Paper or computer? Lesson planning and tracking

[desertmum]

I supposed I wanted to be all modern and decided to try doing my lesson planning on the computer. After all you can "bump" lessons and all without having to re-write things, right? Well, I feel like a wimp because after entering all my lessons I realised there is nowhere to jot down if assignments were completed and tracking progress and grades (I use planbook for mac). :001_huh:

 

How many of you have gone the techie route and then switched back to old fashioned paper? Or maybe the other way around, ditched paper record keeping? Can you tell me what you did please and how it worked out for you?

:bigear:

[Veritaserum]

I use Edu-Track homeschool, which both schedules and keeps track of grades/progress. It's not perfect, but I like that I can print a grid schedule (days of the week with assignments in each column) or a daily or weekly list (list with check boxes). At the end of every week, I enter scores and mark everything that got done. If a child missed an assignment, I bump it to the next week. I can also generate report cards, transcripts, etc.

[Robin's Song]

I am very much a paper person but I LOVE LOVE LOVE homeschool skedtrack. You can bump assignments, track grades (we don't yet), mark assignments as they are completed (even work ahead), and print daily checklists. You schedule each subject separately so you can work ahead in some subjects and behind in others and it automatically generates a daily to-do list for you. It satisfies my need for organized flexibility.

[Firestar Academy]

I am very much a paper person but I LOVE LOVE LOVE homeschool skedtrack. You can bump assignments' date=' track grades (we don't yet), mark assignments as they are completed (even work ahead), and print daily checklists. You schedule each subject separately so you can work ahead in some subjects and behind in others and it automatically generates a daily to-do list for you. It satisfies my need for organized flexibility.[/quote']

 

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Cindyz]

I use homeschool tracker plus and really like it very much. I like the fact that I can see when we will finish a curriculum so I can be sure we are working at a satisfactory speed. I like that it's easy to reschedule everything if we decide to take a day off. I like the assignment print outs. I like that I can easily see how much time we've spent on each subject over a period of time.

 

The downfall is that it has a steep learning curve. You have to be ready and willing to invest a good bit of time into learning it, but the support they provide for that is good.

[nukeswife]

I love homeschool tracker, I don't know that it works for a mac though. I use it to plan, but this year I also plan to keep a journal on paper of what the kids do.

[MaMa2005]

I am very much a paper and pencil gal (I still use an old fashioned desk calendar). HOWEVER, HST+ has converted me to the computer for lesson plans, attendance, etc. Everything is in one place and with just a few clicks of the keyboard, professional reports, assignment sheets and such can be printed.

[MsAlimar]

I use paper and pencil with a little bit of Excel thrown in. I have a weekly planner in Excel that I will fill out a couple of weeks at a time and post it on the wall by my teacher's chair. I have a Blue Sky Academic Planner that I use to write daily notes, observations and what was actually accomplished.

 

I figure any changes to the schedule can be quickly done in Excel and without having a ton of erasures in a book but I like the journaling aspect of the paper planner. At the end of each school year I sit down and re-read the planner/journal and then write a summary of her school year. I don't have to do that but I thought it would be fun to look back on later and the summary format makes it easier to read later.

[Satori]

I use Homeschool Skedtrack and it's one of my best homeschooling tools, I just love it! It's free and simple and flexible. I have tried out the other homeschooling scheduler a few times, but for some reason don't get very far with it.

 

I could never plan things out on paper, I'm all digital!

[cam112198]

:bigear:

[meet me in paris]

How many of you have gone the techie route and then switched back to old fashioned paper? Or maybe the other way around, ditched paper record keeping? Can you tell me what you did please and how it worked out for you?

:bigear:

I tried HST+, EduTrack, SchedTrack, and just about everything known to man on the computer. I ditched it all and went back to paper planning. I am not a technophobe by any stretch... I love my Mac and can do lots with it ;). I just like having the paper in front of me... it makes me feel good.

 

I do make a weekly schedule sheet on the computer (Word) and fill in all the daily assignments. Each child gets a copy. We check off all our boxes each day and keep them in our binders. I also have a family_time.mine planner that I absolutely love for all our non-academic stuff/out of the house stuff. It is the BEST planner I've ever had. And cute. ;)

[workingmom]

I love my Mac and can do lots with it ;). I just like having the paper in front of me... it makes me feel good.

:iagree:

 

I print out blank monthly calendars and pencil in which chapters we're working on for the week under mon/tue. that's it, basically i have a do the next thing philosophy.

