Starting a class and adding students

Starting a class takes three steps: your school's details, the school agreement, and the class itself. Then you add your students by pasting your class list. You begin at Start a class, and you can begin on the Free plan.

Classes are opening soon. Until the school agreement is in force, the start page says "Classes are opening soon" and nobody can set up a school, start a class or add students. Our page for schools describes what is coming.

Before you start

You need a TaleTykes account of your own, which is free to create. On Start a class, choose "Create an account" or "I already have one". If you already have a family account, sign in with that one, because the same account works for both. Once you are signed in, open Start a class again if it does not open by itself.

If your school already uses TaleTykes, you do not need to set anything up. Ask an admin there to invite you, then open the link in their email while you are signed in. See Running a school account.

Set up your school and accept the agreement

1. On Start a class, choose "Start a class".
2. Under "Your school", fill in "School name", "District" if there is one, "State" and "Time zone". The time zone decides when the class board's week starts again.
3. Add "Your name for students", such as Ms Rivera. Students and linked parents see it.
4. Under "Who is agreeing for the school?", choose "I run this school, or I may sign agreements for it", or "I am a teacher, and my school has told me I may use TaleTykes with my class". Then choose "Next: the agreement".
5. Read the school agreement on the page, and fill in "Your full name" and "Your job title".
6. If you chose the teacher option, also fill in "Who at your school gave you permission" and "Their job title".
7. Tick the box beside the sentence you are agreeing to. With the teacher option, also tick "My school has given me permission to use TaleTykes with my class."
8. Choose "Accept for" followed by your school's name.

Whoever sets the school up becomes its first admin and its safety lead. We keep the record of who accepted the agreement, and an admin can see it on the school's Data and privacy page.

Start the class

1. Under "Your first class", fill in "Class name", and choose a "Grade" if you want one.
2. Under "Which age group are most of them in?", choose the age group. Books are written for it, and it decides how the reading screens look.
3. Under "How will students sign in?", choose "Pictures", which suits younger students, or "A PIN" of four digits.
4. Choose "Start the class".

To start another class later, go to Your classes and choose "Start a class". The Free plan has 1 class, and each teacher can lead up to 3 on Classroom and School. Archived classes do not count. The class's lead teacher or a school admin can change the name, grade and age group later on the class's Settings tab. A new age group applies to students you add after the change; students already in the class keep the one they were added with.

Add your students

1. Open the class, then its Roster tab, and find "Add students".
2. In "Paste names, one student on each line", type or paste each student as a first name and last initial, like Maya R. A column copied from a spreadsheet works too. If a line has a longer surname, only its first letter is kept.
3. Check the table under the box. Each line says "Ready", or why it cannot be added yet, such as "Needs a last initial", "Listed twice" or "Already in this class".
4. Under "How will they sign in?", choose pictures or a PIN for everyone you are adding now.
5. Choose "Add students". The button shows how many are ready.

Their sign-in cards appear straight away. Print them before you leave the page, because each PIN or set of pictures is only shown once. Sign-in cards and classroom devices explains the rest.

A first name is a single word of up to 24 characters, and it can include a hyphen or an apostrophe. If two students share a first name and initial, give one of them two letters, like Maya Ro. A class can have up to 35 students on every plan, and students take the class's age group when they are added. No student needs an email address, and no surname is kept.

Linking parents, and removing a student

Once students are in the class, you can use "Invite a parent or carer" on the Roster to email a parent a link, and parents can ask to link using the class code on the Settings tab. See Linking your child to their class.

To take a student out of the class, choose "Remove" beside their name, then "Remove" again to confirm. If they are in no other class, they are signed out straight away. Their reading is no longer in any spreadsheet after that, so download what you need first. What schools keep explains what happens to it.

Where to go next

Help for teachers has short answers while you work. If something does not go as described, write to support@taletykes.com or use Contact.