TL;DR: Use SparkAI to turn your children's hobbies into "Multi-Session Projects." SparkAI suggests unique project ideas that fit your family's interests and automatically breaks them down into easy-to-follow milestones.
Sometimes the hardest part of homeschooling is coming up with a big idea that keeps everyone engaged. That is where SparkAI comes in! Instead of a single lesson, projects allow your students to dive deep into a topic they love over several days or weeks.
By looking at your children's unique interests and their current learning levels, LearnSpark helps you create custom projects that feel like an adventure rather than a chore.
Generating Project Ideas for "Pods"
If you have more than one child, finding a topic that excites everyone can be a challenge. SparkAI makes this easy by looking for "overlapping interests."
Navigate to the Projects tab in your dashboard.
Select the students you want to include in the project. This is often called a Pod.
Click Suggest Ideas. SparkAI will look at each child's Student Profile and find common ground.
Browse the generated list! For example, if one child loves robots and another loves drawing, SparkAI might suggest a "Comic Book Robot Design" project.
💡 Good to know: The ideas generated are based on your Curriculum Style and family values. This ensures every project aligns with how you prefer to teach!
Breaking it Down: What are Milestones?
A large project can feel overwhelming. To help you stay organized, SparkAI automatically breaks every project into Milestones. Think of these as the "chapters" of your project story.
Each Milestone represents a specific phase of the project, such as:
Phase 1: Research & Discovery — Gathering information and setting goals.
Phase 2: Hands-on Creation — Building, writing, or experimenting.
Phase 3: Presentation — Sharing what they learned with the family.
When you accept a project idea, SparkAI creates these Milestones for you. You can then schedule each one on your calendar, so you always know what to do next.
Customizing Your Project Flow
You are always in the driver's seat! If SparkAI suggests a five-part project but you only want to spend three days on it, you can easily Edit Milestones. You can drag and drop them to change the order or delete steps that don't fit your schedule.
⚠️ Heads up: Generating and regenerating project ideas uses SparkAI Credits. Each time you ask for a new set of suggestions, it will use a small amount of your monthly credit balance.
Connecting Projects to Mastery
As your children finish each Milestone, their Mastery Profile updates automatically. Because SparkAI knows the educational standards behind the project, it tracks the skills they are building without you having to fill out extra paperwork.
To see how these projects impact your child's long-term growth, check out our guide on Tracking Student Performance and Mastery Profiles. That's it — you're all set to start your next big adventure!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I create a project for just one child?
Yes! While SparkAI is great at finding shared interests for groups, it works perfectly for solo "deep dives" based on a single child's passion.
What if I don't like the suggested Milestones?
You can refresh any specific Milestone or use the Interest Weaver to add more specific details to the project plan, making it a better fit for your needs.
Where do projects show up in my schedule?
Once you schedule your project Milestones, they will appear on your Daily Dashboard and Weekly Schedule just like regular lessons. This helps you track progress toward the final goal!
How many Milestones should a project have?
Most SparkAI projects include 3 to 6 Milestones. This keeps the project focused enough to finish in a reasonable time while still going broad enough to be meaningful.