February 7, 2008 - Two Thumbs up for Homeschool Tracker Plus!
I have been fiddling with the new program for some time, now. I was struggling with some things... because I simply did not read the manual and tried to learn as I went. That isn't the best way, all the time! LOL
I contacted the company over some error codes and some troubles with saving information and finding the information. I have been back and forth by email and the customer support is AWESOME! I figured out what I did wrong, it had nothing to do with the program... (thankfully!), it was just some errors on my part. Confusion came when I had a computer crash that I was using it on. I had saved some of my progress on the jumpdrive, but not all.
I was helped to find where my data ended up being stored and found a solution to my struggles. Plus some extra tips with making up my transcript which I am currently in process of doing.
I cannot say enough about the program and the people that are there helping out with support. And the gal apologized that it took her so many "hours" to get a reply out to me, as it was evident to her that the email had been lost, so she retyped it. I felt she got back to me in such a timely manner... much quicker than Dell or other support centers I had been to in the past.
Oh, and there is a forum for help with the program. And it is busy! Nice to jump in and find new friends willing to help make your day go easier. I tried other computer planners and just did not have the support like this. There are people there to help you with the basic (free version) and the plus version... which is WAY worth the money in my opinion, especially with the great support. They had previously helped me figure out how to record our HS over 4 years rather than the traditional one year courses. It is hard enough doing things untraditionally, but then trying to track all that information!!! Well, they just made my life so much sweeter!
I am smiling! *Ü*
Warmly, ~Melissa
March 5, 2007 - Teaching Textbooks: Algebra 1
After trying Algebra 1/2 with Saxon and feeling very frustrated with it, I searched long and hard for an Algebra program that my daughter would enjoy and actually learn from. I also wanted a program that was user friendly as I found my time dwindling and I was needing something that we could use without so many reference books to cover material.
I found that Teaching Textbooks offers a wonderful Algebra 1 program that my oldest daughter enjoyed and she said it finally made sense! She had tried Saxon Algebra 1/2, and Holt Algebra and struggled to make sense of both. Teaching Textbooks came with a textbook that is spiral bound and on thin paper. I was not really happy with the text as I thought it would fall apart and definately not last through more than one kid. We are on child number two and the book is still intact and nothing has ripped. My first opinions were wrong!
The program also comes with CD's with lectures and practice problems, and lesson problems. My daughter is allowed to have the lecture cd's which teach the lesson on the computer with an instructor talking to the student and a pad of paper on the screen with writing going along with what the teacher is explaining. She listens to the lecture and goes through the practice problems. If she understands, she then continues on with the lesson problems. I keep the lesson problem cd's in mom's files. If my daughter has a problem that I cannot quickly answer, we get those out and go over it together. It removes temptation to cheat by having mom in control of the lesson problem CD's. Plus, it keeps me in touch with where my daughter is struggling and I can keep tabs on her progress better.
My second daughter enjoys Algebra so much she says... I may even do Algebra 2. I am so thankful for such a user friendly program. The cost was a bit high, but the alternatives were also high in price. I found that this program was just more user friendly than the others that I researched and I am very happy with it.
Warmly, ~Melissa
