A closer look, at your own pace
See Commonplace in action
Take a fresh tour with Megan to see how everyday records and memories come together. Or explore the shorter demonstrations below, at your own pace.
Take a fresh tour with Megan
A walkthrough with Megan
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Megan’s original narration, with refreshed screens and a shorter tour. Screen changes are edited for clarity.
Read the walkthrough
Hi, I'm Megan. Welcome to Commonplace. Let me show you how this app can help you keep all of your homeschool records, and memories together in one place. As we go, think about what parts of this will be useful for your family and you can start there. Let's take a look with our fictional Ingalls family starting on their dashboard. You can arrange the sections around the way your family uses Commonplace. Tidy up helps organize the layout while keeping the sizes you've chosen. Keep what's useful close at hand and make changes whenever you need to. A course can include more than one book, workbook, or other resource. Assignments and grades still belong to Practical Arithmetic rather than separate courses for each book. The resources are also listed in Curriculum so you can find them there too. Some parts of your day work well with a simple routine. A loop moves through a list in order one scheduled day at a time. You can share a routine with the whole family, or choose particular children. Your dashboard shows what's next with controls to move through the routine. For a closer look at attendance, open a date right from the calendar. You can record the same attendance for the whole family when that fits your day, or give a child a different entry for that same date, such as a half day. Save those changes in the pop-up without searching through a long list. When you need more detail, there's a link to the day's entries too. When you have scores to record, open the course's quick grade entry view. You can enter scores and completion dates for assignments that are already there. Save each result as you go, then move on to the next assignment. Commonplace updates the course grade from those scores so you can see where things stand. Those everyday records can become a portfolio. When you're ready to make the portfolio, choose your child and school year. You can save a new portfolio copy and keep earlier versions, too. Here's that same creek walk in the finished document with Laura's work and your notes together. For older students, course records can also become a transcript. Choose the school years you want to include for your child. Before finalizing, Commonplace asks you to review courses still marked in progress. If a course is finished, mark it completed so its credit can count as earned. Then save the transcript you've reviewed with your choices and course records brought together. Your saved copy is ready to download whenever you need to keep or share it. This sample shows Mary's course grades. Earned credits and GPA in one clear document. You don't need to use everything at once. Start with what helps your family today and add more whenever you're ready. And if you have questions, we're happy to help. Thanks for taking a look at Commonplace.
Explore a little at a time
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Make a portfolio, then keep a copy
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Open the sample portfolio PDF ↗
Read the steps
- Choose the books and work you want to include.
- Keep a compact reading list, or choose to include book notes.
- Save a new portfolio to create a dated version.
- Preview the saved pages, then download the PDF.
- Selected work and books stay clearly separated.
- Activities have their own space, too.
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From course records to a transcript
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Open the sample transcript PDF ↗
Read the steps
- Keep assignment scores with the course they belong to.
- Choose your student and the school years to include.
- Review courses still in progress before saving.
- Only mark a course Completed when it is finished.
- A separate completed-year example: four credits and a 3.50 GPA.
- Course descriptions can accompany the academic record.
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Your day, with room to breathe
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- Choose the dashboard sections that help your family.
- Start School Day brings one task into focus.
- Mark work complete without moving it out of its place.
- Keep full days, half days, and learning hours.
- Save a small memory while it is still fresh.
- Use those records again when you need a report.
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A rhythm that can flex with your day
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Read the steps
- A loop moves through an ordered list on scheduled days.
- Done marks today’s activity finished. It stays here today.
- Choose Mark incomplete to reverse a completion.
- Pause keeps unfinished work for the next scheduled day.
- Resume brings it back today. Otherwise, it resumes next scheduled day.
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A space that feels like theirs
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- Each student has a clear view of their own day.
- My Day works on a phone, too.
- Finish a task and see progress without rearranging the list.
- A quiet moment to recognize a finished day.
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Start simply. Find more when you need it.
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Read the steps
- Begin with your family, students, and school year.
- Review or edit the saved school year without leaving setup.
- Keep people, school years, and everyday options together.
- Browse tools by what you want to do.
- Search in your own words—even for settings hidden from your menu.
These are edited demonstrations using fictional Ingalls family records. Typing, navigation, and waiting have been shortened. The linked sample PDFs were created in Commonplace.
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