momsuz123 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I started hsing in August. So far I have just used an excel spreadsheet to keep track of lessons, what we did, per day. What has worked best for you all, what hasn't? I am not sure my little excel spreadsheet is what I need, or maybe it is. I am not the most computer savvy person out there, I like things simple. I tend to write down what we did, but I feel if I had more room I would plan out the week, write down what I want to accomplish, then write down what we actually did. The thing is, in our house, with a little one, and allowing for rabbit trails, we do change things up quite a bit, sometimes. What are your thoughts? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in SouthGa Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 We have tried so many things over the years. Why exactly do you want to write down what you have done? Do you have state requirements of any kind that you have to fulfill? If most of your materials are "do the next thing", you can always just put all their completed work in a binder or folders as you go, and at the end of the year go through it and decide what to keep. If you are feeling the need to plan out activities and things but still want to be flexible with what you do day by day, then it may work best for you to make a schedule for each subject rather than for each day. For example, make a spread sheet or word document (I hate excel, so I always use word documents and insert tables) that is just for science. Have a row for each lesson with a column for Lesson #,what you want to do or materials or whatever else you need, and date completed. You can do it for the whole year, semester, or whatever time chunk works best for you. This has worked best for us with subjects like history, science, Bible, geography, art-anything with activities. For math, spelling, grammar-usually do the next thing subjects-a checklist would work. I give my kids a page each week that has a table with Mon, tues, wed, etc across the top and all their subjects down the side. Days that they don't have to do a subject have XXXXXX in the space. I also have a checklist for Memory Work on there in another table, and a place to write notes. I don't write assignments in there, it is just to check off that they've done it. I can email you a copy if you want to see it. On Monday morning when they wake up (this is for my 2 middle ones, not 15ds or 4dd), they have a folder with their assignment sheet and any copies that they need in it. They put finished loose work in there, and after everything is graded at the end of the week, I stick it in a file box. This works good now that they are old enough to do most of their work independently. I know it is very frustrating to have all your plans for the week neatly written out and then someone gets sick and the whole week is gone! I think I switched methods every year until the last three. We finally found something that is working for us! donnayoung.org has a ton of calendars of different styles that you can print out (free) and see what will work for you. Her site is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkid Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 My favorite planning option I've found so far is Scholaric. (scholaric.com) Very simple to use for planning and tracking. It has some weak points, but everything out there seems to have something not user-friendly about it since homeschooling looks different for everyone so it's hard to plan software that works for everyone. I tried all the other homeschooling planning/tracking free software there is out there. With Scholaric, planning isn't as overwhelming to me, it's easy to bump lessons and it's easy to mark what's been done and what's left to do. It is $1 a student per month, but since I only need tracking for one so far, the fee was worth it to me. If I had more kids though, I might be choosing something else to own long-term. But the support on this software is good, he takes suggestions, and it's nice to be able to access it online no matter where I am, and can even been accessed/used on my smart phone. I find it frustrating when time is so precious that nothing seems to be more efficient than trying lots of kinds of tracking until you find what works for you...but for all the research I did, that's what I ended up needing to do...spending lots of time trying different things. Good luck in your researching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I wrote out a plan on paper for what I wanted to accomplish in a week (how many times to do each subject each week). Then I broke it down into each day and times during the day to accomplish those lessons. So I now had a schedule for our days. I print off a two-sided document for each school day, which a space for each subject for each child that I want to accomplish that day. I record the night before what lessons I hope to complete. Then at the end of the week I put all of that information into an Excel file. This is working very well for me. Making a schedule for each day has been the most important part for me, as far as getting done what needs to get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I've used http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com. I don't use all aspects of it, just the main scheduling stuff. I don't do report cards or transcripts with it. I don't have to keep track of hours or days so that aspect is of limited use to me. However, I love the way I can print off a week at a time, give the schedule to the boys (granted, they are much older than your kids), and they check off what they do and I input the "completed" date. It keeps us on track and I always know where they are. When my boys were younger - late elementary, and early junior high, we used a similar approach. I had a downloadable free template that I would fill out (subject and day) for each of the boys on