Packs are student-facing learning cards that HomeTrail creates for Nest. They can be one-time cards or recurring cards connected to a student's schedule.
Depending on the pack type, a card may include:
- Math worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages
- Word searches or crosswords
- Quizzes
- Educational videos or articles
- Fun facts, sports recaps, and other learning prompts
Ask TrailGuide for a pack
Name the student, topic, and timing:
- “Make Avery a fractions worksheet for today.”
- “Make Avery a print handwriting sheet where she copies one sentence and draws a picture.”
- “Create Jordan a word search about rainforest animals.”
- “Make Avery a simple coloring page of friendly dinosaurs exploring space.”
- “Find an educational video about the water cycle for Avery.”
For a math worksheet, name one specific skill, such as subtraction facts, two-digit addition, multiplication facts, telling time, or fractions. TrailGuide translates the request into a supported worksheet type and settings. Some worksheet types offer extra controls, such as required regrouping for two-digit addition or a minimum and maximum count for counting worksheets. You can also choose factors for multiplication practice or ask for analog clocks, a specific time interval, and multiple-choice answers on telling-time worksheets. If part of the request is unsupported, TrailGuide asks you to choose from the available options instead of silently changing the worksheet.
The worksheet type is authoritative. Free-form prompts and custom instructions cannot replace it or change the math content, and visual themes affect presentation only. To change the math, ask TrailGuide for a different supported type or setting.
Ask for a Handwriting Worksheet for the full handwriting progression. Worksheet Type options include Pre-Writing Strokes, Pre-Writing Shapes, lowercase or uppercase letter formation, letter families, numbers, name writing, print words and sentences, and cursive warmups, letters, joins, words, or Cursive Sentences. Each type shows only the settings it supports. Print worksheets can include tracing, copying, independent lines, and an optional drawing box. Cursive worksheet types use Compass Handwriting to select and generate joined letterforms.
For a Newsworthy pack, HomeTrail checks that Reader can open every article before the card is marked ready. TrailGuide first confirms that generation was queued, then sends either the finished preview or a message explaining that the article could not be opened. Send a different article link or try again later when that happens.
For a coloring page, describe an original scene or theme and optionally choose a simple, balanced, or detailed layout. HomeTrail generates one portrait page. Students can color it in Nest with the palette, brush, eraser, undo, and clear tools, or use the page as a printable activity. Avoid including private personal details in the theme sent for image generation.
For the complete coloring and full-page printing workflow, see Creating and Printing Coloring Pages.
Generate a pack in HomeTrail
- Open Plus Hub → Nest.
- Choose Generate pack.
- Select the Student. For most pack types, you can also enter an optional Prompt.
- For a math worksheet, use Worksheet Type to choose a specific skill, or leave Recommended selected. Recommended uses the student's curriculum first, then their grade. Math worksheets do not use a general prompt field.
- Open Advanced settings to choose the Number of Problems, Rendering, Include Example, Include Instructions, optional Grade Band, and an approved Graphics Theme.
- If you choose Count Objects, set the Minimum Number and Maximum Number. If you choose Two-Digit Addition, choose whether Regrouping is None, Mixed, or Required.
- If you choose Multiplication Facts or Times Tables, enter the Factors to Practice, separated by commas. Every problem includes at least one of those factors.
- For a telling-time worksheet, choose the Time Interval, Clock Format, and Answer Format. If you choose Multiple choice, also set Answer Choices.
- For Handwriting Worksheet, choose the developmental Worksheet Type. Then use its settings to select strokes, shapes, letter families, letters, numbers, words, sentences, tracing support, practice lines, or drawing space. Cursive types include warmups, letters, joins, words, sentences, and custom copywork.
- Choose Generate pack.
- Use View packs and Open to inspect the result, then choose Create another or Done.
The generated pack is saved to Nest immediately. Recurring pack types use Set up pack instead.
Compass uses the selected worksheet type and validated settings as the generation contract. For Recommended, it chooses a grade- and curriculum-appropriate starting point. The finished worksheet determines the saved title and skill, so those labels describe what was actually generated. Review AI-generated work and answer guides before relying on them.
For multiple-choice quizzes, HomeTrail independently mixes the four choices for every question so the correct answers do not follow a generated letter sequence. Once a quiz is saved, its choice order stays fixed so student answers and the Grown-up Guide remain aligned. True/false choices remain unchanged.
The same worksheet controls appear when you add or edit a recurring math or handwriting worksheet pack. Changing Worksheet Type clears settings that do not apply to the newly selected type. If an older schedule uses a legacy worksheet type that is no longer offered for new schedules, HomeTrail keeps that existing type unless you choose a current one and save.
Grown-up Guides
HomeTrail creates a parent-only Grown-up Guide when a quiz or math worksheet has reliable structured answers. Open the pack from the parent app, or choose Grown-up Guide in Nest and enter the parental PIN.
The guide is excluded from normal student pack data and public previews. Packs without reliable structured answers do not show this option.
