book of Centuries. Their Corebook (paper planner) is really quite lovely, and offers some of the same helps as the SCM Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education book, though not in as much detail. I used the Corebook briefly before I started doing my lesson plans in iCal.
Hope I provided enough links to clear up any confusion here!  I'm ready for another cup of coffee!!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Becky Parker
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Jennifer! Thank you!!! You brought a light to my dark and confused tunnel ! Yes, the one from Tanglewood is the one I was remembering.
I've discovered that while I enjoy the computer, and use it for many things, I really need to write out my school plans.
Thanks again!
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Becky
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Tina P.
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Mackfam wrote:
| I'm not sure, Becky. I don't remember one. Could you possibly be thinking of the CM Organizer? |
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Oh dear! Now I'm confused. I'd never seen this planner before. I viewed the video this morning and it looks very promising. I've been giving my kids weekly checklists that I just made up in Word myself and then getting frustrated because I don't know where they are from day to day. They can't find the checklists and therefore don't know what to do or they haven't checked off anything in three days or any number of things can happen (haven't heard "the dog ate it" yet  ) that throw us completely off course. When my husband asks what's been accomplished with this one or that one, I'm afraid I'm more than  , I'm frazzled. And if our weeks turn out anything like this one did, whew! We were busier maintaining the house than keeping up on our school schedule. 
I see a one month free trial, but no price, which leads me to believe this system is quite expensive. Am I right? Does anyone use this? And I'm sorry if I just hijacked this thread.
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Mackfam
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Tina,
The CM Organizer is $9.95/month or $99/year. I haven't ever used it, but I remember some threads where people used it and reviewed it. I think you can use the Bookfinder feature for free, but the Organizer is the part that will cost you $$.
Here are some older threads for you to review:
CM Organizer
Record Keeping - there's a little bit at the bottom of that post
Record Keeping - more here
HTH, Tina!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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Mackfam wrote:
| I do know of a CM style paper planner if you're interested -- Tanglewood Education offers a very inexpensive download of their Corebook, Nature Notebook, and Book of Centuries. Their Corebook (paper planner) is really quite lovely, and offers some of the same helps as the SCM Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education book, though not in as much detail. I used the Corebook briefly before I started doing my lesson plans in iCal. |
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I am now officially serial posting on this thread.
I wanted to drop in one more informative link describing Tanglewood's Corebook in more detail.
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SuzanneG
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Tina P. wrote:
| Oh dear! Now I'm confused. I'd never seen this planner before. I viewed the video this morning and it looks very promising. |
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I did the trial a few months ago, and I think it's totally GREAT! However, I don't *need* it yet. I LOVED it though, and can see how it would be really helpful when dealing with lotsa kiddos! There is also a Forum specifically dedicated to the CM Organizer where you can search and ask questions, which is very helpful. It's probably worth your time to do the free trial and *play* with it, even if just to get a perspective on your own planning, if you don't end up subscribing.
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Suzanne in ID
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saigemom
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Do the planner sheets in the planner look anything like the planner sheets of the Tanglewood corebook? I had never seen the corebook ones before, but I like them.
Tx Trish- Is the DVD worth it?
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Tina P.
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I'm not Tx Trish, but I will answer the DVD question. I bought it when I was clueless about planning and it helped me to make plans bit by bit. I review it at least once a year to help keep me focused on what's next. I also have lots of temperaments and learning styles I have to try to incorporate into my plans. And, I like to have us do things together as much as possible. The DVD helps me keep my ducks in a row, however messy my ducks like to get.
I like to have it, but if you're old hat at planning and good at keeping focus (unlike me ), you might not need it.
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Jennifer, I am sooo glad that you directed me (maybe without even knowing it) to Homeschool Tracker. It's tons less expensive and does a lot of the things that the CM one does only with more freedom to choose Catholic resources, use nontraditional subjects, and document EVERYTHING. I just have to come up with the resources to purchase *that* planner. Isn't it funny how every month something comes up (birthday parties, new hs resources, BRACES, ballet ... ) to empty your wallet?
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: has anyone used Planning your Charlotte
