How did I just find out about this? Great planning software - One Note

[smudge]

Ok I am getting the hang of this! I have an old 1st Gen ipad that has basically been sitting around dead. I am charging it up and found out I can go through OneNote Online and see all my stuff that way. So the kids can mark off their stuff on the old iPad and I took all the fun games OFF and just put EDUCATIONAL apps on there! HEEHEE!

I school in 6 week chunks. Then we take a week off. So I have planned out the first 6 weeks in OneNote (with my Homeschool Helper app as backup) Along the top of the screen are the "terms". Then down the right hand side on my pages are weeks 1-6. 

The first week has the daily assignment checkboxes. So each girl has her folder that they can access on the old ipad to check off what they have done. Pretty nifty!

[mama25angels]

Ok I am getting the hang of this! I have an old 1st Gen ipad that has basically been sitting around dead. I am charging it up and found out I can go through OneNote Online and see all my stuff that way. So the kids can mark off their stuff on the old iPad and I took all the fun games OFF and just put EDUCATIONAL apps on there! HEEHEE!

I school in 6 week chunks. Then we take a week off. So I have planned out the first 6 weeks in OneNote (with my Homeschool Helper app as backup) Along the top of the screen are the "terms". Then down the right hand side on my pages are weeks 1-6.

The first week has the daily assignment checkboxes. So each girl has her folder that they can access on the old ipad to check off what they have done. Pretty nifty!

 

This is exactly what I'm "planning" to do, right down to using homeschool helper app!!

[mama25angels]

How do you create a table in onenote or can you create one? Thanks

[mama25angels]

How do you create a table in onenote or can you create one? Thanks

 

I figured it out!!

[Mango]

I know! I love it!

 

In OneNote, I'm able to sync ds's laptop with my computer. When he marks something off it shows up on mine and vice-versa. I like it because I make tables and check boxes. I wish it had all the features Word has, but it's good enough for me.

 

To see some of my checklists, I have them saved here and I made a timeline.

I also use it as a rolodex for phones, addresses, user ids and passwords. I have a password set for my password tab. I keep all of my curriculum plans with links and price. I rely on OneNote for just about everything. Right now I'm working on high school plans and making tables for each subject.

 

I also keep a media list folder by subject so I can easily reference what I have used and file things I come across for the future.

Does Onenote works for mac users? 

[smudge]

Yes there is a Mac option. But I can't remember if you get to it through the app store but it is available.

[Erin]

OneNote is only available on Mavericks, IIRC.  

My laptop, for example, can't update to Mavericks so no OneNote for this computer.  But my new Mac Mini, OTOH, is going to be updated shortly for the specific reason of getting OneNote.  ;)

[smudge]

Did you try oneNote online? That was how I got it on my old 1st gen iPad so the kids can check off their stuff. Try Microsoft office online....

[mama25angels]

Sigh!! Was trying to learn to use notability and accidentally deleted the PDF that I bought to work with, lol. Anyway, how do I delete an Untitled note in notability?

[happypamama]

Sigh!! Was trying to learn to use notability and accidentally deleted the PDF that I bought to work with, lol. Anyway, how do I delete an Untitled note in notability?

Hit the "edit" button and then click the note you want to delete and then the "trash" button.  I think that's right.

[JubilantNest]

I downloaded OneNote for Mac for free from the app store.  It is different from the version I can access online (which I couldn't get to work for me at all).  I really like what I have done with it so far, but I don't think it has the full funcionality of the PC version. I watched a few tutorial videos and they showed dragging pages over to make subpages and taking screen clippings, but I can't do either of those things.  I went ahead and moved all of this year's info over from homeschoolminder.com, but the reason I chose OneNote over GrowlyNote is because I wanted unlimited subsections/subpages.  Unfortunately, I don't seem to have that capability.

[jonnia]

I jumped in with both feet. :willy_nilly: The learning curve wasn't as bad as I expected. 

 

Just completed first 9 weeks of lesson plans, an overall weekly schedule, and notes/planning helps for the rest of the school year. We take rabbit trails and change things around often, so I have a general overarching goal for the whole year but only break it down a quarter at a time, building in extra days for catch-up or projects. There are still a number of things I want to include in our planning notebook, but I have enough in place to get going. Terrific bonus that I can pull this up on my phone at any time.

 

Love this program! :001_tt1:

[Space station]

I have been studiously ignoring this thread, because I already have made so many schedules for my kids classes this year, and I didn't want to start over with something new. Well, I finally opened the program on my computer this afternoon, and I am totally sold! I was able to put all of my existing schedules for each subject into it, create pages with links that I want the kids to use, etc. It doesn't create any new work for me or have a big learning curve, but it puts everything that I want my kids to have for each subject in one file that they can mark on as they finish assignments. I won't ever have to print out their schedules again! They can access the files from our computer, laptop, or tablet. So rarely does technology really impress me and actually make things easier!

