I'm a new iMac owner and would love apps advice re: planning and other app suggestion

[yellowperch]

First I'll admit to being both a little giddy and a little queasy. After years of hobbling along on DH's discard computers and of late my mother's iPad, I am now the proud owner of a smoking new iMac. Yes, it's gorgeous. Yes, it's speedy. Yes, my kids take very funny pix of themselves looking like bugs. But I feel like an old lady taking a jaguar out for a spin--and I'm afraid to drive faster than 20 mph.

 

One of the (many) things I hoped to do with this new rig is buy homeschool tracker plus to get myself organized. From what I now understand it is not actually made for macs. It doesn't really matter that much as long as I find a highly functional something to do my planning and tracking with, and as long as that something is luddite-proof.

 

What are your favorite apps that might serve this purpose? I'm happy to learn about other apps that would be useful for me and my kids this year. And general help about navigating apple land would be welcome.

[cloversandlions]

Congratulations! I drive a MacBook Pro - love my Mac, and will never go back. :)

 

I won't put a Windows-only software program on my computer, so HST isn't going to be available for me, but I'm about to get started with the free, online Homeschool SkedTrack. I'm looking forward to hearing more about a new planning program in the works for Mac users. There's been a thread here on WTM about it - you can see it here.

 

I don't use many apps for my Mac; for software, I have Microsoft Office for Mac on here, plus Photoshop and Pandora. I use Firefox instead of Mac's Safari browser.

 

Are there specific questions you have about using the Mac? :)

[9763653]

I am a mac user also. I tried Homeschool SkedTrack but didn't like it, and ended up making my own planner using Google Documents. It's great, seems more user-friendly than an Excel sheet, and the big bonus is that Google docs are accessible anywhere you have internet.

 

My planner is weekly, and lists subjects and days. After the week is complete, I download the doc as a PDF and print it, then put it in my binder together with the tangible work that my DD did that week. Then, I delete the info on the Google doc and start the new week.

[9763653]

 

I don't use many apps for my Mac; for software, I have Microsoft Office for Mac on here, plus Photoshop and Pandora. I use Firefox instead of Mac's Safari browser.

 

Are there specific questions you have about using the Mac? :)

 

Oh, and this reminds me - if you don't like Safari, but have issues with FireFox crashing (as I have over the lasts months), I found Chrome to be a good alternative.

[Hedgehogs4]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! you will LOVE your iMac. I have the biggest, fastest one that they make and no regrets. You can't kill it. Go ahead and shift into a higher gear--it will keep up with you and probably help you along.

 

As far as a planning app, though, I can't help you. I did fine one for ps teachers in the app store which looks fantastic and got good reviews, but it was more than I wanted to spend and thought it might be more than I need. I'll be waiting to see what else pops up for macs in the near future.

[Hedgehogs4]

The app I found was called "Planbook" - I am still tempted to try it, but it's a lot to spend if it isn't a fit.

[BeautifulLife]

The app I found was called "Planbook" - I am still tempted to try it, but it's a lot to spend if it isn't a fit.

 

 

Oh, wow! I just looked that up after reading your post, and it looks AMAZING!! But like you said, $35 is a lot if it doesn't turn out to be so great. I'm also wondering how much I would use it since we are using MFW this year - so a good amount of their work would already be laid out. Hmmmm.....

[DragonflyAcademy]

I got the book Missing Manual for my Mac when i got it 2 years ago.. we were hard core PC people here.. Now DH and I won't ever go back to a PC!!

 

For Yearly planning I have a Word document with each week in a table..

For daily planning, I have a generic table in word for each kid that has their weekly work on it..

[cloversandlions]

The app I found was called "Planbook" - I am still tempted to try it, but it's a lot to spend if it isn't a fit.

 

This looks promising! They also have an iPad app (with less favorable reviews), but it costs another $10. I could maybe justify the cost for the one for my computer, but I wish there was more feedback from homeschoolers.

 

Hmmm.

 

Hmmm.

 

ETA: You can download a free trial from PlanBook's site (not through the App Store). I've also emailed the developer and will be happy to share his response when I know more.

Edited August 13, 2011 by WorkInProgress

[Aloha2U]

I'd downloaded the trial version of Hellmansoft's Planbook 1.6.1 something or other (via Apple) in the past and it just didn't work for me. That being said and after watching this helpful overview video, I'm going to give this updated trial version of Planbook 2.6.2 a try. I believe these other video tutorials will come in handy as well.

 

Just in case anyone is interested and doesn't want to dig around, here's a bit of helpful info from their FAQs about purchasing, licensing and using Planbook.

