Homeschool Tracker Plus Frustrations

[Mogster]

I purchased this program over a month ago and I still have no clue how to use it. I have watched videos and still I am having trouble. Normally, things like this come very easy to me -- this program just does not seem to be logical. Even when I follow instructions it still seems not to work properly. Has anyone had a simillar experience?

[praisefor3]

I, too, consider myself capable of understanding these types of programs fairly easy but this one has really been difficult to comprehend. I am still struggling...but getting there. In belief that it would be worth it, I started very simply and now I keep adding in more things. Now I am going back and rewatching some videos as I understand a few more things and so I can take in more. I can already say it is helping and I am glad I have done it. Here's how I got going:

I started with the lesson plan. One subject. I didn't import anyone's. I made my own. For instance, I took Learning Language Arts through Literature and broke it down into the individual segments I wanted him to do each day. This is similar to how I would have done it before on an Excel spread sheet. I numbered the sequences from 1 in increments of 1 and each sequence represented one day. Once I got done with that I did a different subject. And then added another one, etc. After I got these lesson plans entered I started submitting them. I have toyed with a few of the different reports - one week trying one, one week trying another until I figured out what worked best (actually still doing this.) I'm adding pieces as I go along. I recognized early on that I was not using it in the beginning the same way I will be using it in six months but I had to get started somewhere or I would have just not used the program at all.

The main thing I was looking for in a program was something where I could plan out the whole subject and then assign them to dates, move them when life in our way, and after everything was planned out, print out the whole week's plan with just ten minutes of planning on Sundays. I have been able to do that with HST already even though I still am not using features such as courses, grading, attendance, etc. because these were not my priorities.

I hope this helps a bit. I certainly don't have much knowledge about it compared to those who have used it a lot more...but I very much can relate to just trying to get started. Feel free to PM me if you think I can help anymore.

[Frontier Mom]

I've used it for a while now. Is there any particular thing you need help with? I'll help if I can.

[Laurel]

I totally understand your frustrations. The program does not seem very intuitive to me, and frankly, I find all the features overwhelming. I do actually love the program, and it does exactly what I want to do, and I'm so glad I bought the Plus version, but it's a lot to take in.

Is there anything specifically that you are having trouble with that we can maybe help with?

[Cadam]

I went back to pen and paper.

It is obviously designed by a gifted programer. I think he is a great programer and it has some wonderful features. It is unfortunately very poor user interface design and not a bit intuitive. I have 2 years before I actually need to keep records for High School. I hope and pray that something good will come out before then. Otherwise it is pen and paper for me!

[Rhonda in TX]

Ask away. We'd love to help. :)

I started using it for this school year and love it, but I have definitely learned things as I've gone along. My latest discovery is the lesson plan schedule.

There are many levels to this program. It can be as simple or as complex as you'd like.

[riada]

:iagree:I agree with Rhonda. I have used this for a couple years successfully. I am by no means a gifted techy-type person but I managed to find what I needed on it and am pleased to have purchased it.

[Kathy in NC]

I decided to start very simple. Once I was comfortable with one thing, I added another. I also signed up for some of the free classes they offer. That was really beneficial because I could ask all the questions that pertained to what I was trying to do...and was walked through the steps to figure it out. I was really determined to make it work because high school is just around the corner!

[skai]

I also signed up for some of the free classes they offer.
Free classes? I'll have to check these out!

[Ria]

LOL. I tried a number of programs such as this over the years. Got my money back for all of them. I ended up just making a chart on Microsoft Word.

Ria

[sweetbaby]

Try the discussion board on the site. Katie is very helpful and quick to respond. I've used it for a few years now. I started with the Basic to get the hang of it and now use the Plus. There are a few features that I don't use and I have recently decided to use the pen and paper method for my littles. It's easier for me this way since I don't have to record their grades or even test in my state. However, I am keeping samples of their work along with the good old paper homeschool planning book. I mainly love the Tracker for my highschooler because I need formal records for him plus it creates his transcript.

[Peela]

I went back to pen and paper too.
And a simple table made up on Word that I fill in before each term.
Easy peasy. HTplus made my head spin.

[sweetbaby]

I just wanted to add that I am using the old fashion pen and paper for my littles and I tweaked our weekly planning forms (http://www.lovesschool.com/2008/10/our-weekly-planning-form.html). You can check it out and use it if you like or tweak them to your liking. :001_smile:

[praisefor3]

I am a forms person. I love forms. I love making them, using them, looking at them. :) I have used/bought/created many forms for homeschooling. After my first try of HST basic, I went back to paper for a couple years. This year I made the commitment to try HST plus and I will say, now that I'm on this side of things, I can see that I will probably stick to this method. (I have a senior, a 5th grader and a 4 year old!) So...if you find yourself going back to paper, you still might decide later to try it again. I'm glad I did at this point...but it does take some time.

