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Bethany
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Joined: Oct 16 2006
Location: Texas
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| Posted: June 07 2010 at 2:56pm | IP Logged
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I hope I can ask this clearly  . I'm using the free trial of the CM Organizer and I love it so far. I've also searched past topics and found that many people finally settled with Homeschool Tracker due to cost.
On the CM Organizer I just input a resource and the number of divisions (pages, chapters, etc.). Then I assign the days this will be used. After we finish an assigment it automatically moves to the next lesson on the scheduled day. If we don't complete something, it's waiting for us the next day.
Does HS Tracker do something similar or do you enter every assignment?
I'm really love that the CM Organizer really does the planning for me. I don't think I would like to input some elaborate plan when this is so simple. I think I'm willing to pay for the organizer if it allows me to spend just a few hours inputting our books and then just minutes a day to maintain. I also like this because if something is missed, it just bumps it to the next day! No premade lessons plans staring me in the face with everything off because we missed a day.
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Bethany
Wife to Mike, Mommy to Amelia (6/02), Sarah (10/03), Martha Grace (10/05), Rebecca Anne (12/07), Laura Catherine (3/10) and Reed Michael 7/4/14.
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Paula in MN
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Joined: Nov 25 2006
Location: Minnesota
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| Posted: June 08 2010 at 6:32am | IP Logged
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Bethany wrote:
On the CM Organizer I just input a resource and the number of divisions (pages, chapters, etc.). Then I assign the days this will be used. After we finish an assigment it automatically moves to the next lesson on the scheduled day. If we don't complete something, it's waiting for us the next day.
Does HS Tracker do something similar or do you enter every assignment? |
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Not really. I input the resource and then create each lesson for that resource, either by page numbers, chapters, etc. Once you know what you are doing it only takes a few minutes.
I have a rough idea of the actual days every week we are going to do formal lessons, so at the beginning of the year I attach all the lessons. Takes about 30 minutes. During the year if we need to slow down or speed up or take a few days off, I just reschedule everything. Again, it only takes a few minutes.
I see how nice it would be to have the lessons automatically moved, but I can't justify $10 per month for doing that. I've learned to adapt. 
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 08 2010 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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Yeah. The cost is discouraging, isn't it? I think I could stomach paying $100 and know that I could go a few years and then perhaps pay for an upgrade, but that perpetual $10 a month, which, if you find you can't afford it anymore, you don't have the info anymore that you inputed. Sigh.
It really seems like a simple program that simple organizes virtual checklists for you. So, with just one child, I think I can make my own checklists. However, if I lived in a state that required more record keeping, I might consider it. As it is, I only have to worry about attendance officially.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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allegiance_mom
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| Posted: June 08 2010 at 8:01pm | IP Logged
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I tried them both.
I didn't like Homeschool Tracker. It was just too much work to set up, too cumbersome, moving from screen to screen setting up a year, a pupil, classes, assignments. It was discouraging!
CM I like better during my free trial. Sadly, they have no Catholic resources pre-loaded (probably because they're Protestant?). Also, when we did a family read-aloud, the title wouldn't be included on each pupil's report. That kind of bothered me. If more than one pupil does a read-aloud, it should show up on each pupil's report. But it was instead omitted. In the end I could not justify the cost. I keep thinking how many books I could buy with that money
So I am using class planners from Donna Young and typing out my lessons there. It is much easier than using HS Tracker, and the same amount of typing.
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Allegiance Mom in NY
Wife 17 years
Mom to two boys, 14 and 8, and one pre-born babe in Heaven (Jan 2010)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: CM Organizer vs. Homeschool Tracker
