The whole household,in one app.
Lightstead bundles the seven family apps you’re already juggling — calendar, chores, groceries, recipes, lists, kid economy, journal — into one warm system built for the iPad on the kitchen wall. And for the families who homeschool, it’s the only one that covers all 51 states, too.
Built by Dan— disabled U.S. Army combat veteran, husband, and father. We use Lightstead every day to help us homeschool our kids — attendance, grades, reading logs, transcripts, the paperwork our state requires. I built it because nothing else fit how our home actually runs, and because small work done faithfully for the family God gave me is the work I want to do.
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — Joshua 24:15
If you homeschool, here’s what no other family app does.
Most families don’t homeschool, and Lightstead works just fine without this module — it hides. But for the families that do, this is the deepest homeschool layer of any family OS. We tracked the record-keeping rules across all 51 US jurisdictions — 43 with deep state-specific scaffolding, 8 with basic summaries — covering notice deadlines, hour counts, required subjects, evaluators, and retention. Your state’s page shows only what your state actually asks for. Lightstead is a record-keeping tool, not legal advice; consult your state’s DOE for binding requirements.
- Pennsylvania · 180 days · 900 hrs
- New York · IHIP + quarterlies
- North Carolina · NOI + test
- Ohio · annual notification
- Virginia · NOI + progress
- Florida · annual evaluation
- California · PSA filing
- Georgia · annual assessment
- Illinois
- Texas
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Arizona
- Missouri
- Maryland
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Minnesota
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Massachusetts
- Iowa
- + 27 more
- 01Notice of intent, on time.Affidavits, NOIs, IHIPs, declarations — generated, dated, ready to file. The August deadline shows on your dashboard from July 1.
- 02Days and hours, automatic.Calendar-first attendance with per-child hour rollup. The compliance card tells you exactly how far from your state's minimum.
- 03Subjects, tests, evaluator.Required-subject checklist by grade. Standardized test reminders for the years that need them. Evaluator portfolio export — one signed PDF.
- 04Portfolio, kept as you go.Every assignment, reading log, test result auto-files with date stamps. When the evaluator asks, you export the year as one PDF.
Today, at a glance.
Open the app and the day's already shaped. Lessons in flight, chores in the queue, dinner on the calendar, groceries waiting for the 4 o'clock run. Nothing to set up — Lightstead pulls it from every module.
- Today's Rhythm timeline
- Per-child status pills
- Quick-log from anywhere
- Auto-locks for Family Mode
One calendar for the whole family.
Multi-account sync with Google. iCal subscribe/export for Apple. Outlook coming soon. Day, week, and month views. Meal plans woven into the week so dinner is one less decision.
- Multi-account sync
- Color-keyed per member
- Meal plans inline
- Co-op + activity templates
Rotations the kids can run themselves.
Up-for-grabs pool chores, rotation templates, and parent review on the things that need it. Tied directly to allowance. Kids own their list. Parents stay out of nag-mode.
- Rotation templates
- Up-for-grabs pool
- Approval queue
- Allowance + points tied in
The tablet on the kitchen wall, made safe.
Mount Lightstead on the iPad. Anyone in the family can tap. Parents unlock sensitive zones — money, formation, settings — with a four-digit PIN. Auto-locks after five minutes.
- Shared device session
- PIN for parent zones
- Always-on dashboard
- Auto-lock after five minutes
More rooms in the house.
Family-life modules, named like rooms. Use only the ones you need — the rest hide. Switch them on as your family grows into them.
Aisle-sorted shopping
Smart input · trip mode · history
Library + cook mode
Meal plans woven into the calendar
Kid economy
Allowance · ledger · reward store
Household lists
Repositories · watch lists · book lists
Pinned notes
Family-wide reminders that stick
Calm behavior log
Incidents · restoration · patterns
Bullet journals
Per-member, lightweight, private
The phone in your pocket, too.
Native iOS and Android apps are in beta — same household, same data, sized for one hand. The kitchen iPad stays the home base; phones come along for the rest of the day.
Light the hearth.
Thirty days, no card, every feature. Spin up your household, mount it on the kitchen wall, see what a calm Friday looks like.