[desertmum]

Sorry I didn't get back to the discussion sooner. We are house hunting as we have reached the end of our lease. I've had to put back our official first day of school (I don't see me doing lessons while packing and cleaning both the old house and the new one!) so I am doing lots of "readiness" exercises to fill in the gap.

 

I going to have a look at some other planning programs. I also got some forms from donnayoung.org which I think will do fine for now. :blush:

 

I really, really like the idea of having everything on the computer but I don't have a lot of time to invest on learning a complicated program. :tongue_smilie:

[Mom22ns]

Computer! Absolutely. I use a mac and use a custom program my ds made me in FileMaker Pro. I love it. I can do everything I want to, print schedules, track grades and time spent, easily move assignments etc.

 

However, if my program didn't do exactly what I wanted it to, I think paper might be easier. The computer should make things easier. If it doesn't find a different program or do it the way that is easier for you.

[Gooblink]

I'm struggling with HST, but haven't found a paper solution that I like better. Ds1 likes to have the printed assignment sheet to work off, so I'm trying to learn to like it. :)

 

The biggest issue I have is with our unit study curriculum. I haven't found a great way to load HST with enough detail for us to work from the assignment sheet while still allowing easy rescheduling for the elements requiring additional time.

 

Still working on it - 6 weeks into our school year. :tongue_smilie:

[TXMary2]

I use Homeschool Tracker Plus -but I have a love/hate relationship with the lesson planner feature. I love paper planning, but I like having the softward figure out grades, especially for weighted grading in the upper years. HST was a lifesaver for me with my first graduate as far as grade tracking and a transcript goes.

[oldskool]

I have used HST and liked it, but I just plan better when using paper. I have also briefly created a wiki and that didn't stick either. The only reason I would like to have something computer based is because of my oldest getting to high school age. I think it may be easier down the road to keep track of the work she has completed and create transcripts if it is in a computer file. Otherwise, I just love to sit down with a paper calendar and a pencil.

 

Lesley

[rootsnwings]

I tried both homeschool skedtrack & homeschool tracker + and then reverted back to a regular paper planner. I found I was writing everything down. Then plugging it into the computer--double work for me! So I bought DS a nice assignment book from http://www.premier.us and use it to do my scheduling. We share it throughout the day--him to work on his assignments and me to mark off assignments as I grade them. I love physically flipping through the pages to see all we've accomplished! :D I also feel like it includes ds in day-to-day planning & he can see how it's done as he's becoming a bit more independent as the years roll on...

[DragonflyAcademy]

I looked and looked and looked for a program that would do what I wanted it to do on the computer.. I couldn't find anything.. part of it is that I have a Mac.. the other part is that I wanted something that would let me enter it all in and then print out two pages I could have next to eachother and see everything for the week we were doing for each child.. all laid out in a nice, visual way (big visual learner that I am)..

 

Nothing.. I was so disappointed.. I looked at Skedtrack and others too.. but while they all looked great.. they didn't do everything I wanted.. Guess I need to learn how to Code.. in my spare time :lol:

 

 

So, I ended up doing all 36 weeks out by hand.. in a teacher planner I got at the teacher store.. Elan Weekly 208 is what I'm using.

 

It was tedious.. but I like how I have it laid out..and that It's portable..

 

I do wish I could find a computer program that would fit my bill..

[desertmum]

I think the problem with homeschool skedtrack is that is an online utility. But what if I am not online? What if I want to work on the planner where there is no wi-fi? It doesn't say anything on the website...:confused:

 

FileMakerPro??? Never heard of it (proceeds to google it).

 

Again, I am back to the drawing board with this. But I am going to consider all suggestions until I come up with something I can take to the Committee (my husband).

 

:bigear:

[Mom22ns]

I think the problem with homeschool skedtrack is that is an online utility. But what if I am not online? What if I want to work on the planner where there is no wi-fi? It doesn't say anything on the website...:confused:

 

FileMakerPro??? Never heard of it (proceeds to google it).

 

Again, I am back to the drawing board with this. But I am going to consider all suggestions until I come up with something I can take to the Committee (my husband).

 

:bigear:

 

Filemaker Pro is a database program. DS is a database guy by profession, so we have it. When he first created my database he used Bento though. Its much cheaper and can probably do everything needed. DS just works faster in FM.

