The Family Page: A How-To Guide

The Family page is where you set up the foundation for your whole account: your family-wide school-year goals and each of your students. A few minutes here makes everything else in Chalk and Chart (Curriculum, Instructional Time, Grades, Portfolio, and more) work the way you expect.

This guide walks through every function on the page.

Opening the Family page

From the main menu on the left, click Family. On a phone, tap Family in the bottom bar. The page has two sections: Family settings at the top, and your Students below.

Part 1: Family settings

This card holds the details that apply to your whole homeschool for the year.

To save your changes: update any field, then click Save family. The button briefly reads "Saving..." and your changes take effect immediately.

Tip: The hour and days goals are optional and independent. You can set one, both, or neither. If a goal is blank, the matching progress ring simply shows "no goal set."

Part 2: State Requirements

Once you pick a Homeschool State, a State Requirements card appears on the right side of the Family page. It gives you an at-a-glance summary of what your state expects: notification, testing, evaluation, and recordkeeping, each marked Required (green), Recommended (amber), or Optional (grey), along with any state deadlines.

Click any requirement to expand its full details; click it again to collapse. For the complete reference, including official source links and the finer print, open the Requirements by State page (under Community & Resources), which has its own how-to guide.

Note: This information is a general educational resource, not legal advice. Homeschool rules change and vary by district, so always confirm the current requirements with your state's official sources before you act.

Add your state's required pages

Once you pick a Homeschool State, an Add all required pages button appears in the Family card next to Save family. It lists the record-keeping pages your state requires and, with one click, pins them to My Frequently Used Pages at the top of your left-hand menu so the records you need are always a tap away. States that mandate no ongoing records show no button.

Choosing how to track time. If your state requires attendance or a set number of days or hours of instruction, a question appears first: keep it on the Calendar, on Instructional Time, or both. Pick whichever you plan to use, and the button pins that page (or pages). Both tools can satisfy the requirement, so this is your choice; it defaults to Both.

Where work samples go. If your state requires student work samples, the list includes the Gallery, since that is where you log photos of a student's work. (The Portfolio is still listed when your state separately requires a portfolio or an annual evaluation.)

Part 3: Students

Add one entry for each child you're homeschooling. Everything else in the app (lessons, reading, time, grades, gallery photos) is organized by student.

Each student row shows, from left to right:

• A color dot used to identify that student across the app (on the calendar, gallery, and more).
• The student's name.
• Their grade level (for example, "5th").
• Their grading scale ("0 to 100" or "1 to 4").
• A green LOGIN badge if the student has their own login.
• Buttons to Add login / Manage login, Edit, and Delete.

Add a student

1. Click Add Student (top-right of the Students card).

2. Fill in the form:

   

   • Name – the student's name (required).
   • Grade level – free text, such as 3rd or Kindergarten.
   • Grading scale – choose how this student's grades are recorded:
     • 0 to 100 – a percentage score (for example, 92%).
     • 1 to 4 – a descriptive scale: 1 Unsatisfactory, 2 Needs Improvement, 3 Satisfactory, 4 Outstanding (no percentages).
   • Color – click the color box to pick this student's color.

3. Click Save. The student appears in the list right away.

Tip: You can give each student a different grading scale. For example, use "1 to 4" for a younger child and "0 to 100" for an older one.

Edit a student

Click Edit on a student's row to reopen the same form with their current details. Change anything you like, then click Save.

Delete a student

Click Delete on a student's row. Your browser asks you to confirm because this cannot be undone. Click OK to remove the student, or Cancel to keep them.

Part 4: Student logins

You can give any student their own login. When they sign in, they see only their own assignments, reading log, instructional time, and grades. You stay in full control and can remove the login at any time.

Add a login

1. On the student's row, click Add login.

2. Fill in the form:

   

   • Login email – the email address the student will use to sign in.
   • Password – set a password of at least 12 characters. (This field appears on the live site. Give your student this password so they can sign in.)
   • Share Student Calendar – tick this to also show this student's calendar inside their login. Leave it unticked to keep the calendar parent-only.

3. Click Create login.

Once created, the student's row shows a green LOGIN badge, and the button changes to Manage login.

Manage or remove a login

Click Manage login on a student who already has one.

From here you can:

• See which email the student signs in with.
• Turn Share Student Calendar on or off at any time (the change saves immediately).
• Remove login – revokes the student's access. Their records stay in your account; only their ability to sign in is removed. You'll be asked to confirm.

Click Close when you're done.

Quick reference

Screenshots use a sample "Demo Family" with two students, Ada and Linus.