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Homeschool Schedule & Organization with HST
By Debra | June 10, 2008
This is the year . . . I hope anyway! We purchased the Homeschool Tracker software several years ago, updated to the Plus version when it became available, and until recently I’ve been unable to really figure out how to make it work for our family’s scheduling. Part of me LOVES to be super-organized, but a growing part of me is learning to be more flexible. It’s difficult for me to balance the two for some reason (actually - there are lots of reasons that I will not go into here!).
In Missouri, we are required to track the number of hours we school and to keep a portfolio (that’s the gist of it anyway), so it’s pretty easy to keep track of everything with paper/pencil. When I kept running into a brick wall with the program, I finally decided we would just do the paper/pencil thing. So I put HST on the shelf last summer. [Curious about our flexible scheduling? Flexible scheduling (part 1) (part 2).]
Well it turns out that RIGHT AFTER I put it on the shelf an update was made to the program that made it MUCH more flexible and user-friendly for crazy moms like myself who want super-organization with super-duper built in flexibility. (Kicking myself for this!) Thanks to a post by my online buddy, Angi, I caught wind of the new features a couple of months ago and have been “testing” the program ever since. I have to say that I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y LOVE it! (By the way, all updates to Homeschool Tracker are FREE!)
So what makes it so great for me now? Within the Lesson Plans, there is this little column/feature called “Group”. That one little feature has made ALL the difference for me. It gives me the ability to group my plans in all sorts of ways giving me the ability to sort my plans in all sorts of ways - it’s great! Plus, there is also the sequencing feature as well as the order feature that allow you to sort/group your plans in other ways. Lots of flexibility! I’m not about to try to explain all of this LOL! You’ll have to go check it out yourself. Go to www.homeschooltracker.com. They give you a free basic version to try out before upgrading to their Plus version. Not sure what’s included/not included in basic version, but it’s worth your time to check it out.
I now have just about everything I do in HST - our lesson plans, the kids’ chores, our cleaning lists, memorization lists, reading lists, etc. I’ve only skimmed the top of what can be done with this program. You can add schedules, appointments, . . . and who knows what else! The problem is I’ve been “winging it” for the past couple of months adding all sorts of things, so it’s basically just one big unorganized mess! So, starting TODAY and for the rest of June until however long it takes me to finish it, I’m going to learn how to use this program to its fullest. I’ve printed out the Table of Contents for their 200-something page User Manual to be my guide and I am going to go page-by-page through this manual saturating myself with all the possibilities.
Sound fun? I’ll try to keep you posted on my progress. :) I have also just printed out what looks to be a fantastic new tool from Simply Charlotte Mason. It’s their newest book, “Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education in 5 Simple Steps“. Even though I finally feel like I have found my niche with our homeschooling and with all we do, I think going through this book will help me to fine-tune what we are doing and help me to make this the most productive and fun-filled year yet. I am excited to see where this year will lead us.
Off to plan!
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Topics: Organization & Scheduling |
June 11th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hi Debra!
Love your new blog! Way to go!!!
~Lynn
aka: Eclectic Education
June 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hi Debra,
I just purchased the SCM book and the HSTracker Plus also. Thanks for the hint about printing off the table of contents to the HSTracker. I am still thinking of purchasing their book that goes along with it. Please keep us posted as to your progress with using both.