Documentation & System Help
From the main login hub screen, click the big Parent Portal button. This opens your admin dashboard where you control the entire system.
You must establish a 4-digit security PIN upon your first entry. This PIN restricts student access to the administrative and planning sections of the application. To adjust where the PIN is required, access the PIN Security Settings located on the Login Hub.
Go to Settings on the dashboard to set up your foundation.
Go to the Master Calendar on the dashboard.
We recommend creating courses in the Curriculum Vault Curriculum Library tab first. Once built, assign the curriculum to a student and use the Vault Fill button inside the School Planner to automatically schedule their weekly tasks.
Alternatively, you can manually schedule tasks on the fly using the Task Scheduler (the blue tab on the left edge of your screen). This slide-out panel lets you quickly add one-off tasks, recurring assignments, or multi-day projects directly to the calendar.
Go to the Chores & Economy section. If you didn't use the Starter Pack, open the Bonus or Rewards tab. Use the input bar to type a name, set points, choose frequency, and click Add.
Once you finish setup, click the 📱 Login Hub button at the very top of the Parent Portal. From there, click a student's profile to see exactly what their daily app looks like!
Add Homeschool Tally to your home screen so it opens like an app.
These quick-access buttons are located at the top of your dashboard.
The top navigation bar displays the current week. Click on any specific day to instantly review or edit its logged tasks and hours.
The pacing percentage sets your target tolerance for expected versus actual time spent. You can adjust this globally, or set custom thresholds per student in their specific view.
Each student's card provides a high-level summary of their day. It tracks total completed tasks and shows their current pacing. If tasks require a grade, the grading indicator pulses red. You can enter missing grades directly in the data grid below.
The task grid functions like a standard spreadsheet. Click any field to edit time, grades, or attach portfolio evidence instantly.
When the alarm clock icon is pulsing red, you have past-due tasks or chores to triage.
When the bell icon is pulsing red, you have items requiring parent review.
Provides a quick scratchpad and to-do list that persists across all tabs in the portal without obstructing your view. Keep your daily notes organized here.
Open the Settings gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Parent Portal. On phones, some top-bar shortcuts (Community Hub, Master Data Log, Master Calendar) also appear here.
Logout: Signs you out of your account. On desktop, the logout icon is at the far right of the portal row; on mobile it appears at the bottom of the Settings menu.
Settings → System Config → Student Settings
Add, edit, or remove student profiles. This is where child dashboards are created and how each student experiences the app.
Settings → System Config → Manage Subjects
Define the subjects used across the planner, vault, timers, and state hour tracking. The School Planner and Curriculum Vault stay inactive until at least one subject exists.
School year start/end dates and blackout days are set in Master Calendar (top bar), not in this section.
Settings → System Config → Economy Starter Pack
Loads a pre-built set of popular chores, bonus activities, and rewards into your Chores & Economy section. Use this when setting up the points system for the first time instead of creating every item manually.
Settings → System Config → Data Safety & Time Machine
Backup, restore, archive, and year-rollover tools. Use this section when you need to download your records, import old data, or start a new school year.
Settings → System Config → Security Settings
Account login credentials and parent PIN controls. Separate from student profiles — these protect access to the Parent Portal.
PIN route toggles on the Login Hub itself are configured separately on the Login Hub screen under PIN Security Settings.
A directory for local events, co-ops, and field trips.
The Master Data Log is the raw database of every Academic Task your children have completed. Chores and rewards are intentionally excluded so you have a clean record for state reporting. Open it from the Master Data Log button in the top navigation row (on phone: Settings → Master Data Log). This is also where you open the State Report to review and print your official homeschool records.
Click directly into any row to edit it — no separate edit mode required.
In the Img column, use the paperclip icon to upload a file from your device, or the camera icon to take a portfolio photo. Click an existing thumbnail to view it full size. Hover a photo and use the refresh icon to replace it.
Click the calendar-plus icon at the end of any row to reassign that task. The completed log entry and its logged hours stay in place — the app copies the same task onto the planner for a new day (Today, Tomorrow, or a date you pick). Use this when a student needs to redo work or you want the same assignment scheduled again.
Click State Report in the top-right toolbar of the Master Data Log to open your printable progress report. It compiles logged academic hours, subjects, and grades from this log into a state-ready document. Review and edit any entries in the log first, then use your browser's print function to save or print the report for your homeschool files.
The Master Calendar defines the boundaries of your school year and controls which days tasks can be scheduled.
Clicking this module returns you to the main student login screen where kids can access their individual profiles.
The default view displays top-level metrics for quick daily assessment.
Clicking anywhere on a student's grid card expands it.
Using the toggle at the top of the dashboard switches the view to a horizontal list.
Displays students in rows comparing YTD, Pace, Estimated Finish, Weekly Hours, and Task/Day counts side-by-side. Includes the [-/+ Pts] button to adjust points.
Clicking a row in List View reveals a horizontally scrolling tracker of all Subject totals and Daily Chore completion.
Located at the top of the module, the calendar header controls which week you are viewing and editing.
Lesson Plan mode is your primary daily workspace in a standard grid format.
List Mode provides a vertical view of scheduled tasks.
Grading is an optional feature that must be activated and configured before use.
The data architecture is completely flexible, meaning a grade can be added, changed, or corrected in any of the following locations:
If a student submits work that is too low or doesn't meet the threshold, you can easily push it back to the student for a retry from the Weekly Wrap-Up, the Master Data Log, or the Curriculum Vault student editor.
The Curriculum Vault has three tabs: Dashboards (assigned curriculums per student), Curriculum Library (your family's personal curriculum builder), and Master Library (communal curriculum sharing — currently under construction).
To begin, open the Curriculum Library tab and click Create New.
If you need to make sweeping changes, click the Bulk Edit Tool button.
Find a curriculum in your Curriculum Library via the search bar, subject filter, or by scrolling through the list. Click Assign and select the student you want to assign it to.
Decide if you want to use the entire curriculum start to finish, or if you would like to customize your starting point and select exactly which tasks to include or skip.
The Dashboards tab organizes assigned curriculums by student. Select a student's tab to view their active "pills".
Click Edit Student from any assignment pill on the dashboard to override data specifically for that child without affecting the Curriculum Library master copy.
The Master Library tab is a separate communal space for browsing and sharing curricula across the Homeschool Tally community. It is not where you build your family's personal courses — use Curriculum Library for that.
This feature is still under construction. Full communal curriculum building and sharing tools are coming soon.
When complete, you will be able to discover community-built curricula and duplicate them into your personal Curriculum Library. For now, create and assign curriculums from the Curriculum Library tab.
Clicking anywhere on the main section header will expand or collapse the entire Chores & Economy area.
Located at the top of the module, the calendar header controls which week you are viewing.
To add a new item, use the input bar at the very top of the economy section. Type the name, set the point value, choose how frequency (Daily, Weekly, One-Time), and click Add. It will automatically drop into whichever tab you currently have open.
Click the Ledger button to view a complete financial history for your household. You can see exactly how students earned their points, what they spent them on, and adjust balances manually if needed.
When a student wants to buy a reward that requires parent permission (like "Go to the park" or "Stay up late"), it will send a notification to your Approvals Bell at the top of the Parent Portal. You can approve or deny the request from there.