 

What about the free trial? How does that work?

 

There is a fully functional trial available for Mac and Windows. The only limitation of the trial is that you can only enter 15 lessons before being required to purchase the software.

 

How do I purchase Planbook?

 

Purchasing Planbook is simple. When purchasing Planbook, you are actually buying a license to use the program. This license will come with a serial number and this serial number is used to convert the trial version of the program into the full version. There is no separate download for the full version. The easiest way to purchase is to:

 

- Download the free trial version of the program.

- Create or open a new file.

- Use the File-->Purchase menu item. Once you complete the purchase process, your copy of Planbook will automatically be updated to the full version.

 

Here's a bit of helpful info from the Hellmansoft Blog about Planbook on the Mac App Store.

 

Why should I purchase on the Mac App Store rather than Direct from you?

 

The Mac App Store provides an easy way for you to get Planbook on up to 5 computers using only your iTunes ID. It’s an easier process than keeping track of (and entering) serial numbers.

 

The App Store will help make sure you’ve got the latest update of the software (though the Direct version does this too, using Sparkle).

 

It lets you write nice reviews in the App Store, which helps other users find the app. I’m kidding about this one. Sort of.

 

Why should I purchase Direct rather than from the Mac App Store?

 

Purchasing direct means you can install on any Mac using 10.4 or later. The Mac App Store version is restricted to OS 10.6.6 and newer.

 

HTH!

[PeterPan]

I am a mac user also. I tried Homeschool SkedTrack but didn't like it, and ended up making my own planner using Google Documents. It's great, seems more user-friendly than an Excel sheet, and the big bonus is that Google docs are accessible anywhere you have internet.

 

My planner is weekly, and lists subjects and days. After the week is complete, I download the doc as a PDF and print it, then put it in my binder together with the tangible work that my DD did that week. Then, I delete the info on the Google doc and start the new week.

 

You can make a pdf yourself. Just select to export as a pdf.

[cloversandlions]

CMama,

 

Have you had a chance to tinker with it? I think I quite like it, but I don't see a place to keep track of materials (textbooks, etc.). I guess it's not as critical for teachers? Have you found a place for that kind of data?

[PeterPan]

This looks promising! They also have an iPad app (with less favorable reviews), but it costs another $10. I could maybe justify the cost for the one for my computer, but I wish there was more feedback from homeschoolers.

 

Hmmm.

 

Hmmm.

 

ETA: You can download a free trial from PlanBook's site (not through the App Store). I've also emailed the developer and will be happy to share his response when I know more.

 

Well I'm watching the overview video for the PlanBook software, and while it looks very good (and has a reasonable price), I think it needs a couple added features to fit homeschoolers. Most certainly it needs a multi-child function so you can track what you're doing with different kids, print schedules for just one child, print schedules that select certain fields from certain children and compile them into one, etc. So the bones are there are quite good. It just needs to go a little farther to be perfect. Or maybe there's a way to make it work for multi-child that I'm missing? I just know approaching what I'm doing with my almost 3 yo and my 12 yo that that's what I'm looking for. I'm sure people with more/older kids will be even more particular.

[cloversandlions]

Well I'm watching the overview video for the PlanBook software, and while it looks very good (and has a reasonable price), I think it needs a couple added features to fit homeschoolers. Most certainly it needs a multi-child function so you can track what you're doing with different kids, print schedules for just one child, print schedules that select certain fields from certain children and compile them into one, etc. So the bones are there are quite good. It just needs to go a little farther to be perfect. Or maybe there's a way to make it work for multi-child that I'm missing? I just know approaching what I'm doing with my almost 3 yo and my 12 yo that that's what I'm looking for. I'm sure people with more/older kids will be even more particular.

 

I think the best way to do that would be to have completely separate files for each child [File|New]. You can have each child's individual files open at the same time (choose which one to work on by selecting the file name under the Window menu), so it should be easy-ish to work with each file individually. This seems similar to skedtrack, so I don't think this would be a problem.

 

I like the option to use PlanbookConnect, especially with an older child. You can put lessons and assignments online to access anywhere, but for a homeschooling family, this might be most useful if there are multiple computers in the home. He has some examples of online assignments and handouts here, which appear empty until you click on assignments or handouts under the specific courses from the list on the left.

 

I still think I'd want to have a way to track my materials, which could be as simple as text and other books, but ideally, could be as robust as including games you have at home. The ability to tag or otherwise identify them by subject, topic, and age/grade would be helpful, too.

