HomeschoolBook

A Personal Record-Keeper for Homeschool Parents

If you homeschool, you've probably tried at least one of the following: a paper planner that stops getting filled out by November, a Google Sheet that nobody updates after Christmas break, an all-in-one homeschool curriculum platform that costs $20/month and does ten things you don't need before it gets to the one you do, or a state-compliance app that promises to "submit your portfolio for you" and then makes you fill out forms in five different places. HomeschoolBook is the simplest possible thing that solves the actual problem: a clean daily log and an annual PDF you can print and file.

Why "Personal Record-Keeper" and Not "State-Compliant Tracker"

State homeschool laws change. Hour minimums vary from 0 in some states to 1,000 in others. Portfolio review requirements vary by district within the same state. Some states want notarized affidavits; others want you to do nothing at all. An app that claimed to be "state-compliant" would have to maintain accurate, up-to-date interpretations of all 50 state laws plus whatever your local district adds — and the moment one of them changed and we missed it, you'd be the one in trouble. HomeschoolBook is honest about its scope: it gives you a clean record. You bring the knowledge of what your state requires. Settings → State information links out to every U.S. state Department of Education page so you can check the rules yourself.

The 10-Second Daily Log

The biggest reason homeschool tracking apps get abandoned is that logging takes too long. By Wednesday afternoon, when you've done math, reading, science, an art project, a field trip, and lunch, the last thing you want to do is open an app and fill out forms. HomeschoolBook's Today tab shows your child's subjects as cards with quick-add chips for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Tap a subject card, tap a chip, save. The app defaults to your last-used child and subject. Repeat entries are even faster than the first one. If you need custom minutes or a note, those are one tap away — but the common case is the fast path.

Multi-Child, Without the Tax

Many homeschool families have two, three, or four children at different grade levels with different curricula. Pro supports unlimited children — each with their own grade level, school-year dates (some families run year-round, some follow public school calendars, some do something in between), color tag, and subject list. The dashboard switches between children with one tap. Free tier is limited to one child, which is enough to test whether the app fits your workflow before you pay for the family plan.

Curriculum the Way You Actually Use It

Most homeschool apps make you pick from a fixed taxonomy of curricula — Saxon, Sonlight, Abeka, Charlotte Mason, eclectic. Real homeschool families use a mix: Saxon for math, library books for history, online courses for foreign language, a co-op for science, mom's idea for art. HomeschoolBook's curriculum field is free-text. Type whatever you actually use. The annual PDF prints what you wrote, not what we forced into a dropdown.

The Annual Records PDF

At the end of every school year, Pro generates a parent-formatted PDF covering one school year per child: a cover page with child name and dates, an attendance summary, total hours per subject, the curriculum list with your free-text notes, a field trip log, work sample photo thumbnails, and a parent signature line. It's the kind of document a thoughtful parent would have produced if they had a weekend to spare and Microsoft Word skills they don't actually have. Every page carries a clear disclaimer that this is your personal record — not a state submission. If your state requires you to file something, this PDF gives you the data; you're responsible for whatever wrapper your state actually wants.

Work Samples Without the Permission Dance

Photos of your child's work — math worksheets, science fair posters, art projects, history essays — are the most compelling part of any portfolio. HomeschoolBook stores work sample photos in the app sandbox, which means we never request permission to write to your phone's gallery. Photos appear as thumbnails attached to subjects, and they show up in the annual records PDF at the end of the year. Privacy by design: nobody else's app sees your kid's worksheets.

Field Trips Count Too

Most state portfolios let you count field trip hours toward instructional time. Most apps make logging field trips harder than logging a regular subject. HomeschoolBook's field trip log takes date, location, hours, optional photo, and the subjects it covered — a museum trip might count toward History and Art, a nature walk toward Science and PE — and the hours roll into the per-subject totals on the annual records PDF.

Why $9.99 Once Instead of $9.99 a Month

The homeschool app market is dominated by SaaS pricing — $9.99 to $19.99 a month, every month, forever. If you homeschool for ten years (a single elementary-through-high-school journey), that's $1,200 to $2,400 for an app that should cost the same as a coffee. Pro Unlock is $9.99 once. Pay it the year you commit to homeschool, never see a renewal email. The monthly option exists for parents who only want Pro around year-end portfolio review — pay $4.99 for one month, generate the PDF, cancel. Both options unlock identical features.

Privacy and Offline Use

HomeschoolBook stores every child's data, every hour, every photo locally on your device on the free tier. The app works completely offline. There's no account, no cloud sync, no analytics on what your child is studying. The annual PDF generation happens on your phone — your child's records never leave it.

Phone and Tablet

HomeschoolBook is phone-first because that's what's in your hand at the kitchen table during math. But the app also has full tablet layouts for 7" and 10" screens — useful for the household tablet that lives in the school room, or for parents who prefer a bigger screen for the annual portfolio review. Touch targets are sized for one-handed use.