Scholaric Review.

When I find something that I love, helps me and is easy to use...I want to tell the whole world!! I'm a chronic planner, organization junkie and all around nerd when it comes to homeschooling. I'm constantly looking for ways to make my life easier and more streamlined. With 6 kids, keeping our homeschool organized is a top priority.

Before the beginning of our homeschool year in August, I decided that I needed an easier way to organize lessons for my 3 grammar stage kids. Fitting everyone's schedule in my planner just wasn't working and adding any more kids to it was just not realistic. So I decided to give the electronic planner a try.

I started with a popular, downloadable "Tracker" program. It took me a whole weekend to type everything in, understand how to use it and get the ball rolling with it. I was on the brink of throwing in the towel with it's learning curve, but decided to stick it out because of all the time I had already invested in it. But then something wonderful happened. I got rid of my dinosaur PC and upgraded to an iMac.

Upgrading to an iMac is awesome...but not so awesome for Tracker users. I found out that not only could I not transfer my Tracker files, but that I couldn't even start over with Tracker because it is not compatible with Macs!! All that precious time wasted! I nearly cried with frustration!

Thus began my search for a homeschool planner that was Mac compatible. Luckily, it didn't take long before someone recommended Scholaric. Could it be that I had found something I could download to my Mac that would save me from a planning crisis? Read on.

It turns out that Scholaric doesn't need to be downloaded into any computer because it's web-based. That means all your planning stays online and not your computer. I wasn't sure I liked this. My lesson plans floating around in virtual space? I didn't buy into the hype until a light bulb lit up over my head. My lesson plans....accessible from any computer!

Once I realized that I could plan my school week not only from my desktop, but from our MacBook from anywhere in the house, I got so excited! Not only that, but you could use it on your iPad too! How much more convenient and terrific could this Scholaric program be? I signed up for the trial version immediately. After all, not just because you can have easy access to something does it mean that it's easy to set up or use, right?

Well...Scholaric is extremely easy to set up and use. If you like to spend hours typing information into a planner before you actually get to use it...this program is probably not for you. But if you like to get started right away, Scholaric is perfect! Setting up our homeschool account on Scholaric was a breeze. It's like opening a notebook planner and just filling in the days with what you are doing. You can schedule repeating lessons, record time spent on a subject (necessary in some states), reschedule lessons easily and even share lessons if you have more than one student.

Scholaric makes it easy to record grades too and even generates a report card if needed. What I really like about Scholaric, beside all these great features? I can print out a daily or weekly assignment for my kids that they can check off. Here is a quick screenshot (sorry it's blurry).

Is Scholaric perfect? Probably not. There is no perfect planner, although for me it's as close to perfection as I've ever had. Sign up for a free 15 day trial to find out how easy it is to use this amazing online planner. It's only $1 per month, per child after that!

Check them out and become a fan! They post tips and updates on their FaceBook page.