Last year I was so impressed with the TOS Schoolhouse Planner, that I didn’t think there was anything they could do to make it better.  After all, it was the most complete planner I had ever seen and the price was very reasonable for everything you were getting.  Imagine how floored I was when I purchased the new and improved planner for this year!  This planner is so much bigger and better than last year.  And the best part?  It is still only $39!  What a bargain!

Inside the new and improved 2009 Schoolhouse Planner, you will find a form for just about anything you can imagine.  There are forms for both home and school.  Inside, you will also find 12 new inspirational articles from some of the most well known homeschool authors.  There are 24 new recipes, (including one of my own family favorites), 12 new monthly themes, 12 “must know” lists, and even alphabet writing charts appropriate for copywork.  You can get a glimpse of some of these pages HERE.

I know that sometimes seeing what you will be getting can help in making an important purchasing decision.  In light of this, I have provided a TABLE OF CONTENTS for you to download and peruse to aid you in your decision.  I am sure that you will quickly be able to see that this planner is well worth the purchase price of $39.  Oh, and before I forget, one of the coolest features of this planner is that it is interactive.  This means that you can type in your own information and save it, making it completely customizable for your homeschool and home!  How awesome is that?

Don’t forget to plan for the Supplemental monthly modules that will be available for purchase to enhance your use of the planner and incorporate them into your studies.   These all-new interactive units will help to make learning come alive for your children!  As an added bonus, the 2009 Planner modules will incorporate lapbooking activities!

The 2009 Schoolhouse Planner can be purchased at the TOS store.  It is sure to be one investment in your school year that you will wonderhow you ever did without it in the past.  Now you don’t have to.  This is one product which will get lots of use in our home and just make our lives a bit easier as we plan and utilize thevast information that is now at our fingertips.  I think that making life a bit easier is a good thing, don’t you?

Every once in a while, someone comes up with something so fantastic that you can’t wait to share it with everyone you know. That is exactly how I feel about the new When I Grow Up, I Want to be… series of E-Books from TOS. These fantastic e-books are unit studies that are in essence like having a private “Career Day”, only so much better!

In the first e-book in the series, When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Firefighter, we learn all about the life and work of a firefighter. The details that are provided from the perspective of a real firefighter are engaging and informative. We learn all of the nitty-gritty day to day responsibilities as well as an informative history of firefighting. I especially loved the vivid description and explanation of a bucket brigade. I even learned the how and why dogs, most commonly Dalmatians, are used as the mascots of the firehouse and how the dogs help assist the firefighters in their duties.

To round out the wonderfully written explanation of the job of a firefighter, the unit study is filled with several fun learning activities. Inside you will find firefighter math, a crossword puzzle, a word search puzzle, vocabulary and coloring pages. There are even pages of copy work in both print and cursive formats.

My favorite activities were all of the many games that emphasized the duties and work of a firefighter. I even loved how the ideas for the activities are adaptable to the number of children you may have. These games can be played by one child or several! And to top it all off, there are some great ideas for a firefighter party that could be used to celebrate the end of your unit study. You will even find directions on how to make a fire truck cake!

When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Firefighter, is a wonderful opportunity for us to really delve into what it takes to be a firefighter. The included website links for further information are just the icing on the cake. I love that we can actually spend some time on this study! Instead of a “Career Day” where there are several speakers that my child may soon forget, we can have a “Career Week” for each e-book and focus on one career at a time. My child will learn and remember what has been discussed. And with this kind of focus, he will be able to dream about his future career while understanding a little better what it may entail. With the help of TOS, he will be able to fill in the blank of the great question of When I Grow Up, I Want to be…

And now for a limited time, you can get the first 10 e-books in the series at a special preview price! Get all 10 e-books for only $49! That is a savings of 55% or $40.50 off of the regular price! But hurry…sale ends June 30, 2009.

I choose to give this product 4 out of 5 Gold Teacher’s Stars!!

We received two of the courses from the Famous Men series from Memoria Press to review in our homeschool.  When I opened the package, I was stunned at how beautiful these books truly are.  They were so inviting and just begged to be opened and perused almost immediately.  I had to eventually pry the books from my son’s hands so that we could still have something to learn about during our school time!  When I did suggest their use during our lessons, I was greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm and a race to retrieve the book of choice.  Not a bad problem to have, if you ask me.

The first book that we enjoyed was the Famous Men of Greece.  This book contains over 30 lessons that range from The Gods of Greece to The Fall of Greece.  Your students will study the lives of men such as Achilles, Socrates, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Ptolemy and many many others. The text is not boring and is filled with beautiful, color illustrations that accent the stories that are shared in an entertaining way.

Along with the text book, we also received the Teacher Guide and  Student Guide.  The student guide is filled with lessons that include items such as vocabulary words, famous quotes, a drill of key places and people and around 5 to 10 comprehension questions that can make for some great discussions with your student.  There are also some maps and drawing pages included for even more enrichment.

The second book that we enjoyed was the Famous Men of Rome.  This book also contains 30 different lessons that took us on a short visit with famous Roman men such as Horatius, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Augustus, Nero and Constantine the Great, among others.  Again, the text is well written and engaging.  The colorful illustrations are beautiful and well done.  In fact, here are some of the pictures you will find in the Famous Men of Rome book:

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The books can be used as a full year course in history.  Or, if you prefer, you can do what we are doing and using the books as a wonderful supplement to our current history course.  We have been utilizing the teacher guide and student guide along with the text and they have made our history study even better.  Although I refer to myself as an eclectic homeschooler, I do enjoy adding in classical methods at times to enrich our studies.

Each of the books can be purchased individually or as a set.  I prefer the set as you save a little money by buying them together and the workbooks really are great.  But if you don’t want the workbooks, at least consider the text books to supplement your own history program.  You won’t be disappointed.

Memoria Press offers many other great products at their website.  You are sure to find something wonderful to enrich your wonderful world of learning.  The crew all received different items for review.  To learn about other products from Memoria Press , be sure to visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.