mac user and planning books...question for you

[Tess in the Burbs]

My sweet dh is trying to write me a planner to run on my mac. If a homeschool planner were available for mac users(not running virtual pc, etc) what features would you want? the plan would be to one day offer as a shareware and he would need some beta testers ;-)

 

so what do you want in a planner?

[Karenciavo]

I'll get in line for beta testing :D

 

I would like:

 

• assignments to be easily moved for those days when we don't get it all done
  
• to keep track of grades and be able to apply percentages for weight (e.g. assignments - 25%, tests - 35%, exam 40% of final grade)
  
• to print out daily teacher's plans from the same source as my students weekly schedule (Planbook does this)
  
• produce transcripts
  

• to be able to embed links in the schedule

  
  

   

  
  

 

[Trivium Academy]

To be able to:

- keep track of attendance as how many days left of the year, how many days have been accomplished

 

- something that would create sequential lesson plans would be great! To be able to put in the first lesson # and have the program schedule it out for you based on:

• what days of week the lessons will be on

• skip designated days/weeks off and continue with the last lesson #

• able to be edited, allow a skip day feature

 

-To be able to print out a checklist for students

-budget and purchasing help

-lesson plan creation: including being able to list extracurricular resources, links, things to purchase, supply lists

-optional progress reports and report cards

 

Add this to what Karen said! And I'll beta test too!

[Debbie in IL]

I love everyone's ideas here, too - I honestly can't think of another thing to add to the list(s). I'd love to beta test, too!

[Wendi]

Everyone has mentioned most of the things I'd like. I'll add this: I'd like to be able to plan by subject, or by day/week. What I mean is, I'd like to be able to plan all the history for a six or nine week period, then plug it into the master plan. I like to be able to "see" what I'm doing for that subject all at once, OR see what I'm doing across all subjects for the week. Does that make sense?

 

Also, links/attachments to be added to the plans.

 

Wendi

[Tess in the Burbs]

LOL! I don't have any idea when he will have something to look at, but I will post when he does. He can't stand my pen/paper planning :-)

[3lilreds in NC]

I want to be a beta tester but have no idea what suggestions to offer. :D

[Gamom3]

Please thank him for doing this!!

[WTMCassandra]

Oh, I would LOVE to beta-test. I've been a Mac user for, well, since the 512K Mac.

 

I want to be able to print assignment sheets and keep track of grades. I'd like to be able to specify my grading system. I'd like some sort of "block" view that looks sort of like a teacher's planner. I'd like to be able to move lessons to different days if we don't get to them.

 

Is that too much to ask? I'll take whatever I can get! My highest priority is being able to print assignment sheets from what I plan on there.

 

S.

[Oakblossoms]

I'd like it to work on 10.3.9:D

 

I would like it to make a chart that shows the progress in a book or curriculum. Where all the chapters read are colored in.

 

I would like to be able to print out a page for me that describes plans in detail and a page for each child that gives them their to-do list for the day. I'd like little boxes to check off, too.

[ummix3]

Please count me in for the testing as well. All suggestions thus far have been great and I really can't think of anything else.

 

Michelle

[Colleen in SEVA]

:) Me too. :)

 

My suggestions:

 

- to be able to "turn off" all the fuctions I don't want to use, such as attendance or field trip tracking

 

- some way to keep track of materials needed, so I can print out a shopping list or book list for 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time

 

- a way to plan that isn't tied to a certain number of weeks (more like a checklist, that will keep track of when we did something)

 

- a way to save a schedule created, to be used with later children or if we decide to bump a subject for a year (want to know how many times I've planned out the first few chapters of SOTW? LOL!!)

 

- a way to track notes -- maybe like those tags you can put on blogs (example: I read about a cool new experiment I'd like to do when the kids are older, I want to enter a link and description of it that will be searchable later, either by text or subject)

 

I'm not crazy about the one I purchased that only works on Windows machines -- and the Mac is in the school room anyway, I'd love a Mac-based system that is a little more standardized so there isn't such a large learning curve.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I LOVE all the suggestions made so far. I'd just like to add a Post-it note feature. Just a little Text Box thingy that can easily be "stuck" on top of any page, to leave notes for myself. If I get interupted, it'd be nice to leave a note saying something like, "Finish entering math completed". Or, just being able to remind myself of things like, "Dentist 1:30".

 

Kurzweil software has this feature and it's very handy.