[Alte Veste Academy]

So, because I am a nut-job, and because I did so much one-on-one instruction in organization, planning, time management, etc. with DS11 last year with plans to continue this year... Well, stupid question alert... :tongue_smilie:

 

Does anyone have a problem with just how easy (kind of laid out on a silver platter) this makes school for their kids? I have done checklists before, and I have been working on building independence in DS, and I LOVE the ease and simplicity of streamlining things by putting all these checklists, assignments, links, etc. in one place for easy access. That said, does anyone think it makes things too easy for the kid? And/or has anyone taught their kids to use and manage their work by building their own notebooks or managing their own process? I think this is a totally groovy program, but part of me wonders...if I lay everything out like this for years, then send them into an unprepared environment, will they have the tools to schedule their own way to success with just a syllabus, a mass of reading, and dates for tests and assignments?

 

And no, I am not concerned about this imminently, LOL, but I worry that I could get so comfortable planning this way and my kids could get too comfortable with following my very exact and handholding plans that it would be a struggle to adjust to real-life, non-handholding situations.

 

Any thoughts?

[happypamama]

So, because I am a nut-job, and because I did so much one-on-one instruction in organization, planning, time management, etc. with DS11 last year with plans to continue this year... Well, stupid question alert... :tongue_smilie:

 

Does anyone have a problem with just how easy (kind of laid out on a silver platter) this makes school for their kids? I have done checklists before, and I have been working on building independence in DS, and I LOVE the ease and simplicity of streamlining things by putting all these checklists, assignments, links, etc. in one place for easy access. That said, does anyone think it makes things too easy for the kid? And/or has anyone taught their kids to use and manage their work by building their own notebooks or managing their own process? I think this is a totally groovy program, but part of me wonders...if I lay everything out like this for years, then send them into an unprepared environment, will they have the tools to schedule their own way to success with just a syllabus, a mass of reading, and dates for tests and assignments?

 

And no, I am not concerned about this imminently, LOL, but I worry that I could get so comfortable planning this way and my kids could get too comfortable with following my very exact and handholding plans that it would be a struggle to adjust to real-life, non-handholding situations.

 

Any thoughts?

I haven't yet, because I'm too new at it myself, and also, my kids don't have their own machines and can't look up their own work yet, but yes, I can see teaching them to use it. Like, my DD usually does her history and writing assignments in OpenOffice, but I'd like to have them all in OneNote, so I am planning to show her how to use it. I think setting up a page and keeping the notebook organized and all will help them the same as giving them tabs for a physical binder. We are giving them the tools and breaking things down into small chunks so that they can organize themselves. I can see them taking on the planning role as they get older, at least in part -- a gradual change from all Mom to all on their own. I'm looking at it the same way we might use cubbies for toys or lists for chores -- we are modeling a system that they can then use themselves.

[jonnia]

So, because I am a nut-job, and because I did so much one-on-one instruction in organization, planning, time management, etc. with DS11 last year with plans to continue this year... Well, stupid question alert... :tongue_smilie:

 

Does anyone have a problem with just how easy (kind of laid out on a silver platter) this makes school for their kids? I have done checklists before, and I have been working on building independence in DS, and I LOVE the ease and simplicity of streamlining things by putting all these checklists, assignments, links, etc. in one place for easy access. That said, does anyone think it makes things too easy for the kid? And/or has anyone taught their kids to use and manage their work by building their own notebooks or managing their own process? I think this is a totally groovy program, but part of me wonders...if I lay everything out like this for years, then send them into an unprepared environment, will they have the tools to schedule their own way to success with just a syllabus, a mass of reading, and dates for tests and assignments?

 

And no, I am not concerned about this imminently, LOL, but I worry that I could get so comfortable planning this way and my kids could get too comfortable with following my very exact and handholding plans that it would be a struggle to adjust to real-life, non-handholding situations.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I thought about this also and went around and around with it. Do I break out assignments by day, by week, or just monthly and let my son schedule it in his calendar/agenda? We are only at middle school level now, and his organizational skills at the moment are practically non-existent. As much as I know we need to build these, this would be too much and too important a thing for him to handle at this point. We need smaller steps.

 

Right now, he'll be seeing a week at a time with a breakout of what should fit in allotted hours per day. I will allow him some leeway with switching things around as long as last week's work is done before Monday morning of the new week. (Not so much leeway with lessons I need to directly teach. I am not willing to cover a week's worth of math on Friday evening!)

