Families

Getting Started as a New Family

Welcome. This guide walks through your first week in HomeschoolGo, from logging in for the first time to enrolling in classes and finding everything you need. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and then you’ll know where everything lives.

Go to my dashboard

Your first login

When your co-op admin approves your application, you’ll receive an invitation email with a magic link. Click it. You’ll be signed in automatically and land on your family dashboard.

If the link has expired by the time you click it, go to the HomeschoolGo login page, enter your email, and request a new magic link. You can also set a password at any time from My Profile if you prefer to sign in that way.

You stay signed in between visits. Closing the browser doesn’t log you out, and next time you’ll land straight on your dashboard. On a shared or public computer, use the Log outbutton at the bottom of the sidebar when you’re done.

Tip: Bookmark your dashboard or add it to your home screen now. You’ll come back to it often. It shows your upcoming classes, your balance, volunteer progress, and recent announcements all in one place.

Your dashboard also has a Getting Started checklist at the bottom that links to each of these steps directly. It tracks your progress and disappears once you’ve finished, or you can dismiss it early if you’d rather find things yourself.

Setting up your profile

Click your name at the bottom of the left sidebar to open My Profile. The Family Information card shows a read-only summary, click Edit to open a panel with your contact info, address, and guardian birthdays. Below it, a few more cards on the same page cover the rest of your account. There are a few things worth doing now:

Add a photo

Upload a family photo from the Family Information card. It shows in the member directory so other families can put a face to your name. Not required, but it helps in a community where people see each other in person.

Confirm your contact info

Open the Family Information card’s Edit panel and check that your phone number is correct. Some co-ops use it for SMS alerts and emergency contact lookups. If your co-op uses SMS, you’ll also see a checkbox there to opt in to text notifications.

Set communication preferences

Further down the profile page, the Communication preferencescard lets you turn email notifications on or off, choose how often they’re batched (instant, daily, or weekly), and limit email to important announcements only. There’s also a push notifications toggle, ready for whenever a native HomeschoolGo app arrives; it doesn’t do anything in the web app today. Changes save automatically as you toggle them.

Appearance

The Appearance card lets you switch between Light, Dark, and Auto mode. Auto follows your device’s setting automatically.

Guardian birthdays

In the Family Information Edit panel, each guardian can add a birthday, just a month and day, no year. It’s optional. If you fill it in, co-op admins see it in an upcoming-birthdays panel in the directory, so your co-op can mention it in an announcement or newsletter.

Note: Some co-ops require a complete profile before registration opens. If yours does, you’ll see a reminder on your dashboard. Getting your profile done now means you won’t be blocked when enrollment starts.

Adding your students

You need to add your students (children) before you can enroll them in classes. If you added them during the application process, they should already be there, but it’s worth checking.

1Open My Students in the sidebar (or the Children card on My Profile, both work the same way) and click Add child.

2Enter their name, grade level, date of birth, and any allergy or medical notes. Teachers and admins see the allergy notes on the class roster, so add anything they should know.

3Save. Repeat for each child.

Tip: You can update your students’ information anytime. Grade levels don’t roll over automatically. Update them at the start of each new school year.

Before registration opens

Co-ops open class enrollment during specific registration windows, usually a few weeks before the term starts. Until a window is open, the class catalog is read-only.

Your co-op admin typically announces when a window opens. Your dashboard also shows a reminder chip when one is about to open this week. In the meantime:

Browse the Class Catalog(sidebar) to see what’s being offered and read class descriptions. You can’t enroll yet, but you can plan your schedule.
Check Calendar in the sidebar for the registration window dates. They appear there alongside other co-op events.
Note which classes have limited seats. Popular classes fill fast at the start of a window.

Tip: Know which classes you want before registration opens. When the window goes live, you can move quickly instead of reading descriptions under pressure.

Note: Some co-ops use invite-only priority windows for returning families. If you see an “Invite only” notice in the catalog, ask your admin for the access link.