[candleinaustin]

Wish me luck. I'm giving it a try. I'm very interested in the yahoo groups that link up with this software since we're using lots of diff. curricula, I'm getting weary of all the planning.

[mamato4girls]

Yes, me! I feel totally frustrated with it. I have had it for months and can't figure it out. It was a total waste of $50!

[dymphna57]

I bought the program in August of 2005? after homeschooling since 1992 and at the time I had decided that if it didn't work I was quitting. I was so tired of it all. It seemed that some years we just fumbled along feeling miserable because we never felt like we were accomplishing any of our goals. The kids wanted to know when they had done enough, or were they going to finish this year during this year. I would switch from boxed curriculums to designing my own with similar frustration. I never could figure out anything.
I started writing weekly lesson plans which helped so much as the goals were broken down into managable amounts of time. The busy worker could keep working or start early and finish earlier than the sleepy crowd. I noticed trends and could respond intelligently! But, Oh how my time was spent writing and evaluating those pesky lesson plans!
I would sit at the diningroom table weekends, and Mondays, with every teacher manual and student book out trying to work out what we should do. I tried buying lesson plans but you still have to put them into a weekly schedule for your particular child so that just meant another book!
Back to HST, I bought it to build a transcript to my eleventh grader who wanted to go to a classical high school. I had boxes of his old work, some semesters carefully stapled together with grades entered and attendence records, were totally lost. I spent a lot of that August creating subjects and filling in the grades I did have. The transcript was beautiful if more creative than factual. I felt like I could go on at least one more year.
September I discovered Lesson plans. I had been using weekly assignments to put in all the easy stuff like one page handwriting and lesson ## Saxon.
Now I could scan and paste those lessons plans I had bought and put them somewhere. I could keep track of what lesson we had done last. I could submit them to the assignment chart as I needed them and repeat them if I needed them by just rescheduling.
Let me tell you about the September I used one of my old lesson plans for a younger child! Oh my goodness it was wonderful. I added a few things as this one was quicker but I know I can choose items on the Lesson Plans I don't have to just use them as is.
When the yahoo groups started I thought they were too good to be true. I think they are very indivigual and are more like starting points sometimes. They are just what they say they are , sharing , like recipe sharing means we all change a few things to suit our family.
Can I stop now?
I am trying to get all new homeschoolers on to tracker plus asap so they can skip the trauma.
Sorry if this was way too long. I guess I just find it what keeps me sane.

[candleinaustin]

You're experience sounds similar to mine, even though I haven't yet made the purchase of HST Plus to reap any benefits. I have word docs and excel spreadsheets and pages everywhere to keep up with stuff and it all feels so scattered and disorganized. Also - I don't journal much and I believe the journalling tool will help me in capturing some great memories as for me, it's so much easier to just input it into the hst tool.

Here's how I think we'll really benefit. We have and we find so many resources and LOVE to jump around as we both tend to get stuck in a rut if doing the same thing day after day. I believe this is really going to assist me in keeping up with all the schooling goodies and not to forget where we left off in whatever subject / book / project etc. So many curricula, so little time. :-) I loved you're post, and everyone elses. This is helping me so much and I'm so very thankful for the contributions and the support I receive here.

[Annabel Lee]

I got HST (not the Plus version) on the free download. After spending hours reading about how it works, I still don't use it. I started to, but didn't find some of the features I was looking for. It just seems like if I were to use it, I have to spend countless hours inputting data first. Then, I have to return to the computer to transfer grades, resources used, journal overview of the day, etc. and that would be that much more work. I returned to pen and paper. I have lists and charts stuffed and floating all over the place, but somehow we manage. To find out what lesson we're on, I open up the book and look. At the beginning of the year, I divided up each subject by the # of school days I expect our schoolyear to be and wrote it all down, chart-style, in a notebook. If I need to see if we're still on track I can go to that and calculate what lesson we should be on.
I saw a friend's EduTrack program and really loved it. Another friend of mine uses HSTPlus and swears by it. I'd like to have something like these for certain things. The journalling bit would be nice, I don't know that I really have the time though. In case anyone can point me in the right direction, I would like these features: grade reports that allow you to assign greater weight to tests or certain projects, not assume that everything is worth the same %; yearly, quarterly, weekly, and daily breakdowns of lessons plans - for weekly plans I'd like to be able to see each day's list of assignements and what to use for each, quarterly and yearly could be less detailed but w/ options to click on to open up and see more; I would like to have seperate sections for Books ds has Read, Books to Check Out, Books to Buy, Movies to check out/buy, Curriculums to look at, websites (and sections to put those under - games, history, reading, etc.), instead of having to list them all in one lump under 'resources' like in HST. If anyone has any suggestions we're all ears. Is it just the start-up data-entry phase that is so time consuming? Or does it remain that way for regular use?