Sunday evening. Then we knew where everyone was supposed to be on Monday morning. If they didn't mark off something, it was considered "not completed" and I just went from that point in making the next schedule. I kept those schedules in a binder so I could go back and see what we had done from the beginning to the end of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 "Why exactly do you want to write down what you have done?" Well, I write down what they actually did, because sometimes/all the time may be different from what I want to do. Things can change fast around here with a little guy. Sometimes, we have days where we almost get 2 days worth in 1 day, some days, I feel like we get a half a day. For example, on Friday, my older dd was doing her final draft for Writing Tales. Instead of stopping there, she went out and wrote for another 2 hours. I wasn't going to stay no to that! :) So, then the schedule changes some. Plus, we use a variety of curriculum's, not a boxed one where I just check off the lesson plan (that would help though). If one of my kids is stuck on something in math, I might work with them on it, throw in some more Miquon, etc. Likewise, it is quite common for dd to do an entire lesson in 1 day versus a week with some material. Does that make sense? See, that is why I write down what we did for the day so I can make adjustments as the week goes on to maybe add in what we haven't done much, etc. Any more ideas welcome. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 My favorite planning option I've found so far is Scholaric. (scholaric.com) Very simple to use for planning and tracking. It has some weak points, but everything out there seems to have something not user-friendly about it since homeschooling looks different for everyone so it's hard to plan software that works for everyone. This does look really promising. I was curious though if you can re-use your lesson plans for courses with later children or if you have to start from scratch each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I use the free version of Homeschool Tracker and love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running the race Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I use Homeschool Tracker (the paid version) for school work and google calendar for all other activities and task list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I use excel. I make a sheet for each child - days across the top, subjects down the side. I print a copy for them and a copy for me. I keep my copies for each child on my clip board. If something changes during the week I mark the change on my paper copy. A long time ago when I was only schooling one, I had a spiral version of a teacher's planner that I really liked, but it didn't work as well when more children became school age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I use excel spreadsheets. I have one for each child. The classes/books are listed down the left side and the assignments run across. All classes are spread out over ten months. As each assignment is finished I fill in a colored square. This way I can tell at a glance whether or not we are falling behind in any subjects. I don't print these, we just read them on the computer. I also print off nine-week column graphs from donnayoung.org. I write the weekly reading assignments for each child on this sheet. They cross off the readings as they complete them. I schedule 9 weeks of reading at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkid Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 This does look really promising. I was curious though if you can re-use your lesson plans for courses with later children or if you have to start from scratch each time. I think this can be done. There are a couple threads from a while back about Scholaric that might mention this. But even faster is to ask the developer. He has always responded to me within 2 days, usually 1 and more than willing to design it to your needs if possible. You can contact him through the Scholaric.com Feedback link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertmum Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I use Homeschool Tracker (the paid version) for school work and google calendar for all other activities and task list. :iagree: I wanted a system where I did not have to go online. Sometimes we are in places where there is no internet. Also I wanted something that would generate reports and my excel worksheet wasn't keeping up. I must add that I enter most items after the event. I use VueMinder Lite (free version) as my desktop calendar. It works great, and again, I don't depend on the internet. I back everything onto an external backup drive on regular basis. Edited January 31, 2012 by desertmum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'm a pencil and paper girl. I use this planner from Rainbow Resources: http://rainbowresource.com/product/sku/022426/e074868d65e7429a2477ea1b I fill it in on Monday while we have a quick meeting. We go over what didn't get done the previous week, and what's new. There's lots of places to record all types of information. The girls mark everything they got done that day with a highlighter pen. Easy to use and adjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My daily record is simple--I have a chart that I write down what we did each day, but in a simple form--ie, for math, just the lesson #. For Lit, the title of the book on the first day & then the page #'s or chapter #'s after that. Some things I just use a check mark. If they write a paper about a book, I note that--again briefly. Or lab for science, I just write "lab" and the number if there is one. I keep a list of all books read that's separate. I don't write down everytime we have discussions etc... about things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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