What your child sees today

Today's plan is a short list: a lesson, a book and a quick check. When it's done, your child can reread books they have, and nothing new appears until tomorrow.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 2 min read · For families

When your child signs in, Today shows a short plan for the day. It is finite on purpose: when every item is done, the plan says so and offers rereads of books your child already has.

What's in the plan

Band	Today's plan
Sprout (Pre-K and K)	Three big stones: learn a sound, read a book, play. Only the next stone opens. No numbers anywhere.
Sapling (grades 1–2)	A lesson, a book, a quick check, and a choice book or writing, with beads that fill in as each is done.
Grove (grades 3–5)	A lesson, a chapter to read and a quick-write. With voice consent, a fluency check once a week.
Summit (grades 6–8)	A lesson, a reading session and a writing task.

If your child's class assigned something, it comes first, marked with the teacher's name.

Lessons

Each lesson shows how a sound or word part works, practices it together, then lets your child try alone. A wrong tap gets a hint, then the answer is shown and your child tries again. There are no red marks or buzzers. A short check at the end decides whether the skill is learned; a learned skill comes back for a quick review a few days later.

When the plan is done

Your child sees a short note that the plan is done, such as "Plan done!", and "Read one again?" with books they already have. A fresh shelf and the next lesson come tomorrow. If you turned on Extra reading after the plan in Controls, a More reading button opens their books too.

Limits you set

Open Controls from the menu and pick a child. Under Time you set Daily reading time (how long the plan runs), a Daily limit and Quiet hours. During quiet hours or after the limit, Today says when reading opens again. A book that's already open can be finished. School devices aren't affected by home limits.

Common questions

Why can't my child skip ahead?

Lessons follow a sequence, and for Sprout the stones open in order. If your child's class sets a pace, new lessons at home follow the class; rereading and review are always open.

Is my trial running?

Check How the trial works.

Bands and gradesA child's grade sets their band: Sprout, Sapling, Grove or Summit. The band changes tap size, text size and sign-in options.The grown-up checkBefore a grown-up page opens on a device where a child is signed in, you hold a button and type a number. Here is how it works.Choose how your child signs inPick pictures, a tap or three words for each child. The choices depend on their band, and you can change the method later.How a lesson worksThe parts of a TaleTykes lesson, how hints work, what the grown-up does in Sprout, and why a lesson sometimes stops early.

Still stuck?

Write to us with what you were trying to do and what you saw on screen.