Five-minute grown-up orientation

Prepare the space. Let the learner investigate.

Your job is to open doors, protect people and records, and ask good questions—not to supply a perfect family story.

1

Web teaches; family does

Each case models one skill with fictional evidence, offers low-stakes practice, then points back to the workbook and an offline family activity.

2

Blanks are allowed

Unknown, private, complicated, adopted, chosen, estranged, and changing families all belong here. The fictional path always counts.

3

Evidence beats screen time

Completion means the learner can show or explain an artifact or skill—not that a page was viewed or a quiz was perfect.

Set up in under five minutes

  • Read the unit’s materials, active-adult time, and privacy note.
  • Choose real-family or fictional practice before beginning.
  • Put fragile records and living-person data under adult control.
  • Decide where paper evidence will live when the session ends.

Coach without taking over

  • Ask: “What do you notice?”
  • Ask: “Which clue supports that?”
  • Ask: “What is known, heard, inferred, or still unknown?”
  • Offer reading, writing, drawing, dictation, or movement breaks without lowering the target skill.

Nothing to upload

The companion has no learner account and no answer submission. Optional case status stays only in this browser and contains no family facts. Do not place names, documents, recordings, passwords, DNA results, or sensitive identifiers into website controls.

Use the rhythm that fits

A case can be one long afternoon, two shorter lessons, or a week of family conversations. Stop after online practice, return for the field mission, and close with the evidence check. Older learners can investigate more independently; younger learners may listen, dictate, or work beside an adult.