 

I think over next few years, I'll let him be increasingly involved in the process of planning his work, even sitting in on it with me for the next quarters of this year. At least that's the plan I'm running with. Of course, I am always searching for ideas and ways that other families handle things like this.

 

 

[Holly IN]

Somebody mentioned they use Outline + with one note.  Can you tell me what Outline+ does for you in One note?

[happypamama]

Somebody mentioned they use Outline + with one note. Can you tell me what Outline+ does for you in One note?

 

It opens OneNote files and lets me write directly on them on my iPad via a stylus or finger, and then afaik, it all syncs automatically. I haven't used it much yet, though, and that's the only reason I got Outline+.

[Queserasera]

Where is outline+? Not finding it on the App Store.

[happypamama]

Where is outline+? Not finding it on the App Store.

Hmm. I wonder why. It comes up easily on the iPad App Store.

[happypamama]

I've been setting up a home management binder with OneNote this weekend.  I downloaded free background pages from the internet, in .jpg form, and I've been using the "Print To OneNote" feature (by loading the pics into Picasa) to get them to OneNote.  From there, I can crop the printouts and resize them into smaller blocks or whatever, and then I can write on them with tables or lists or whatever.  My grocery list is pretty now!  I was able to set it up as a template too.

 

I want to set up an address book on OneNote too.  My problem with address books is the permanence of them, so I am going to do a tab for Addresses, with one page per last name (with the last name being the title), and then it'll be easy to add and subtract and edit pages as needed.  I'm going to use the Paint program to add white blocks to the pretty background pages, but smaller than the pages, so the backgrounds will be borders, but the white blocks will make addresses easier to read.

[Holly IN]

I've been setting up a home management binder with OneNote this weekend.  I downloaded free background pages from the internet, in .jpg form, and I've been using the "Print To OneNote" feature (by loading the pics into Picasa) to get them to OneNote.  From there, I can crop the printouts and resize them into smaller blocks or whatever, and then I can write on them with tables or lists or whatever.  My grocery list is pretty now!  I was able to set it up as a template too.

 

I want to set up an address book on OneNote too.  My problem with address books is the permanence of them, so I am going to do a tab for Addresses, with one page per last name (with the last name being the title), and then it'll be easy to add and subtract and edit pages as needed.  I'm going to use the Paint program to add white blocks to the pretty background pages, but smaller than the pages, so the backgrounds will be borders, but the white blocks will make addresses easier to read.

Can you do background pages in the existing page or section??

[Wildiris]

My first year, I tried a to do this. I made a template and filled it in separately for each day. I had many problems with this which is why I ended up with a rotating generic subject schedule. I couldn't plan too far in advance so if I needed to bump a day, I could copy and paste the plan into the next day. OneNote is not really a scheduler like Homeschool Helper where you can bump things. 

 

Hey Plum~

This is a great idea. I was looking for a way to solve the daily work problem. Now that I've mapped out "The Big Picture" for each subject,  a weekly rotating generic subject schedule is a good way to keep everything moving forward while at the same time allow for changes. Did you post a screenshot to a generic schedule??

[happypamama]

Can you do background pages in the existing page or section??

I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are some decorative templates and such, and you can change the color of the page, but I was looking for something a little different. It's just a matter of printing to OneNote, then cropping the printout and putting the boxes on top of the printout. I can try taking a screenshot if you want.

[Holly IN]

How do you find the template and background?  What I meant was if I have a page already typed up and ready to go but want a background on the page.  I can do that without messing my page up??

[happypamama]

How do you find the template and background?  What I meant was if I have a page already typed up and ready to go but want a background on the page.  I can do that without messing my page up??

Hmm, it looks like it you click on a new template (under Insert/Page Templates), that opens a new page; it won't add a template to an existing page.

 

You can change the color of an existing page, though, under View/Page Color; that will change the color of the page, except for any printouts you've put on it.  That looks pretty, and it's not the stark white for everything.

 

Putting the backgrounds in like I did was kind of a pain, tbh, and I'm not sure it was really worth the effort, except that I like the way it looks now.  It involved moving around a lot of boxes and sending some boxes to the back and others to the front, and it was a lot of work.

[Holly IN]

Lol I know what you mean Plumcrazy!!  I had my share of getting frustrated with Microsoft.  

[Mynyel]

OK, either I am not doing it right or OneNote seems like a whole lot more work that pen and paper.

 

I have to type every. single. thing. into the program? Then add check boxes or whatnot, then make it pretty (if I so choose?).

 

Where is the advantage?

 

I would love to be able to have it all in one spot like everyone is talking about but I just can't seem to wrap my head around how it is easier!

[happypamama]

OK, either I am not doing it right or OneNote seems like a whole lot more work that pen and paper.

 

I have to type every. single. thing. into the program? Then add check boxes or whatnot, then make it pretty (if I so choose?).