Edited August 13, 2011 by WorkInProgress

[PeterPan]

Seems like your materials could go in one of those custom fields.

 

I must have missed the new file part. (I only watched it once.) If you do that, can you see *all* the schedules or pull selected types of fields to appear on *one* table? For instance, I want to have independent tasks and tasks she does with me, all for the same subject. But within the things she does with me you have an additional field that is the materials *I* need to prep to work with her. So I'd like to be able to select all the fields for what she does with me and put them into a table along with all the things ds does with me. Then their independent things would turn into totally different print-outs.

 

And I can't be nuts or the only one doing that, cuz I got the idea on Tina's super-duper informative blog. :)

[cloversandlions]

Seems like your materials could go in one of those custom fields.

 

The problem with that is that the custom field is only specific to that one day. I'd want to have a database or list from which to choose. Maybe that's too much to ask? It would also be fantastic if I could include all the little educational games that I have on hand but that I rarely seem to remember to use. Inputting those would be a bit laborious, but it could still be time well spent if it helps the planner to use those resources instead of collecting dust. I'd think a teacher would benefit from this, too - perhaps they would want to keep track of centers they have in their classroom, and the materials they put in them. Surely they rotate through those pretty frequently?

 

Anyway.

 

Working with more than one open file would be the same as having more than one document open in a word processing program, for example.

 

If I'm understanding what you are saying in your middle paragraph, I *think* this is how it would work:

 

For Math, for example, for one day's lesson plan, you could have in your teacher information, you'd put all of your planning for that day. Perhaps it would be to go over counting by 3's, for example. So your notes might use that as the lesson title, and you'd make note of what you need to have on hand, plus the specific activities (worksheet? game? video from curriculum or other source?) you would do together and for your child to do independently. Under the Homework section (which you can rename, it seems), you could list the name of the book and worksheet page, or perhaps you create your own and then you could attach the file. What I would want to be able do is to have a drop-down menu or some other way to auto-insert (so I don't type it every day) what material(s) I'm using. This is probably more useful for folks who design their own curricula, but I know there are also curricula that have more than one resource (textbook, workbook, activity book, video, etc.).

 

And lastly, Tina's super-duper informative blog? Care to share a link? :D

[deerforest]

Hi all,

 

Sorry to jump in without a formal introduction..I've been lurking for a while, and finally decided to join in.

 

I started using Planbook about a month ago. I tried and tested every Mac, iPad, and online schedule I could fine.

 

Planbook is not perfect, but I really like the synchronization with my iPad and MacBook using Dropbox. I'd say that was a top priority for me as we use both in our schooling.

 

I agree that it looks difficult to use for multiple kids. It's definitely created from the teacher's perspective. I don't think it's entirely intuitive, and it has a lot of weird little quirks (like schedules aren't shown in the same relative positions or durations, and the iPad version has some more quirkiness than the Mac one.

 

But, I really like some other features, and it was pretty easy to set up once I got the hang of it. I can export to the Calendar which helps with some of the time display weirdness.

 

I'm just homeschooling my only child-- 2nd grade girl so I don't have any experience with schedules for multiple kids. But, I agree with the previous poster who suggested having separate files for them.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to help.

[Spryte]

Welcome to the world of Mac! I love my Macbook Pro! ...We are such Mac Geeks... We even have apple stickers instead of those little family stickers on our car... 2 big apples, 2 little apples. :)

 

I'm going to check out Planbook, too, although I'm happy with my recent planning find. I've just started using Scholaric - which is online, and has worked out well for 3 weeks. It's not free, but at $1 per month, it's close. I really like it, so it will be a tough one to beat.

 

Enjoy your Mac, and congrats!

[PeterPan]

http://www.lifeofthegilbertgang.blogspot.com/

[PeterPan]

Hi Deerforest, I'm glad to see you jumping in! There's nothing like going from lurking to participating. :) Thanks for the note of confidence on the Planbook software! I'll have to think on that a bit. I just wanted to thank you for jumping in and sharing! :)

[cloversandlions]

Hi Deerforest - Yes, welcome! (I've not been here very long myself, so I feel a little silly, but it's all good, right? LOL). I'm glad you commented - I've been playing with this off and on all afternoon, and I really like it. I'm especially encouraged by the positive comments about the developer (the reviews on the App Store, I mean), and I'm probably going to go ahead and purchase it. It would be grand if the developer could integrate some features that are more homeschool-friendly, but for now, I understand that I'm not technically the target audience for this product. I did enter some dummy information just to see what a report would look like. There are certainly a lot more fields than a homeschooler is likely to need, but it also makes me realize that this would work well for planning, as well as for those who want to make notes/use the planner as more of a journal after the fact. At least, that's how I see it now.

