Most families have to do a lot of complicated scheduling, and homeschool seems to add to that complexity in many cases. Scheduling is one of things that I struggle the most with. I have a tendency to overschedule and double schedule. One thing I have been working very hard on is choosing our activities carefully so that I don't have too much going on. Even so, we do have 4 people in our family (and 2 pets) that I have to schedule around, and I'm always on the lookout for a tool that will help me to keep up with our schedule better.
Here are two tools that I have found helpful in the past:
Cozi: This is a great website that families can use to plan their schedules. I have used it to inform my husband about our activities. He didn't look at it too much, but at least when he expressed shock over me going scrapbooking all day the next day, I could tell him that, not only did I tell him about it verbally, but it had been on Cozi for the past month. The e-mail reminders it sends were very useful for us. From my laptop, it was really easy to enter events and set up email reminders. The thing I like about it the least is the cost: To use all the features, you have to pay for an annual plan, which is very expensive at $30/year. Granted, it is similar in cost to buying one paper planner per year, but I'm not convinced that you can't get an app that is as good or better for much less money (and without an annual subscription). I also prefer the PC/web version to the iOS app. It does not always seem to work very well offline. For instance, I wanted to put in a dentist appointment when I was at the dentist's office but I couldn't even access my calendar because the app didn't have me signed in. I also find it annoying that I am constantly having to enter my password to log in from my laptop.
PlannerPad: This is the best paper planner that I have seen. It has a great weekly view and to-do list system. The problem is that I need to use the reminders on my iTouch, I need to share my calender with my husband somehow, my older son likes to have a printout of our schedule on the fridge, and all of those things require me to enter data in more than one place, which I really don't have time for. Also, even the smaller-sized planner pads are bulky (for me) to carry around. I prefer a small purse that I can over my shoulder at all times when I'm out (so that I don't lose it). I wish the PlannerPad people would make an app. I can see how a paper planner works best for many people, but when you are having to sync schedules with multiple people, an electronic system has a lot of advantages.
So, I am on the lookout for a new calendar/to-do system.
A lot of people are happy with the calendar that comes with their smartphone (or my case, iTouch because I use a dumbphone for my phone), but many find that those apps lack features. I've been scouring the Internet, trying to find a suitable program. There are a lot of options, both free and modestly priced. I've used enough apps to know that sometimes the free or inexpensive ones are the best. [As I wrote yesterday, I found that LessonTracker, which only costs $2 is the best homeschool record keeping system for me!]
I have found MANY app possibilities online. It's pretty much overwhelming. I am going to try some apps and see if if I can fine something that works okay for me!
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