[~Jo]

That was my problem with Skedtrack - it's online, sometimes I can't get online and therefore it is not a help. During our first week of school our DSL went out. Thankfully my dh has connections (he works for the company, LOL) and had us back up and running in a few hours...but I didn't print everything out because you can only print a daily sheet. I need a weekly sheet because of how we school.

 

I'm looking at HST+ because I think you can print out a weekly assignment sheet and I am interested in being able to keep grades, etc. since my ds is in high school this year and I want a good record of his grades and transcript, etc. I don't have to keep a record of hours for my state, so that is not really a problem for me.

 

Right now I am back with a weekly planner from Donna Young. It is working right now and I love each of my dc having a copy of their weekly work right in front of them. I am hand-writing it in right now...so if they lose it....well then I'm in trouble - or rather I have to re-write it for them. So that is not going to be happening long. I just don't have enough time right now to try and learn HST+ - hoping that I can in about a month.

[2cents]

I do both. I post a hard copy on the corkboard and the girls like marking the assignments as done and they can easily see what needs to be done. I also file that hard copy in a permanent notebook at the end of the week for recordkeeping. I make the schedule in the computer because it is easier for me to add and subtract coursework as we finish or start something new. It is also more readable for me since my handwriting is not nearly as nice as the computer fonts. I like that I can make tables and highlight with color fills and font colors and sizes too. I also keep the schedule in a window in the background as I go through the day so I can keep referring to it. As we finish something I 'fill' the table cell with a light gray to mark it done. At the end of the day I just close the window without saving so the gray isn't a permanent part of the schedule.

 

added: I do my schedule in mac pages.

[desertmum]

I do both. I post a hard copy on the corkboard and the girls like marking the assignments as done and they can easily see what needs to be done. I also file that hard copy in a permanent notebook at the end of the week for recordkeeping. I make the schedule in the computer because it is easier for me to add and subtract coursework as we finish or start something new. It is also more readable for me since my handwriting is not nearly as nice as the computer fonts. I like that I can make tables and highlight with color fills and font colors and sizes too. I also keep the schedule in a window in the background as I go through the day so I can keep referring to it. As we finish something I 'fill' the table cell with a light gray to mark it done. At the end of the day I just close the window without saving so the gray isn't a permanent part of the schedule.

 

added: I do my schedule in mac pages.

 

 

I never thought of using pages. I used a pc at work. Now that I stay at home I have to work with dh's mac and I am a bit lost. I guess I got used to finding loads of free stuff for pc and very little for mac :glare:

 

I think I may do a hybrid and do the planning on planbook or apple works spreadsheet and the recording on paper until the old brain cells come up with something better. :D

[dansamy]

Maybe try the V planner from donnayoung?

[desertmum]

Maybe try the V planner from donnayoung?

 

 

I am going to have a good look at it. Thanks! :001_smile:

[Kate in Arabia]

I'm just getting my planning done now; for the first time I'm going with an Excel spreadsheet, I always used teacher planner notebooks in the past. I'm liking it so far, although I have only used it in the planning stage and not in the notation/grading stage.

 

Actually, I don't record grades, but in prior years I have made adjustments to reflect what we actually accomplished -- just by erasing and make the notation. Could you not tweak your spreadsheet (or whatever you're using) to add an extra column/row for grades or notes?

[desertmum]

Hi there. I don't have excel, as it is not mac compatible and I am not about to fork out on ms office. However I do have Appleworks which has a spreadsheet. It is not like ms excel but... Yes I can teak, but I was hoping to find something ready made as there are only so many hours in the day (blushes). However, I am coming to see this may be the only way I can have a planner like I want. DH offered to help using applework's database so I see the light at the end of the tunnel. :lol:

[bbrandonsmom]

So there are no Mac compatible h/s programs for planning or keeping records?

 

Right now I'm using a calendar/planner, but was going to look for a pc program, so I would have everything I needed of what we did/read etc for records. I'm going to check some of these links out :)

[desertmum]

So there are no Mac compatible h/s programs for planning or keeping records?

 

Right now I'm using a calendar/planner, but was going to look for a pc program, so I would have everything I needed of what we did/read etc for records. I'm going to check some of these links out :)

 

 

There is planbook but it doesn't do grades and journal entries are a mystery to me. I enter them but then can only see them if doing a report. Also I haven't found a way to introduce terms other than making days "non-school days". To make matters worse I didn't start school on the day I was supposed to and there was no way of changing the start day on planbook. It looks pretty on the screen though...