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Weekly Overview
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So if you have to approve things are your children really working independently and would it actually complicate things for you?
By the way, this has been a very helpful discussion! I hope you all don’t mind when I ask tough questions or have a little fun with it. It’s all designed to help draw out what’s really important to you, which sometimes lies a bit below the surface.
My thoughts are more along the lines of if they click finished on something where it should only be worked on (they finished for the day, but not the resource), then there is no way to undo that. If there were an undo, that would work.
My 13,9,and 6 year old all have checklists they work from without problem. I do still follow up and make sure things are completed properly and checked off properly. I would do that regardless of what system we used to track our work. I follow up with the younger kids and their lists daily whereas I only follow up with the 13 yo once per week. When I was using the cmo, there were occasions that I clicked finished when I meant worked on and I had to reschedule the resource altogether. That’s the issue I’d rather avoid, either by having an undo (which is a better plan I’m thinking) or some kind of check-up option.
I appreciate talking and thinking it all through.
Yes, I don’t necessarily need to approve each entry – it is just the not being able to easily fix it if they accidently finish a resource…
The clicked finished on a resource is also a great concern of mine. I haven’t jumped to the allowing my 14yo to check off on the CMO, but he does go over it with me as it’s being checked off and knows the process. Should be allowed to do it on his own, HOWEVER, I’ve “finished” a resource accidentally, too. DRAT! Yes, it’s a fix, but an unfortunate one at this point.
Thanks for questioning options with everyone, Doug. I know it helps find the best solutions for all of us.
Honestly, I don’t like that a “Finished” resource can’t be edited once it’s been clicked on as finished. I’m talking about mistakingly marking something Finished only to realize three assignments later that you marked it incorrectly. This happened recently when my MIL took our kids for several days and did school with them. I showed her how to use the Organizer, but she marked several things “Finished” that weren’t actually finished. Because she continued to mark assignments “Worked On” Or “Finished” for the remainder of the time my children were with her, I can’t go back and change those incorrectly marked assignments. We’re rushing to finish them so that what we’re doing is in line with what the Organizer is showing. I would love to see that feature corrected or updated in some way, if possible.
you can correct the previous assignment- there is a place beside it where you can edit it. and I have corrected something that has been messed up for a couple of assignments by editing the last one so it isn’t finished, then refreshing the page, clicking to edit the next one, etc.
I have even noticed that you can now edit a finished resource if you do it right away… Probably the same day…. As it now shows that resource still on that day. I haven’t tried if marked off on a different computer though, and I’m sure the next day you couldn’t.
The printing feature allows my children to work independently. They check their work off on the print-out throughout the week, get it approved by me, then they edit their own assignments on the organizer at the end of the week. I like the “show upcoming assignments” feature because it’ll show five assignments with a margin for additional notes, allowing us to print once a week. 🙂 Thanks, Doug.
I agree with missceegee completely.
I used the organizer one year and liked it, but felt it held me up when I had to go on and orint and check off daily. So, I created my own weekly spreadsheet for each child. I would love to have that ability with the organizer. The best of both worlds in my opinion. It has all the resouces already entered and cuts out work for me.
I spend about an hour on the weekends doing the next week’s checklists. But I only have to print four pieces of paper as opposed to 20 if we printed daily. I do miss the summaries that I could print for each child. My “perfect organizer” would have the ability to go in and plan a whole week at a time. I am not partial either way about my children going in to check on the computer. They could do it on their list and I will go in once per week to update and print off the next week for each child.
I know you can edit an assignment if it’s the last thing you marked off as finished. But you can’t if it’s two assignments or more later. My MIL marked that my dd finished a book, when she hadn’t. Days later, I couldn’t change it. Because I didn’t want to completely reschedule the assignment, I have just left it and we are trying to get the book finished to reflect what the organizer shows. It would be nice to be able to go back at any time and edit an assignment.
ETA: I don’t find it a problem to mark things off as we do them since my desk is in the same room as the children are working. I usually sit at the computer and do work there while they do their independent school work. So I don’t find the organizer inconvenient in the least. I also do not print off checklists or anything. I simply tell my children what to do next since I have the organizer pulled up right in front of me on my screen.
I just ran into another issue with something being marked finished that wasn’t. Because it happened last week, I can’t fix it. It was a map drill, and I had no choice but to go in and reschedule it. Would LOVE to see, as Christie said, some sort of “Undo” button or a way to go back and edit these mistakes.
Also, LESSON LEARNED. As much as I appreciate my MIL taking my kids and doing their school work with them for a few days, I will not give anyone access to my organizer again! This is a headache!
Lindsay, as for assignments, yes you can only edit the last one – but if you edit the last one and mark it so it was never worked on or anything… then refresh the browser, then ig is now the current assignment, and the next previous assignment can now be edited – repeat as needed. A pain, yes.
But that is why I don’t let my kids use the organizer directly, even though I want to.
Right, but that doesn’t work for an assignment that was marked Finished five days ago with subsequent assignments then marked on top of that. I can’t go back to last week when my MIL had them and fix the assignments she marked since even more assignments have been marked since. Even my children’s attendance reports are now off, showing that ds has done one more day of school than dd. This drives me CRAZY! And I’ve run reports in so many different ways trying to find the mistake and fix it. I’m wanting to pull my hair out! It was my mistake for giving her access to my organizer, so it’s no one’s fault but mine.
As my children have gotten older, they become better computer people than me. I have three children who can manage the CMO on their own from the family computer and prefer too (they worry about me messing up the organizer
).I like teaching my children that they are in control of their work and trained them to use the organizer by having them check off their work while I was sitting with them. Over time they got the hang of it and now can schedule their next books using the Bookfinder or ISBN. Because these records are for our family only, I don’t worry about having perfect records. This is kind of like when Mariah, in Pride and Prejudice, was anxiously packing her suitcase and had to be reminded by Elizabeth that Lady Catherine de Bourgh would never know how that suitcase looked on the inside.
However, I do manage the younger children by using a workbox type system with index cards in a cheap photo album and the CMO.
All this to say: your children may take over the organizer one day too…what a blessing the simplicity of the CMO is for us. blessings
I don’t use the CMO … yet, but I’m really thinking of it. Can I ask you all this question based on your posts – You are saying that you print out or write out a daily list of assignments for each child? I’m trying ot wrap my mind around this better. Can someone give me an example? Just cut and paste here?
I don’t do this or seem to have the need and I’m trying to figure out why? lol. They know their assignment for Literature, they do it, I listen to or get their written narration, next lesson. They have a Spread the Feast sheet that shows what it looks like the CMO now shows – a list of daily subjects and lessons to be covered and on what days of the week. They seem to have memorized it though by the first few weeks of the year and don’t look back to it very often unless we’ve been off school for a bit.
Can anyone pop over to my other CMO post too and see if they can respond? I’m trying to learn more about this option for our next year. Thanks in advance.
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