 

The report feature is reasonably customizable, but it would be great if you could save settings for at least a few reports you'd print regularly. For example, I'd want to print a weekly report for my notes, and probably daily reports for my son. I wouldn't want to include the planning notes for his report, and it would be convenient if I could have a saved setting so that I didn't need to select it each time. It's not a HUGE problem, of course, but with three children, it would be nice to have those few saved report settings ready to go.

 

Anyway, thanks for your input. I will probably end up buying PlanBook, as it seems closest to what I'm looking for. :D

[i.love.lucy]

Welcome to the world of Mac! I love my Macbook Pro! ...We are such Mac Geeks... We even have apple stickers instead of those little family stickers on our car... 2 big apples, 2 little apples. :)

 

I'm going to check out Planbook, too, although I'm happy with my recent planning find. I've just started using Scholaric - which is online, and has worked out well for 3 weeks. It's not free, but at $1 per month, it's close. I really like it, so it will be a tough one to beat.

 

Enjoy your Mac, and congrats!

Scholaric looks interesting! I don't really want to sign up without knowing a little more about it, but I guess a free trial is not a big commitment! ;) Can you share what you like about it?

 

What I can see is promising for me is that it's online, so I assume I can use it on my iMac at home, and even pull up the schedule when out and about on my Droid phone using the web, right? That would be huge for me since I have to use this stupid phone and don't have an iPad (yet).

 

Does it have a calendar too? I would LOVE to be able to go to ONE PLACE to see the lessons for the day and any scheduled activities. At least have the ability for my iCal to sync with it. Do you know if it does that.

 

Tell me more please!!!:D

[Aloha2U]

CMama,

 

Have you had a chance to tinker with it? I think I quite like it, but I don't see a place to keep track of materials (textbooks, etc.). I guess it's not as critical for teachers? Have you found a place for that kind of data?

 

I tinkered with it off and on this evening and... while it has potential, I tend to agree with OhE in that it needs a couple added features to fit homeschoolers.

 

As I fiddled around, I remembered one of the very first reasons why it won't work for me. Although this may seem silly, our school weeks aren't Sunday thru Saturday (that is, we don't school M-F), due to hubby's work schedule which changes every so often. The Planbook defaults to a calendar week, that being Sunday-Saturday, so that would quickly become a peeve. I wouldn't want our lesson week split up so that I'd have to toggle between and/or print two separate calendar weeks in order to view one of our lesson weeks. It would be nice if you could edit/change that feature, selecting the days you want to view as a week instead defaulting to a calendar week. Also, I list our schooling days as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5. It would be nice if one could change those instead of only being able to choose from the names of the days of the week or A day, B day, C day, etc.

 

As for keeping track of materials... after entering each subject course (i.e., Bible, Math, Phonics/Spelling, Grammar, etc.), I entered the abbreviations of specific curriculum/resources in the title section (i.e., RS D, MM, SWR, FLL 3, WWE 2, etc.) which seemed to work well enough for me.

 

As for lesson plan details... I like the idea of the renamable text areas, however, it seems that whatever you enter in the title areas of those fields under one course/subject... will alter the title areas of those fields under all courses/subjects, so you can't really customize them for each individual course/subject. In addition to that, if you check one text box title in the renamable text areas, then that title and text area will be shown in every course/subject instead of just the one your currently working in. Just not enough customizable features/options for me.

 

BTW, I too have an only child, so although I don't have multi-levels to plan for... I can see where that would be a problem for potential users. I suppose those renamable text areas could come in handy there (using each dc's name in the renamable titles or something), but then... allotted time frames may or may be more of the issue.

 

Clear as mud? (I'm just sharing some of my experience w/this trial program thus far. Please don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong about anything I've mentioned. It's late and I'm heading off to bed in a few, but I hope I'm making some helpful sense here.)

 

I'm currently using Excel spreadsheets for my Weeks-at-a-Glance and I'm quite happy with it for now, so I'm not going to make a switch to (or spend money on) anything that's less than what I want and already have, iykwim. That said, I look forward to checking out any further improvements to this program that may come down the pike.

