So after downloading Homeschool Tracker Basic for FREE and starting to set it up......I decided that purchasing PLUS was going to be a better fit. Why enter all the info and then not be able to automatically "reuse" it for my younger ones without entering it all from scratch again? And since it has lifetime free updates, $49 for the rest of our homeschool life seems dirt cheap (although I did spring for the printed manual for $17 rather than just the free pdf download). I just do better with the manual in print in my lap rather than a pdf open next to the software on the screen. Anyway, I'm really excited. It's going to take a bit to set it all up BUT maybe I'll do better than daily post-it notes to the kids made the night before or the morning of with their assignments (although my oldest prefers sticky notes). Joined the HST forum too....I'm sure I'll have questions when I actually start setting up specific assignments. I may wait until the manual gets here to do anything too in-depth. Figure if I get into a system now, maybe I'll be ready for those years when we need an actual transcript HST Plus users....please pass along any helpful tips :wink: Rhonda
Let us know how you like working with it---I was looking at it myself but wasnt sure if I would actually use it.
I've already decided to use it after this coming year. If DH has a really good payday before August, I just might get it sooner. Otherwise, I'll start with it the first year I need to report (after my oldest turns 7). I've been using regular HST Basic and love it.
I was originally afraid of that too (still am I bit) but since I know I'll want it for the upper grades and you can get the updates for free, figured I would try it out WELL in advance Once I have it all setup, I'll probably be more motivated to keep it up (since it'll take time to set it up).
I have the freebie and it took me a while but I actually used it with ds this year more than dd, I got the hang of it, and this coming year with dd doing SOS she will be on that, for grading most of her works, then ds will possibly be on HST the freebie, let me know how you like and most important how easy it is to set up... I am really bad with reading and following instructions on tings I always do something wrong and get frustrated lol. So I will be eagerly waiting for you to tell me about it! Someone else had the paid for one here on the spot so maybe they will chime in too!?
One note to anyone who has the free version & is planning to update: You don't have to reenter all the info. All you have to do is save the database from the free version & use that for the paid version. I'm pretty sure thaere are exact instructions regarding that in the user manual. I don't remember exactly what steps are involved, but it was quite easy. That was one of my biggest concerns with upgrading. I didn't want to spend that much time entering everything in, again. The paid version is really quite easy to use. I'm sure I don't know everything about it yet, but I'll be happy to answer any questions I can. The main difference, though between the free version & the paid version is that the paid version has more options. One of my favorite things is the lesson plan area. You can set up lesson plans, without setting dates for them. Then, you submit them to the assignments when ready to use them. It allows you to plan as far ahead as you want, without worrying that certain things may not take the exact amount of time you thought.. SO, you don't have to reschedule things so often when you spend 2 months on something you thought would only take a few weeks. Also, the manual says that the lessons aren't year specific (because there's no dates set), so you should be able to use them year after year without having to reenter them.
Thanks! I had setup a few things in Basic and they all transferred just fine. Plus definitely has more options (noticeably even though I had only used Basic for a few days before I upgraded). I'm going to probably wait until I get the printed users manual before I start with the lesson plans/assignments. I like having it in writing in front of me rather than toggling back and forth between screens. I'm hoping to get all our planned resources input before then though. Nice to know someone else on here uses it in case I get stuck. Rhonda
Something else you can do before the manual gets there, is set up the subjects/courses. In the free version you can only do subjects, but in the paid version you can have different courses for each subject. You can also classify each subject as either Core or Elective. For each course, you can choose what type of grading scale to use, how many credit units it's worth (for transcripts or high school credits), and which activities from your Activity list will be used in that course. All you have to do is go into Maintenance & click on 'Add Subject'. If you're adding a course, you highlight the subject it would be in & click 'Add Course'. If you get the easy basic stuff like subjects/courses, school info, student info, years/terms, resources, activities, and grading scale set up before you get the manual, then once it comes you can focus on all the cool lesson/assignment features. I would recommend, once you get some assignments entered in, checking out the different reports you can print. You don't have to print them, but bring up the preview screen so you can see what each one looks like & try the different options for each. That way, you'll know which one you like best. We had to try out a few of the different ways to print out assignment lists for dd, so we could find the one that worked best for her organizational style. They have lots of options for the reports & what to include in them. So, it's a good idea to familarize yourself with them before you start really using the program (if possible).
