Working with HST + and TOG

I actually have something to share to help all my new friends at TLT who use Tapestry of Grace and Homeschool Tracker +. Since A1 will be starting in 9th grade this fall I knew I needed something to help me print out her transcript when she graduates. She wants to go to law school so college is definetly on her list of things to do.

I found Homeschool Tracker and looked over the free edition and the plus edition. I was using the free edition for a little while to see how I liked it. It was fairly easy to get started and move around, but it didn't offer all that I needed so I purchased the upgrade.

The scheduling of Tapestry of Grace with HST+ has come up quite frequently lately as we are all busy trying to get ready for the new school year. After reading the manuel, yes, I purchased it separate, that is just how I am wired, I got started playing around. I figured it out! The transcript is going to look great after 4 years.

Here is where to start:

1. Make sure you enter all of the student information under the Maintenance tab then click student tab. Click edit and fill out all the correct information for all of the tabs. Save.
2. Enter your Subjects next. This is the list I came up with for R level and D level students. I am only listing TOG information in these instructions.
   

• Enrichment
• Government
• History
• History of Fine Arts
• Honors English I
• Language Arts
• Philosophy
• Social Studies
• Theological Studies

3. Enter your Courses next. Subject is listed first below. (Lists the code given all in in R1 or D1 for level and year of TOG)

• Enrichment: Enrichment(ER1)-Activities: Group Discussion, In-Class, Reading Assignment
• Government: Ancient Government Studies(AGOVR1)-Activities: Discussion Questions, Group Discussion, Reading Assignment
• History: Ancient World History(D1)-Activities: Discussion Question work, Group Discussion, Reading Assignment, Test, Time Line work
• History: Honors History: Ancient World(HHAWR1)-Discussion Question work, Geography Work, Group Discussion, Group Project, Reading Assignment, Test, Time Line work, Vocabulary
• History of Fine Arts: Fine Arts D level(FA D1)-Activities: In-Class, Project, Reading Assignment
• History of Fine Arts: History of Fine Arts: Ancient World(FA R1)-Activities: In-Class, Project, Reading Assignment
• Honors English I: Ancient Literature(AL R1)-Activities: See your Y1 Loom in the Grading Year 1 Rhetoric-Level Literature section for activities and different ways to grade this section of Honors English
• Honors English I: Composition I (COMP1)-Activities: Dictation, In-Class, Writing Assignment
• Honors English I: Grammar Studies(GRAMR1)-all activities needed to complete whatever program you are using.
• Honors English I: SAT Prep/Vocab(SATPREP)-Activities-As needed to complete whatever program you are using.
• Language Arts: Grammar Studies D1(GD1)-Activities-As needed to complete whatever program you are using.
• Language Arts: Literature D1(LIT D1)-Activities: Discussion Question work, Group Discussion, Reading Assignment, Test, Vocabulary Assignments
• Language Arts: Spelling/Vocab(SPV D1)-Activities: Any that you need to complete whatever program you are using
• Language Arts: Writing D1(WRIT D1)-Activities: Dictation, In-Class, Writing Assignment
• Philosophy: History of Philosophy:The Ancient World (WV R1)-Activities; Discussion Questions, Group Discussion, Reading Assignment
• Social Studies: Geography-Ancient World D1(GEOAWD1)-Activities: Map Work, Narration/Notebook, Projects
• Theological Studies: Bible Survey/History of the Early Church (CH R1)-Activities: Discussion Questions, Group Discussion, Reading assignment, Test, Time Line Work
• Theological Studies: Church History-D1 (CH D1)-Activities: Discussion Questions, Group Discussion, Reading Assignment, Time Line Work

Because I wanted the kids to take possession of their year and their work, we sat down and hashed out a schedule for each of them for the week. The kids also were willing to do a half-day on Saturdays which shortens our school year. I then entered this into the Year/Term under the Maintenance tab and LP Schedule under the Teacher Tab. I realized that I had also just cut the 36 weeks down to 34 and then after taking out vacation/holidays 32 weeks. They were willing to combine weeks full up. We really like summer vacation. When doing the LP Schedule, each child had their own color, a color when they were one-on-one with me and a color for group discussion time. I also wanted them to decide how to break up their assignments and schedule to take responsibility for their things, so when posting in the Lesson Planner I do it a little differently.