 

:001_smile:

[cloversandlions]

CMama,

 

Ya know, after I wrote that I'd probably buy PlanBook, I went back over to some of the planned functionality of Olly (that homeschool planner I mentioned in my first post on this thread), and after looking at all of things PlanBook can't do for me, I decided I'd go and ahead and wait. A little while longer, anyway. :)

 

I understood everything you wrote, and can see why your needs would make PlanBook even less appealing than even a more traditional homeschooler. I think I could make it work, and I'd probably be happy enough with it, but I think I might just make do with excel sheets, too. Drat.

 

The individual files per kid didn't bother me at all. As for my wishing for a place to 'store' my books and other resources, your method would be perfect if I only had one resource. However, for example, I'll be cobbling together a physical sci curriculum for my 12yo, and I'll be using unrelated texts to do that. If I can find workbooks for each text, so much the better. Or if I can gather other materials, I'd love to have them in "resource library" so I could select them. As long as I'm wishing, it'd be great if that resource library had at least some limited ability to make notes on when/how I used or might use a resource. A funny example would be earlier this evening, when my dh suggested that I have ds read one of my Great Books - he said LaVoisier would complement the P-Sci curriculum very well. If I were trying to create assignments for ds, instead of typing out LaVoisier each time, it'd be handy dandy if I could select it from a drop down or radial menu. Or something like that.

 

You are right that the renamable text title fields carry over for all lessons. I don't think (yet) that that would be too problematic because there are so many fields. However, I guess there are just some features I'd prefer to have incorporated before I toss my shekels that way. I'll definitely be keeping watch on that program, but as I said earlier, I sure hope that Olly is everything I hope it's going to be.

 

And with that bit of incoherence, I am signing off. I can't see the computer anyway; my eyes are too bleary! :lol:

[SophiaH]

Scholaric looks interesting! I don't really want to sign up without knowing a little more about it, but I guess a free trial is not a big commitment! ;) Can you share what you like about it?

 

What I can see is promising for me is that it's online, so I assume I can use it on my iMac at home, and even pull up the schedule when out and about on my Droid phone using the web, right? That would be huge for me since I have to use this stupid phone and don't have an iPad (yet).

 

Does it have a calendar too? I would LOVE to be able to go to ONE PLACE to see the lessons for the day and any scheduled activities. At least have the ability for my iCal to sync with it. Do you know if it does that.

 

Tell me more please!!!:D

 

I'm using Scholaric for my planning this year. Here is his blog and there is more info about it on there, including a tutorial video.

Pros I found so far: -ability to repeat lessons

-ability to print out daily/weekly checklists for dd

-it's online so I can access it from any computer

-ability to bump lessons

-the developer seems to be very open to suggestions and is very active in updating the program

 

I've inputted most of my lessons for the year, but still not sure that I know all of the features of the program. Does anyone know if you can "share" lessons that we are doing as a group with a sibling or will I have to input them all again? (I haven't contacted the developer yet to ask.)

 

I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any sync abilities with ical. I just finished with my free trial and paid my $2 for this month (via amazon payments) and plan on using it for the remainder of this school year.

[workingmom]

I am a mac user also. I tried Homeschool SkedTrack but didn't like it, and ended up making my own planner using Google Documents. It's great, seems more user-friendly than an Excel sheet, and the big bonus is that Google docs are accessible anywhere you have internet.

 

My planner is weekly, and lists subjects and days. After the week is complete, I download the doc as a PDF and print it, then put it in my binder together with the tangible work that my DD did that week. Then, I delete the info on the Google doc and start the new week.

 

 

can you show up a pic or example of the schedule?

 

Thanks

[Spryte]

I think there are a few threads about Scholaric on the general board. Or maybe they are on this board? Eek, I don't remember! But what I gathered from those threads is that there is more to Scholaric than I use, so my input here is limited because I don't use all the features. Apparently, the developer is fairly open to suggestions, too, so if there's a feature you'd like, asking about it might be worthwhile.

 

I love that it's online, and so I can pull it up from any computer. Haven't tried, but I imagine that I can use my iPhone too, or our iPad. Haven't needed to that yet, but will soon!

 

I love that it looks like a real, paper planner. It's easy to see a week, and see what we have planned. Skedtrack wasn't as easy for me, in that respect. It's very easy to bump the schedule forward or make changes to our plans. My kiddo likes that I can print out a checklist for each day, and he just checks off items as he's finished. :) Oh, and if you need to count school hours for reporting purposes, Scholaric adds the total hours for you.

 

Signing up for the free trial, for me, felt strange as I didn't know much about the site, and the website wasn't very informative. But... I am so happy that I did it!

 

(Wow, I sound like a salesperson for Scholaric, and I promise I'm not. I don't have a clue who developed it. Just happy to have found something that works with my Mac and with my brain.)