Thanks Brandi. I spent about an hour today setting up the resources for 2 of my kids....then had to go do other errands. Still have my oldest Sonlight stuff to enter though and my 1st graders stuff. I saw the subject/course difference. I still have mine setup as all subjects (rather than the indiv. part of LA under just LA). For now, I think I'd rather have them listed as spelling, vocab, english, writing, etc........might change my mind down the road though. I did get my grading scale set up (since I don't like the default 10 point scale). We don't really do grades except for math tests but I wanted it setup anyway (while I was thinking about it). I downloaded the pdf file so I technically have the manual but I know I'll be able to do so much more when I can have it in my lap and look at tracker on screen rather than toggling back and forth Off to figure out dinner......THANKS! Rhonda
With the courses, I actually just have them set up so that it's a different course name for each of my kids. So under Math there's general Math for my son (I'm not actually tracking anything for him yet since he's 4, but it's ready for when he gets older), and Pre-Algebra for my dd. Then next year I'll add Algebra & so on. That way, both their math classes are under the subject Math, but I can't confuse them because they each have their own course. I totally get wanting the printed manual, though. It really is a pain having to go back & forth between screen when trying to follow steps by step instructions.
Hmmmm.....since I haven't started actually assigning things yet, I may see a need to do it differently like you have. I thought since the resources are different for everyone's math, then I would still be able to see them separately (maybe not). All my kids use Horizons but in the resource list I called them Horizons 5, Horizons 3, etc....not just Horizons Math. Yes, I can't wait to get the printed manual. I want to get it all setup so I can fiddle with it before I really "need" it but I also don't want to have to re-do things because I did it one way and then read the manual and would prefer it another way. But the manual ships media mail so who knows when it will be here (might be a week, might be 3)....that reminds me that I need to put a stop order on our mail next month when we're on vacation. Off to add that to the to-do list. Rhonda
I am fustrated. Our bank has the wrong zipcode on our account so I can not download it. I tried both dh's and my card's and got the same error so it is on the account. That means I have to have dh get to the bank and put money in my account for this. What a pain. I just got my bigger hard drive and now I can not download it yet. ARGH.
Well, that is annoying. We've moved alot with the Army recently and so understand the annoyance of it. I'm the one who handles all the banking stuff so I'd have to be the one to drag down to the bank Hope you get worked out soon! Rhonda
Dh has tried to have them fix it a bunch of times but they still have two numbers switched. It is amazing because we still get junk mail from them so they have it right someplace. Oh well I guess I can wait. I do not really have time to play with it yet any how since we are planning for a garage sale.
Is HST time consuming? Hi ladies. As a new person to hsing, my question is....is the Homeschool Tracker program a major time consuming thing? Once information is fed into the program, does it really save you much time? Or is this more of an investment in time for better organization of information? My other question is if this program is geared for states that have to do a lot of reporting to authorities. Nebraska law is quite relaxed and we only have to supply minimal information to the state. Just wondering if it would be of benefit to NE hslers. Would anyone be willing to share their personal pros and cons? I would truly appreciate your input. Thank you.
Yes, and another newbie here, what is this about transcripts? and didn't someone in this thread say it might help with that? I am not sure what transcripts are but have read that they are sometimes needed for college?
I have played around with the basic and it is a little time consuming in the begining. You do have to input all the information you want before hand. The time savings comes through out the school year. You can keep track of what you have done and what you still need to do. It can also take care of attendance reports if you need that. Transcripts are pretty much always needed for college. The plus program will create a very nice transcript for you.
Where I live I don't have to report anything. I do keep records, but that's out of my own need to be organized. HST is an organizational tool. If you need to keep records, this program can probably print any you need. If you don't need records, you don't have to print them. You can use it just to keep track of what each child is doing, their grades (if you grade), your resources (so you know what you have), or even keep a journal of what you do for school. It's got records you can print that colleges would want, like transcripts, extra-curricular activities, and sstandardized test scores (if they get tested). Setting it up does take some time to set up originally. Once it's set up, it takes much less time. All you have to do is enter in the assignments and enter in new resources when you get them. I use it mainly to help my dd stay organized. I print out her assignments for each day, so she knows exactly what she needs to do. She keeps the list in her binder with to do lists & chore lists. This helps to make sure she gets everything done. If you're not sure if it would be useful to you, try out the free version first. The paid version has many options & reports that the free one doesn't have, but the free version is a good place to start (imo Plus is less time consuming than Basic). So, I guess what I'm saying is that you will have to invest SOME time. However, after the intial process of setting up & entering in all info, you won't spend a lot of time each week working with it. It would be useful to anyone, regardless of how much reporting they need to do. As for what a transcript is, here's the best answer I can offer. A transcript is a report that shows what high school courses a student took, what grades they earned & how many credits earned for each course, when each course was taken, and the students GPA. Many colleges want to see transcripts for students who apply. With HST Plus, you can go back up to 6 years on the transcript instead of the usual 4.
