Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: cmo

This topic has 31 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 11 months ago by Erin Robinson.

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March 31, 2014 at 8:03 pm
Misty
Participant
Just making sure I am not missing anything. I dare say, stopped using CMO because of not being able to see a week at a time and having to come daily to make notes and printing daily sheets. Now I am using something else that is basically like using a paper/pen idea, but lets me see a week at a time just like on a calender. I print that out for my kids. They can look down and see everything they do each day. just as if I was giving them a calendar. This is an online organizer also, costs the same, can input a year at a time, etc.
Now I would love to come back to CMO because of the worked on/finished options which is a super nice feature. Would that ever be in the plans to format it for a calendar look? So across the top would be Sun, Mon, Tues, etc and then down the left side would be the subject/book and then in the corresponding box would be the assignment (hope that made since)? (Like a grid)
Jordan mentioned an early thread where someone printed out the week at a time but it didn’t say the day of the week. This is a fussy thing for me but it’s a big one when you are printing out 7 schedules, also it just lists all the bible, then science (or which ever order they are in) not Mondays work, then Tuesdays work, etc.
Would this be helpful for anyone but me? LOL or am I just a complicated, needy organizer mom? Should I add it to the wish list? If anyone would like to see what I mean I would be happy to show you if I new how to take a snap shot of it and post it here.
One other feature it does have is to: Pick a DATE to start something. So for most books we just read book A and then Comes B etc throughout the year. But for Advent and Lent we start them say 4 weeks before the main holiday. So I can go in and say on March 24th my 1st grader is starting a book for Lent I could at the beginning of the year put that book to start on March 24th. Is this option available and I didn’t know how to use it or is this another wish list item?
Misty
March 31, 2014 at 8:17 pm
suzukimom
Participant
To answer your last question first – when you schedule a resource you can specify the start date.
As for your calendar wish – yes, others have wished for it – but it doesn’t sound like they are planning to do it because a division in a resource could take more than one day.
I also wish for it because I am very visual and I like the visual overview.
Here is a picture from the program my kids use to mark things off – but I hate having 2 systems…. I’m trying to work out how to just use the SCMO next year – a few changes would make it perfect (and nothing I’ve found is as close to what I want) – but right now I have to use both as using the other program (versus paper) increased my kids’ productivity immensly – but I prefer the SCMO for reports and for most of how it works.
In the picture, I didn’t include all the days, as it would take too much room.

This is my first attempt to show a picture, so I don’t know if it will work…
If not, look here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28GCpJbbzoQRldSWXRIZEduRWc/edit?usp=sharing

March 31, 2014 at 8:28 pm
Misty
Participant
Great about the date option!!
Yes, the one you just showed is more what I need and my kids. The other organizer I mentioned does that. The flaw is that say you schedule Lesson 1 Mon, 2 Tues & 3 Wed, (so forth) then you go in on Friday to click complete (which is the only option). If they don’t complete it you can “bump” everythiing to the next day which is wonderful it just gets tricky depending on how you entered it into the system. If you just enter it all like you were going to write it on a calendar it’s perfect. If you use some of the formulas for inputting it gets a bit tricky. But it seems to suit me better and I learned how to use it fast enough. It’s here: http://www.scholaric.com/
Also, printing the CMO out for a week takes a lot of paper here, which is what I was trying to cut back on, where the other one is one sheet of paper for the week and on one side.
Hmmm we are needy women!
March 31, 2014 at 9:15 pm
Doug Smith
Keymaster
Have you seen the new weekly overview? It’s not exactly what you asked for but it does address some of the need.
There’s another discussion thread with a picture of it in action: http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/weekly-overview
March 31, 2014 at 10:02 pm
suzukimom
Participant
I’ve seen the new weekly overview, and although it is helpful for a lot of people, and I appreciate the effort, I actually don’t find it helpful at all, and just close it up.
Here is my weekly overview for my kids (just M-F) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28GCpJbbzoQOHRYQ3ZLUWVEU1E/edit?usp=sharing
So – Lets say I want to see when my first child has Reading – Because there isn’t a single row for each subject, I have to scan through the entire list for each day to see when they have it. (Because some days there is ‘Art’ before it, moving it down.) This might be worse for something like Literature which could be in several different ‘rows’…
Also, there are some subjects which are, for us, more than one subject. Like History. For 2 of my kids, they have history everyday. But sometimes it is Canadian History, and sometimes American.
But honestly – I want to see the assignments. Look at the calendar I shared earlier from another program https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28GCpJbbzoQRldSWXRIZEduRWc/edit?usp=sharing
I can glance at the math column and see that we are doing Lessons 26, 27, 28, etc – and the topics. I can see that we have World History on M, T, W – and which books we are using. Because I have included ‘week numbers’ on the reading types of assignments, I can glance through and think ‘ok, we are on week 26 of our schedule’ so glancing at this I don’t see any week 25’s so we are all good. (Or I might see that we are ‘behind’ on a specific book, and choose to add it to my ‘Catch-up’ subject on a light day.
I can see that we are ‘ahead’ on Robin Hood so my student doesn’t ‘have’ to read it – if she does, great. But if we are having a busy day and don’t get to something, I’d rather it was that.
Yes, I know that things can change. That we might not be able to get it all done – and so some stuff might shift by a day (which this program does automatically too)
Yes, I can get this information from the SCMO, but I would need to look at all the resources to see what week has been completed. Or look at the various resources to see what day they are scheduled on. I can use the upcoming assignments to get a peak at what is coming up.
For me – the calendar view with the assignments, with each subject in a row just works for my visual nature.
And for people that want something like that to print, it could take a lot less paper.
When I did paper, I would have loved the new W/F boxes on the expanded assignments (thanks!) – but we were without a printer this fall, so I needed something that my kids could see on the computer and mark off. I’ve mentioned a few things that would make SCMO work better for me to let my kids do that (them not being able to ‘mess up’ anything being big.)
Anyway – I hope this helps explain the difference to me…
Just wanted to add, there are things about the other program we use that drive me crazy – which is why I hope not to use it next year…. there is no easy concept of ‘Worked on’, and no easy way for working ahead. If we only do part of a lesson, I need to go into the activities list, copy the one we didn’t complete, and I usually add (day 1) and (day 2) to it. Or if we do more than 1 lesson, I need to go in and ‘merge’ the lessons together. That is a huge negative to me for the other program. I love how easy the ‘Worked on” and “Finished” work in the SCMO, and how we can continue to the next one with no problems at all!
And I love that you guys listen to us, even if you don’t agree!
March 31, 2014 at 11:49 pm
Misty
Participant
I have to agree with the idea is great but it really doesn’t help as it’s still a clump of a subject vs. a daily idea.
I also love that you are always trying to understand and listen to our ideas and wishes. It’s hard to make all the wishes work with the program you have here I understand.
I guess for me even though the problem with the viewing as a week seems difficult I would love that option. I think that knowing if we missed something or had to move something would not show or obviously change on my “printed” sheet but knowing that it would when I went in to either hit worked on or finished it would fix all that for me. would be like the perfect organizer in my situation. Which is the thing I miss the most about the organizer.