Note: Starting with your second term, the first time you try to enroll in a class, sign up for a volunteer shift, or pay for an event in a new term, you’ll land on a Confirm your information page instead. Your dashboard also shows a banner pointing you there as soon as the term opens, so you don’t have to stumble into it by clicking around. Quickly review your contact info, address, and each student’s details, fix anything that’s changed, answer any waiver your co-op has added or asked everyone to sign again — either by typing your name or, for a simple Yes/No waiver like a photo release, picking Yes or No — and click Confirm & continue to classes. If your co-op charges an enrollment fee for the new term, you’ll be taken to a secure checkout for it right after. It’s a one-time check per term, not something you’ll see again until the next one starts.

Enrolling in classes

When the registration window opens, go to the Class Catalog. You’ll see an Enroll button on each class. Click it, select which of your students you’re enrolling, and confirm.

If a class is full, you can join the waitlist at no charge. Promoting someone off the waitlist is a decision your co-op admin makes, not something that happens automatically the moment a seat opens. You’ll get a notification if and when you’re moved in.

For classes with a fee, clicking Enroll takes you through a secure checkout to pay. Free classes enroll instantly with no payment step. If you’re enrolling more than one of your students in the same class, you pay once at checkout for all of them, not a separate charge per student.

Tip: After enrolling, check My Classes in the sidebar to confirm everything looks right. That page shows your enrolled classes organized by day and time, useful for spotting schedule conflicts. Use the Print button at the top of My Classes to print a clean copy of your schedule.

The Enrolling in Classes & Managing Waitlists guide covers the full enrollment flow, waitlists, payment at checkout, and dropping classes.

Paying your first bill

Go to Payments in the sidebar to see your current balance. Class fees, event signups, and any co-op dues all show up here as line items.

If your co-op accepts online payments, click Pay nowto pay through Stripe Checkout. You’ll pay by card there, and some co-ops also offer paying directly from a bank account for the same amount. A card payment updates your balance immediately; a bank payment takes a few business days to settle.

If your co-op collects payments by cash or check, the Payments page will say so. In that case, pay your treasurer directly and ask them to record the payment on your account.

Note: If you have an outstanding balance, you won’t be able to enroll in new classes or sign up for paid events until it’s cleared. Pay what’s owed or contact your admin if you think a charge is wrong.

The Paying Your Co-op Bills guide covers how to read your Payments page, what each charge type means, and how credits and refunds work.

Signing up for volunteer shifts

Most co-ops require families to complete a set number of volunteer shifts per term. Your dashboard shows your progress toward the requirement as a credit bar.

To sign up for a shift, go to Volunteer in the sidebar. Upcoming shifts are listed by date and role. Click Sign up on any that fits your schedule. You can also get there from the Calendar by clicking any volunteer shift pill, which takes you to that shift on the Volunteer page.

Tip: Sign up for your shifts early in the term. The most convenient spots fill up first. A quick look at the Volunteer page during your first week saves scrambling near the end of the term.

Changed plans? Open the Volunteer page and click Cancel signupon the shift, no need to go through your admin. The spot opens back up right away, so cancel as early as you can if you know you won’t make it.

Staying connected

Once you’re enrolled and set up, here’s where to find things day to day:

Announcements

Your co-op admin sends updates through the Announcements feed. Check it for schedule changes, reminders, and news. You’ll also get an email for each announcement unless you’ve opted out.

Calendar

Calendar (near the top of the sidebar) shows everything happening in the co-op — classes, events, registration windows, and volunteer shifts. Use it to plan your month. You can export events to Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar.

Messages

Direct messages from admins, teachers, and other families show up in the message icon (bottom right on desktop, or in the toolbar on mobile), with an unread badge when something’s waiting. Click the pencil icon to start a new conversation with anyone in your co-op.

Forum

Community › Forum has channels for general co-op discussion and topics your admin sets up, plus a class channel for each class your student is enrolled in. The class channel is a good place to coordinate with other families and ask the teacher questions.

Student progress

Your dashboard home page shows a Student Progress card for each of your students with a quick summary of their grades and attendance for the current term. For the full picture — all assignments, attendance detail, and transcripts — go to My Students in the sidebar. The academic progress guide explains what each section means.

Tip: If you’re ever unsure where something is, press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K(Windows) to open the command palette. Type what you’re looking for and jump directly to it.

Still have a question? Head back to the Help & Support page or reach out to your co-op admin directly from the dashboard.