Homework

Work set for a child by a parent or a teacher, gathered in one place.

The menu item is called Homework, and it gathers the work that has been set for a child — by a parent, or by a teacher linked to them — so there is one list to work through rather than several screens to remember.

For a child

Each task is a card saying what to do and by when, with Start on it. Starting a task takes your child straight to the activity it points at, already set to the right book or list.

The kinds of task are Read, Echo read, Spelling — write, Spelling — say & repeat, Spelling — test, Word list practice and Word list test. There is also a plain Task, which is just an instruction in words with no activity behind it — "read to your grandmother", say.

A card shows how it is going: Not started, In progress, Done or Overdue, with the count done so far, the due date, who set it, and — where one was set — the target score and the best reached.

Setting one

Parents, Family Managers and linked teachers use Set a task, having picked the child. You choose what to do, the book or list, a due date, how many times it should be done, and optionally a target score and whether reaching it finishes the task early. There is a note field for anything else.

Change this task edits the due date, the count and the note. To change the activity, the book or the lesson, remove the task and set a new one — the attempts already recorded belong to the work as it was set, and moving the goalposts underneath them would make nonsense of both.

Ticking one off by hand

Mark done closes a task the app cannot see — reading to a grandparent, or a sheet done on paper. It is recorded as ticked off by you, and is never presented as though Zen Reader measured it.

Removing and restoring

Removing a task only stops it showing. Show removed brings the removed ones back into view, and any of them can be restored.