Jennifer Bolton is married with two boys, both special needs. She is the owner of the Special Needs in Homeschooling. Jennifer uses free resources for teaching whenever she can, to keep her boys’ interests and to tailor their learning experiences to their individual learning styles and special needs.

Without organization, my life would be complete chaos! Between doctor’s appointments, therapy appointments, field trips, and just trying to fit in time to learn math, I need a schedule! If your schedule is as hectic as mine, check out the new free online tool called Cozi.

“…Cozi is the new way busy families keep track of appointments and lists, coordinate home and work schedules, and share favorite memories and photos, all in one place. Best of all, Cozi is free“

When I signed up for Cozi, I didn’t think it could do *everything*. I was wrong. It has everything I need on my own personal homepage; calendar, journal, lists, collage, email.

Check out Cozi’s promotional video for a quick overview of features:

Cozi truly does all the stuff that video says! I couldn’t fathom how our family of four, with such different lives, was going to be able to sync schedules so we can see each others’ activities and not get confused. Cozi lets me make the calendar as detailed or simple as I want and it is set so that other members of the family can also add or edit calendar events!

The Cozi calendar also has reminders. Each appointment I put on the calendar offers me the option of email reminders and messages. I guess I can’t use the ‘I forgot’ excuse anymore. It syncs with any program that will sync with outlook or just use outlook express. That means you can access Cozi from a cell phone or computer, as long as you have internet access.

Each member using the calendar has their own color dot. So if you see a blue dot beside a doctor’s appointment on a particular day, then you know the appointment is for the person in your family assigned the color blue. You can let each member of the family pick their favorite color in the settings. Your teenage daughter has a soccer game at 3:00pm, your husband has a meeting at 4:00pm and you need the car. Now each member of the family can access the calendar wherever they are to make sure nothing is overlapped and check what other members of the family are doing. If you are all going to be at the same place at the same time, you you can pick a color that represents the whole family. It’s easy to set up for repeat appointments by just choosing the right setting in the drop down menu: weekly, daily, or whatever. My family can email each other notes from the homepage to keep each other updated. Now my day can be planned with as much detail or as little as I would like and I can schedule around every member of the household.

Cozi also has lists. You can title the list whatever you want or use the default lists they offer. I can do my grocery list right there in Cozi and members of the family can add stuff like, “Mom! I need more shampoo!” and I won’t forget it. But what if I forget to take my grocery list to the store with me?  Cozi has that covered too!   They offer a phone number that I call and it will text my grocery list right to my cell phone! No more looking for that piece of paper that I left in the wrong coat or trying to read that half written word because the pen wasn’t working! AT&T is the only cell phone provider that will not accept texts from Cozi. The lists page also has a Recipe of the Day feature and a search for Betty Crocker recipes! Meal planning, here I come!

Cozi also has a journal.  I can journal the day’s events and even add pictures - great for those who don’t have time to blog or keep a scrapbook.  As home learners, we are so busy that I often forget things.  Now I’ve got it covered!  Imagine checking your schedule for tomorrow, writing down quickly what you did today, and adding a few items to your grocery list, all in one spot!

The Cozi system is private.  When you sign up for an account, you will be able to add your family members and they are the only ones who have access to the calendar and other tools.

The number of features above may make Cozi sound like a complicated tool, but I assure you, it is not.  It truly is extremely easy.  I’m sure you will love it as much as I do!

If you sign up for Cozi or have been using it for awhile, please leave a comment and let us know how you feel about it.  Share any new ideas on ways you think this site can be used!

Update from Cozi:  “Cozi has new features available for the New Year. You can now access from your desktop through your Google sidebar, making it easier to make changes to your calendar. Now Cozi is offering Coupons! They have printable coupons and are available right next to your grocery list for easy shopping. The third item Cozi is offering is the new beta Cozi mobile so you can access your information anytime, anywhere from your phone! These new items are still free and just Cozi’s way of saying thank you!”