It has been 5 weeks now that we have been using the organizer/planner from Simply Charlotte Mason. I love it. Our trial period is now over, but the planner has become an indispensable part of our school. I gladly pay the low $9.95 subscription fee a month to continue using it. I plan on purchasing it by the year soon, it has a lower rate then.
We use a lot of concepts of Charlotte Mason. I love the literature based learning that she emphasizes. The shorter lesson times have also really helped the materials connect with Brent and Callie. We still consider it a work in progress and we make slight changes and tweaks to our plans every week. Most of the changes aren't necessarily curriculum based, but schedule issues.
Brent and Callie both wanted a printed weekly plan for themselves. The CM planner is mainly a record keeping/planning resource. It allows you to select the actual resource that was used for that subject. Brent and Callie wanted a time schedule; when would be doing history, science, etc. This has changed weekly as they give me feedback on what worked and didn't work for them. It helps us all to keep track of time we are working together and time when they are working independently. Callie prefers things in a time block format. Brent prefers a checklist set-up with minimum time/assignment requirements. I have a master schedule that helps me know what the kids should be doing. Their schedules are a combination of both styles.