 

Where is the advantage?

 

I would love to be able to have it all in one spot like everyone is talking about but I just can't seem to wrap my head around how it is easier!

I think it depends on the person. To add boxes, I just highlight and tell the thing to put the boxes. Yes, I have to type everything in, but then next week's template is all ready, and the next, and the next. And if we change stuff, I can do that easily with no crossing out or erasing. I have tried paper and one, and it really just never works for me -- it's just not as tidy for me. I far prefer to type rather than write. Also, if I have links, they go right in with it all and are ready to go. Even with paper planning, I always had Word docs with book lists and whatnot; now it's all in one spot. But it might not be easier for everyone, and so it might not be right for you.

[skeeterbug]

OK, either I am not doing it right or OneNote seems like a whole lot more work that pen and paper.

 

I have to type every. single. thing. into the program? Then add check boxes or whatnot, then make it pretty (if I so choose?).

 

Where is the advantage?

 

I would love to be able to have it all in one spot like everyone is talking about but I just can't seem to wrap my head around how it is easier!

 

It depends on how you are using OneNote.  I love having it all in one place: notes, files, links, videos, pictures, etc.  It does *so much more* than pen and paper!!! But if you are using it only in the same way that you use pen and paper then, yeah, not a great advantage I guess.

[ELaurie]

I just discovered that there is also a OneNote ap for Kindle Fire. It's new as of July :001_smile:

[JanetC]

OK, either I am not doing it right or OneNote seems like a whole lot more work that pen and paper.

 

I have to type every. single. thing. into the program? Then add check boxes or whatnot, then make it pretty (if I so choose?).

 

Where is the advantage?

 

I would love to be able to have it all in one spot like everyone is talking about but I just can't seem to wrap my head around how it is easier!

 

There are things that I do on paper -- paper-based curriculum is really easy to plan on paper.

 

But, when my lesson plans include watching a youtube video, or visiting a web page, then having a "clickable" lesson plan is nice.  I grabbed map images and wikipedia entries off the web to paste into some world history lesson plans as well.  Basically, the more I'm "rolling my own" curriculum or supplement, the more I use the web, and that's what OneNote or Evernote planning excels at.

 

I also link PDF's into an electronic planner, so that I don't have to print them out until closer to using them.

 

I DON'T make mine pretty.  It's not a publishing platform, and I don't have time.

I use control-1 to put in or toggle checkboxes quickly.  My favorite OneNote hotkey!

 

I also have high schoolers - so the ability to just share lesson plans and to do lists automatically "in the cloud" is nice.  I wouldn't be doing that with younger ages.

[venusmom]

Thanks for this info - I have One Note - and hadn't even figured out what it does!  I'm going to check it out!!

[Holly IN]

Ok guys.  Need a bit of help here.  Just realized when I put internet links into Onenote for my son's history it will not open.  This must mean I did the link wrong!!!  I used the hyperlink button and pasted the webpage then put the title of the webpage article in it. This shows up on the onenote page in blue and underlined with the title.  When we click on it it won't open.  When I hover the mouse over it there are no web address at all.  Help!

[Halcyon]

bumping 

[happypamama]

I forgot to mention on of the best thing! When I finish the "weekly page", I will go back into it and add notes at the bottom on anything additional the kids did that past week. I have linked or entered pictures of them working and/or of a special project they did, scanned copies of play bills we saw or they were in, attached Word documents of special papers, etc. Everything is attached to that particular week. It makes the page tidy and complete. I can feel confident that I will be able to find that item again and I can toss the paper copy. I makes filing easy-peasy.

 

Can you tell how much I love my OneNote?!

How have I read this thread a bunch of times already and not had this post register? I just finished doing our portfolios, and what takes the longest is sorting through all the pictures. This is a brilliant idea, to link pictures with the appropriate week in my OneNote lists! Thank you (although I know this post is a couple of years old)!

[vtamanda]

I am giving OneNote a shot this year. Is there a good calendar template that anyone has? I noticed Onetastic has one, anyone have experience with that add on?

[Halcyon]

I THINK I am just going to use my Google Drive word thing for the time being. Type in the weeks work, let DS access it, and check off as he goes. I think I would get too involved with making One Note look pretty and then end up not using it (ask how I know this).....

 

Google Drive allows for links etc as well, so I think it will be easier for me.

[paceofnature]

I came across this tutorial today and thought it may be helpful for some folks: http://www.resilienthomeschool.com/onenote-for-homeschool/

[Lupine]

My boys like using OneNote but I'm still working on using it efficiently. Does anyone know if Onetastic is available for Mac? I'd like to give it a try.

 

Thanks for the link to the tutorial, Paceofnature.