March 31, 2014 at 11:51 pm
Misty
Participant
It wouldn’t be any different than I print off todays sheet and my son read 3 chapters instead of the one scheduled. Obviously the sheet will not adjust but once I go and hit finished for all the 3 the next day it would all print correctly. Same way if it was a weekly. Don’t know if that helped to see it from a can’t see it position (although I wish you could read my mind 🙂
April 1, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Jordan Smith
Keymaster
Let me see if I’m following this. You’re saying you’d like a way to see a weekly chart ordered by subject and day, right? Is this one chart per student?
April 1, 2014 at 4:05 pm
missceegee
Participant
Yes. Even being able to print 5 separate daily charts all at once as they currently print would be great, but a condensed 1-2 pg version with day 1,2,3,4,5 or M-F across top would be FABULOUS! Right now I have a basic chart for the week and type in details for dd6. Showing the upcoming assignments is too much for her. We need a list broken down by day.
Ds10 and dd13 are checking their own online, but a weekly chart of assignments would still benefit them. We find it helpful to see a week at a time. Sometimes we will shift things around if we know we have an activity and other times we will simply skip certain things, but we can’t always skip or we will never finish. The CMO flexibility is terrific and perfect, but adding the ability to see a week at a time would make it STUPENDOUS! I know that it’s possible we may complete two assignments instead of the one scheduled or 3.5 of the 5 scheduled, but the weekly chart would simply be projected not set in stone. I don’t want assignments tied to a specific day, I simply want to see 5 days at once while knowing full well we may complete more or less than is listed.
Hope that helps to see another perspective. Thanks for listening and considering.
Christie
April 1, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Misty
Participant
Jordan that is exactly correct. I would like to print everyones separetely yes! and I personally do not need family studies on anyones but as it’s own printed sheet just like another student.
I really really appreciate the fact that you are just trying to understand what we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see on the organizer.
Misty
April 1, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Misty
Participant
Let’s see if I could try and write here what it would look like:
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Math 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E
Science pg1-5 pg6-12 pg13-18 so on so on
history 2 chapters
copywork letter A Letter B Letter C

So did it look right??? Let’s hit send and see
April 1, 2014 at 4:38 pm
Misty
Participant
It would have if the days moved over one tab and then the lessons were situated under correctly. So across from Math on Monday it would have been 1A and so forth every day.
History on Wed would have had 2 chapters and every other day nothing.
Hope that helps
April 2, 2014 at 3:42 am
suzukimom
Participant
Yes! Exactly. In nice rows (subjects) and columns (days) so it lines up nice and neat. One per student. Projecting one division per day scheduled. An online view, and a printout.
And the CMO working as is for scheduling. Assignments aren’t set to a specific date… just the do 1 more thing as it currently is. Love it.
April 2, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Jordan Smith
Keymaster
Thanks for the additional details to help us understand what you need. We’re working on some other features right now, but this is really helpful as we decide what to do going forward.
April 2, 2014 at 4:28 pm
missceegee
Participant
Here is a picture of the weekly sheet I type up for dd6. Similar perhaps to Suzukimom, but I can’t view hers for some reason. Something along these lines that plugs the subjects/resources in only on the days used would be a tremendous help. My older kids have a similar chart without specifics that works to keep them on track throughout the week with them checking off their own work on their computers (No major problems as of yet.), but if a weekly printout were available, they would use it!
Thanks for adding this to the list of features to consider. In my mind this is the #1 thing that would take the CMO from great to OUT OF THIS WORLD. The #2 is adding notes to assignments within the scheduler and to the upcoming assignments.
Thank you!
Christie