In the Lesson Planner I first make a separate Lesson Plan for TOG YR1 Rhetoric, TOG YR1 Dialect, Level 7 Writing Aids, Level 9 Writing Aids, I also put separately all of the other subjects by students. This is so that I can re-use A1 plans when A2 gets to 9th grade-less work in two years-yeah. Start entering information.

This is where is gets a little tricky.

I follow my Reading Assignments sheets for that specific week and add the assignments. I make sure the correct lesson plan is listed then choose the Subject, Course, Activity, Resource. Then come the numbers. These are very important. After playing around and messing it up a few times this is what I came up with. I want all of these to post on one day for each week, the day we plan, which happens to be Saturday. This part is done differently for subjects that you plan out for them totally, like I did the Math this year. I will explain that on a different post.

For the sequence number-this will correspond with the week number you are doing for TOG. Mine will look funny after 4, because we are combining week 4 & 5 so I will skip to 6 and go from there.

The order number-this is how it is grouped in the students assignment page, both printed and on your screen. I use the following order numbers to keep things together.

• Social Studies-0
• History-1
• Government-2
• Literature-3
• Theology-4
• Philosophy-5
• History of Fine Arts-6
• Writing Aids-7
• Enrichment-8

The Group Number is where I list what week it is. W1 for week 1 and so on.

I type in the actual reading pages assignment or project assignment if it is short.

Topic is where I type in the Topic of the week we are studing in TOG.

If I have a lot to assign or I am working on the writing schedule, I always put that in the directions box. This prints on the student assignment sheet directly under that assignment and is highlighted in gray.

The # of Days is left at 1 so that it doesn't spread the assignment due date out. This is handled differently for the Math assignments that I did.

I found it easier to submit the assignments a week at a time because I could select the whole view and submit at once. I do allow for reschedule. So far I have up to weeks 4 & 5, our combined weeks entered.

When submitting, I select what I want to submit. Remember you can use shift or control to select more than one assignment at a time. Click on the submit button. Select the date you want the assignment to show on the assignment grid. Since our planning day is part of our 1/2 day Saturday schedule I always click on the Saturday date and advance through the year that way. Next you will choose your student for the appropriate lesson plan. On the day options I choose the "use the following days and times" then proceed to click off the check marks for every day except Saturday when we plan. It will pull up all the assignments and you can double check they are correct and click submit. They are now on your students assignment page.

The headings across my student's assignment page are in the following order: Date Given(this is also lifted in area above the bar that runs across the page-it groups things by this so there is not one long list of assignments for you to look through, but you can see what was given for a specific day), Course Title, Activity, Resource, Page/Lesson/Chapter, Topic, Possible Points, Earned Points, Grade, Done, Date Due, Date Completed, Directions.

When you print this page for your students you have a choice of using the Date Given, Date Due, Date Completed, Subject. You can print off then what works best for you. All TOG assignments if entered the way I described should have the same given and due date. The kids take this paper, leaving my planning binder alone so I know where it always is(we sometimes...have problems getting things put back in the correct spot).

As you enter the grades the transcript will form. Your Honors English Class will list out the subjects and will also give the heading of Honors English heading. It looks great!

I am sorry that this is so long, but I wanted to give you as many details as I could. I haven't figured out how to post the pdf files I have saved for examples, when I do I will enter them. The pictures that I took also seemed out of focus and too far away to see anything.

I am excited to help with this for anyone who is wondering how I was able to get this to work together.

Happy planning.