Getting started

From nothing to a planned week in about ten minutes. The app walks you through the same five steps; this page is the long version, with what to expect and what to do next.

Before you start

Have your curricula nearby. For each one you will want the table of contents, or the number of lessons, or a list you can paste. Know roughly which days each course meets. That is all.

Curious first? The setup offers the sample family, the Alvarezes: three students in New York with a full year of courses, a few weeks of records, and narratives. Explore it, then replace it with your own family under Settings › Sample data.

Step 1: Your family and state

The family name and your home state. The state only affects which report formats appear first and the required-subject checklist; you can change it any time.

Step 2: The school year

Pick a template: traditional (late August to early June, Monday to Friday), year-round, or a four-day week. The usual holidays are added and the school-day count updates as you edit, so a 180-day state is settled before you begin. Delete the holidays you school through, add your own breaks, and set terms if a course will run in only one.

Step 3: Students

First name, grade, and a color. Free includes one student; add the rest whenever you like (that is where Pro begins, and the 7-day free trial covers it).

Step 4: Subjects

Subjects are pre-checked by grade. Each is marked core or not, which matters for states that count core hours separately. Rename, add, or uncheck freely.

Step 5: The first course

The correction screen after scanning a table of contents — Scan, paste, or generate; then fix the list; then pick the days.

Name the course, choose its subject and student, then add lessons by scanning the table of contents, pasting a list, or generating numbered lessons. Pick the rule: every school day, specific weekdays, or a number of times a week. The Ready step shows your week planned.

Your first week

Today shows a small checklist card for two weeks with three things worth doing early:

Add a second course. Open Plan › Courses. Each course takes a minute once you have its lesson list.
Try bumping. Skip a day on purpose, then bump. Watch the lessons move forward and the pace badge update. This is the feature that makes the plan survive real life.
Print a report. Under Records, open a student and tap Reports. Even with a few days of records, the attendance and hours reports show what the year will look like.

Every day after that

Open Today, check things off. Add a note or a photo when something is worth keeping. Turn on the morning summary under Settings › Reminders if you like a nudge. Hand the iPad to a child in student mode when they are ready to run their own list. That is the entire record-keeping job.

Good habits

Set each course's default minutes honestly; hours reports use them unless you time a lesson or change the minutes.
Fill in Report details (parent names, address, district, evaluator) once; they print on every report.
Make a backup at the end of each term from Settings › Back up and restore and put it in iCloud Drive. It is one file, and it is free.

Stuck? Every screen in the app has a matching guide under Settings › Help and guides, and support answers within two business days.