CM Organizer review
CM Organizer is Simply Charlotte Mason's online planner. It is software, not a curriculum. It stores your plans, assigns work per student, and can build a shopping list from SCM resources. The lesson content still lives in the guides you already bought or in lists you type in.
What it does
CM Organizer lets you attach studies to individual students, check off days, and keep notes. SCM has been moving Enrichment and Individual Studies toward a custom planner that outputs a personalized PDF and a cart. The Organizer is the older ongoing subscription tool; confirm on SCM's site which planner is current before you pay for both.
It will not narrate for you and it will not hold picture study prints. It is a calendar with SCM's catalogue wired in.
What it costs
Treat it as a small monthly subscription — about $9–$13 per month on last check (2026-09-06). Confirm the live rate on SCM. That is extra on top of guides. A paper term grid is $0.
Worth it if you run several grades and already buy SCM resources every year. Skip it if you are on AmblesideOnline lists and only need a notebook.
Fit
Homeschool record-keeping is not school accreditation. A cottage school that needs transcripts still needs a policy, not only an app.
Curriculum choice: charlotte mason curriculum comparison. Tuition alternative: how much does a charlotte mason school cost.
A paper term grid plus a library card still runs a Mason year. Software is optional.
If SCM's newer free custom planner covers your family, do not pay for two planning tools. Confirm which product is current on their site before you subscribe.
The Organizer will not keep a transcript that a college registrar respects by itself. Export or copy records into whatever your umbrella school requires.
A co-op leader can use it to assign gathering-day work. That does not make it a student information system. Do not skip attendance and medical forms because a planner exists.
Cancel the subscription in summer if you plan on paper. It is a tool, not a membership that keeps the curriculum licensed.
Export a term before you cancel. Future-you will not remember which week you did Chopin. A CSV beats a faded memory. Print one backup page and file it with the teacher guides.
What to confirm before you subscribe
Check whether SCM still sells the Organizer as a live product or has folded the same job into the free custom planner. Product pages change. Pay for the tool that is actually current.
If you only need a shopping list, a paper inventory of last year's guides may be enough. The Organizer earns a subscription when several students and several SCM resources have to stay in sync.