Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers!

How do I use Chalky?

• Tell us your child's grade — Chalky builds the fully scheduled reading comprehension plan from it: a plan of eight books, each chosen for a different job, sequenced across a term. Prefer different titles? Swap in any book from the Chalky library at any time.
• Set your pace — say how many minutes a day your child reads and how many days a week. Your homeschool term length and the daily schedule work themselves out from there.
• Your child reads — they sign in to their own dashboard for the next chapter, then answer comprehension questions written from the pages they just read.
• You check the record — progress and the standards each book covers land on your parent dashboard as your child reads. Nothing to write up afterwards.

What ages and grades is Chalky for?

Chalky builds reading plans for grades 1 through 8. The library suits readers from about 7 to 16, and parents often use it above or below a child's nominal grade — the plan follows the grade you set, not your child's age.

If your child is in kindergarten or high school you can still build a reading list by hand from the library and Chalky will generate questions for every book, but there is no ready-made grade plan for those years yet.

Do I need to be a trained teacher to use Chalky?

No. Chalky is built for parents, not for teachers — the point of the plan is that the sequencing, the pacing, the questions and the record are done for you, so nothing depends on you knowing which standard a book covers or writing questions yourself.

Can multiple children use Chalky?

• Yes — each child gets their own plan, built for their own grade.
• Parents can create separate profiles for each child.
• Each child receives a personalized roadmap and their own tracking on the parent dashboard.
• Subscriptions are priced per child, and you manage them all from the same parent account.

How does Chalky build my child's reading plan?

Each homeschool reading comprehension learning plan starts with eight books, and each one has a different job: an easy book for fluency, a richer one for older literary language, poetry to read aloud, folklore, a science title, history or biography, a book where your child recognises their own life or meets someone else's, and one deliberately harder book to stretch into.

Together they cover the Common Core reading standards for the grade, and the books are picked to sit in that grade's Lexile band. Swap any book and its job stays filled — Chalky offers alternatives that do the same work.

How long is a Chalky term?

It depends on your pace, because the plan is worked out from the books rather than fixed in advance. Every book is divided into modules of about 20 minutes, and Chalky divides the plan's total reading time by the minutes a day and days a week you set.

Most families land somewhere between one and two school terms for a set of eight books. Change the pace and the term recalculates and the schedule re-flows — reading fewer minutes a day genuinely makes the term longer rather than just relabelling it.

Can I choose or swap the books in the plan?

Yes — the reading list is the plan, so anything you change on the list changes the plan. Swap a book, reorder the list, or remove a title, and the schedule, the term length and the standards record all follow it immediately.

When you swap, Chalky offers alternatives that do the same job in the plan and sit at a similar reading level, so replacing the poetry book gets you other poetry rather than a random title. You can also add anything from the library yourself.

Can we use books we already own or borrow from the library?

Chalky's own library holds more than 380 books, and reading them inside Chalky is what generates the comprehension questions and the standards record. You can build your child's list entirely from those.

Some plans also name a title Chalky does not carry and mark it to borrow — usually because nothing in the catalogue fills that particular job at that reading level. Those you read from your own copy or the library, and the plan counts them as part of the term.

Does Chalky align with Common Core reading standards?

Yes. Every plan is scored against the full set of Common Core reading standards for your child's grade — Literature (RL), Informational Text (RI), and Foundational Skills (RF) in grades K–5 — and Chalky shows you which book covers each standard and whether the coverage comes from tagged comprehension questions or from the reading itself.

Homeschool requirements vary from state to state, so Chalky does not claim to satisfy your state's. What it gives you is a record of instruction that aligns with the standards, which is a different and more honest thing.

How do I document reading instruction for my homeschool?

Chalky keeps the record for you as your child reads. For every grade-level reading standard it shows which book covered it, which comprehension skills the questions exercised, and where the evidence came from — so you can point at a specific book and a specific standard rather than describing the year from memory.

If your state asks you to document reading instruction, or you keep a portfolio by choice, this is that document. It is a record, not legal advice — check what your own state asks for.

How long should my kids read on Chalky each day?

Chalky suggests a starting point by grade — about 15 minutes a day in grade 1, 20 in grades 2–3, 25 in grades 4–5 and 30 in grades 6–8, five days a week — and you can change both numbers whenever you like.

