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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 20 2010 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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How do you record keep for high school?
I have always kept book lists, plans, curriculum etc as Word documents - and take a USB back up or put them on google docs on my blog to avoid a data loss.
I am considering one of the record keeping programs which also produces GPAs and transcripts. I think I would prefer an online one to ensure data safety.
I am researching my options
Homeschool Tracker
Homeschool Reporting
Academic Records
Homeschool MInder
Does anyone have any views on any of the above? I am not sure they can all do what I am looking for - I think HST comes the closest though it is not online. I really like the Homeschool Reporting - though am not sure it does GPAs.
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Marilyn
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Angel
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| Posted: Jan 21 2010 at 7:05am | IP Logged
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I have Homeschool Tracker Plus, which isn't online, but then again you only pay the one fee and you're done. Depending on how long you used some of the online subscription services, they would be more expensive.
On the other hand, by putting your data online, it might be safer.
I am still trying to figure out HST Plus, but I don't think that's a drawback of the program -- I mean, I don't think it is that hard to use, it's just I need to make time to sit down with it and figure out some of the features to see whether I need them or not. With the Plus version, you can set up courses (which I do use), it will keep track of credit hours per course and grant credit according to your criteria, it keeps track of grades and calculates averages, and I believe it will calculate GPA. It will also generate transcripts, but I haven't figured that feature out yet.
It has lots of nifty "lesson plan" capabilities, too, but I don't use those. Actually, I don't use much of the planning capability at all (it also comes with calendar planners); because of the way we do things here, it's easier for me to enter what my ds has done after the fact, more as a log than anything else. In NY I do have to keep track of hours per subject in grades 7-8, so, while a handwritten log or blog might be somewhat quicker for me to use, I would have to add up the hours manually. My biggest problem with using HST Tracker right now is just remembering to sit down and do the data entry. It's easy to get behind. (I do jot down notes in an actual hardcopy log as well, so if I get behind, I don't have to wrack my brain trying to think of what he actually did.)
I'm not sure the transcript function will ever work well for us, as I have a lot of courses set up at this point which may (at some point) be combined. I *think* in order to combine the courses on HST Plus you'd have to go back and change the course category field on every single assignment that had belonged to the partial course... which seems like a lot of work. *But* even if that was the case, I could easily see that he had x hours in y course and z hours in course abc, and then I could make my own transcript that said Course ABCY Credits 1 (or whatever) without ever touching the transcript function.
Oh, that was probably more than you ever wanted to know, Marilyn.  I think I'm just thinking aloud at this point...
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Angela
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 21 2010 at 5:11pm | IP Logged
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Thanks so much Angela. I tried the basic a few years ago but never really got going with it - it was a lot easier to just use Word - but now I need the high school stuff I might check it out again.
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Marilyn
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Martha
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| Posted: Jan 21 2010 at 5:28pm | IP Logged
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I've had HST+ for about 8 years now. Started with basic and moved up to current versions as they came out.
I used to use it a lot and it was a great help.
But the last 2 years I have really only used it for a book catalog.
It is just too much data entry. I don't want to make a course description and lesson plan list to get a trandscript. I just want to fill in a template. Call it lazy or whatever you want to call it, but there it is.
I cannot fathom using HST+ for an unschooling transcript. I'd be bald by the end of the experience.
I would simply fill in a generic transcript that looks appealing with your own student's information. YOu could do it with Excell. or you could buy one of those transcript/dilpoma making services/software.
I plan to keep a book list, testing scores, and maybe a portfolio of best works/projects in some areas.
Is this enough? Is that too easy to be truely good enough? 
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Martha
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Angel
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| Posted: Jan 21 2010 at 6:39pm | IP Logged
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Yeah, I don't think using HST Plus makes much sense for us for transcripts. Where it helps me most is keeping track of hours. And I like the attendance calendar in Plus that allows me to give half days. I have to keep attendance in NY, too. I have done it by hand on a paper calendar on the refrigerator, but I kind of like this better. And, if I remember correctly, Basic won't let you give half days, which I use a lot.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 10:54pm | IP Logged
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Homeschool Reporting does calculate a GPA. You can use number or letter grades (I think; we've only ever used letter grades), and if you generate a transcript -- which it will do at a click -- either for a semester, a year, or a series of years, it will give you GPA and number of credits at the bottom.
I've never had a computer that would run Homeschool Tracker, which did always sound pretty awesome. But I'm quite happy with Homeschool Reporting. It's fairly minimal data entry (as much data as you want to enter, but you don't have to enter every detail), but the features are quite useful for high school/college-bound stuff: grades (with booklists, course standards, hours/credits, comments), attendance, a portfolio feature for extracurricular things you want to keep track of, and the transcript generator. It also does have a very basic lesson-planner function. And, of course, it does your thinking for you in calculating GPA, which is nice.
Sally
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Record Keeping for High School
