Our story
Why we built Throughline
- Washington
- 4 kids
- 2 homeschooled
I'm Max. My wife, Abbey, and I live in Washington with our four kids — two of them are homeschooled right now. This app started because we were drowning in our own systems.
For a while, we used the notes app, an Excel spreadsheet, and a paper planner. We would find curriculum recommendations and jot them down in so many different places and could never remember which one. The spreadsheet only really worked if we were using the laptop. Abbey would regularly spend her evenings writing out the upcoming lessons, breaking it all down day-by-day — which meant most evenings weren't really hers anymore.
The part that really got us was at the end of our first year of tracking. Washington required 180 days of instruction that year and things like going on hikes count toward that… but we hadn't been tracking things like that consistently. So, we went back through our calendars trying to reconstruct a reasonable number. It worked, but we weren't confident in the numbers if we ever had to prove the days were correct.
What we built, and why it looks the way it does
Throughline started years ago as a low-code app I built in Canvas Apps, just for us. Abbey shaped it from day one. She told me what she needed, helped me think through how the data should be structured, and tested everything along the way. Her must-haves were simple: activities that were quick to log, an option to time them, and a page that showed us whether we were on track to meet Washington's requirements.
This worked for quite some time, but eventually I wanted something that worked well on any device. So, I rebuilt it from scratch as the app it is today while keeping everything Abbey needed from the original version and fixing what was missing. Two things became obvious as we used it.
We didn't need to track the same level of detail for both of our kids. Our older one needed real tracking — timers, subjects, grades. Our younger one just needed a simple mark that says, “we did school today.” So Throughline lets you set tracking style per child, instead of forcing one system on everyone in the family.
Compliance was its own mess entirely. Reminders scattered across apps, rules that are hard to find in plain language, and no single place pulling it together. So, we built a section that does that work automatically, wherever you live. Then it turns your logged days into the actual report you need, instead of you reconstructing it from memory and hoping you are on track to meet your compliance goals.
Who's actually behind this
I've built this myself over many late nights and weekends, while working a full-time job. Abbey helped design the backend structure. She spent years in the Microsoft space as a Delivery Lead and Client Engagement Manager, so she knows how to think through this kind of system, not just use it. She still uses Throughline every week with our kids… on any device!
One thing to know up front: compliance rules vary by state and county and change often. I check every requirement by hand, but please tell us if something looks off for your area and we'll fix it immediately!
There's more coming too: Calendar views and Notifications are next, along with general polish. This is a living project, not a finished one! We use it ourselves every week, so this is genuinely a passion project, not just a product.
Questions, ideas, or something we can help with? Get in touch. We read every message.