You can also pace it by modules instead. A module is a stretch of text plus its questions, roughly 15–25 minutes; younger children often do one or two a day and older ones three to five.

Where do the comprehension questions come from?

They are generated from each book's own text, module by module, so your child is asked about the pages they actually just read rather than answering generic questions about reading.

Each question is tagged to a specific comprehension skill — finding evidence, theme, character and sequence, vocabulary in context, text structure, point of view — which map onto Common Core reading anchors 1 to 6. That tagging is what makes the standards record possible.

Do the books have read-along audio?

Yes. Every book Chalky carries has a read-along recording of its own text, so your child can see and hear each word together. They can use it for a whole chapter, for a hard passage, or not at all.

Do I need to sit with my child while they use Chalky?

• Younger kids may appreciate guidance.
• Older kids often work independently.
• Parents can track progress any time from the dashboard.
• The one thing worth doing together is the ten minutes of reading aloud, which needs a listener.

Does Chalky teach phonics, or replace a phonics programme?

Chalky is a reading comprehension curriculum, not a phonics programme. It does not test decoding, and if your child is still learning to sound words out, keep your phonics instruction and use Chalky alongside it.

For fluency, the read-along audio does real work — hearing and seeing the words together is how decoding becomes automatic. Chalky also suggests asking your child to read aloud to you for about ten minutes a day, which is what most fluency programmes are built around.

Can I use Chalky as a full curriculum or just a supplement?

Both. Some families use Chalky as their whole language arts reading programme — the plan covers the grade's reading standards and keeps the record, which is what a curriculum has to do. Others use it two or three days a week beside something else.

Some grammar is taught inside the reading activities, and a complete grammar curriculum is in the works. Until it arrives, we recommend pairing Chalky with the Cambridge School Grammar series, Levels 1–8. Spelling and composition live elsewhere for now, and Chalky is not a phonics programme, so keep your phonics instruction alongside it.

Is Chalky secular or faith-based?

Chalky is secular. The plans are built from high-quality literature and non-fiction chosen for how well they teach reading, and the curriculum is rigorous rather than doctrinal — there is no religious content or viewpoint in the questions or the plan.

You also choose what goes on your child's list. Every book can be swapped or removed, so families of any background can shape the reading to their own values while keeping the plan's structure intact.

How much does Chalky cost?

Chalky is priced per child. Pay for 12 months and the next 6 are free, which works out to $33 avg / child / month across the 18 months, billed once at $598. The Monthly Chalky Plan is $49.90 per child / month. Both include unlimited book access, the parent dashboard and the adaptive questions, with no ads or in-app purchases.

Families using an Education Savings Account or charter school instructional funds can often pay nothing out of pocket — see the ESA answer below. Schools and co-ops can contact us about custom plans.

Do you offer refunds?

Yes — there is a 14-day money-back guarantee on subscriptions paid out of pocket. If Chalky turns out not to suit your family, contact us within 14 days of paying and we will refund you in full.

If your subscription was funded through an ESA or a charter school programme rather than paid directly, email [email protected] — those go back through the programme, so we will point you at the right process.

How do I use my ESA with Chalky?

Chalky is an approved vendor on ClassWallet in six US states. Register a parent account, add a student, then open the Billing tab on the student dashboard for an invoice or quote to submit through ClassWallet.

Once your request is processed we provide access to the student account within 24 business hours. If you have questions, or want one or several invoices sent directly, email [email protected] with the subject line “ESA Funding”.

Which states is Chalky approved for ESA funding in?

Chalky is an approved ClassWallet vendor in 6 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, New Hampshire and New York. Families in those states can fund a full year of reading curriculum from their Education Savings Account, which for most means paying nothing out of pocket.

Programme names differ by state — ESA, scholarship account, empowerment account — but if yours purchases through ClassWallet, Chalky is listed.

Can I use charter school funds for Chalky?

Yes. Charter school instructional funds work for Chalky. Check with your school's programme for how they handle vendor purchases, or email [email protected] and we will send whatever paperwork they need.

What if my state's ESA provider doesn't list Chalky?

Ask them to add Chalky as an approved vendor. A request from a parent carries real weight with these programmes and is the single fastest way to get us reviewed.

Email [email protected] and we will send your provider everything they need to assess us, so you are not left assembling it yourself. ❤️