LessonLoop — the spec

A client portal for music students and their families that centralises lesson schedules, homework, and skill progress in one place. Teachers post notes and assignments after each session; students and parents log in to review what was covered, see what practice is due, and book the next lesson. The target user is an everyday family managing weekly music lessons — no technical sophistication required.

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Decisions locked

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The core loop

1. Teacher posts lesson notes and a homework assignment immediately after a session ends.
2. Student or parent receives a notification and logs into their portal.
3. They read the notes, review the assigned homework tasks for the week, and check progress markers updated by the teacher.
4. Parent, if linked, reviews the same information from their own account view.
5. Student or parent opens the schedule view and books the next available session slot.
6. Confirmation lands in-app; the booked lesson appears on the student's calendar.

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v1 scope

Lesson notes and homework assignments
After each session the teacher creates a note (free text, supporting file attachments) and attaches one or more homework tasks with due dates. Both appear on the student's dashboard immediately on save.

Progress tracking by skill area
Teachers update a per-student skills grid — custom skill areas such as scales, sight-reading, or rhythm — rating each on a simple scale. The student dashboard surfaces a visual summary so progress is tangible between lessons.

Parent account for student oversight
A parent can be linked to one or more student accounts. The parent portal mirrors the student's lesson notes, homework, and progress data in read-only form, with the ability to manage bookings on the student's behalf.

Lesson schedule and booking
A calendar view shows past and upcoming lessons. A booking widget lets students or parents select from teacher-published availability slots and confirm the next session. Confirmed bookings are visible to both teacher and student instantly.

User accounts and role management
Three roles — Teacher, Student, Parent — each with a scoped dashboard. Teachers manage all linked students from one view. Students see only their own portal. Parents see every student profile they are linked to. Spreadsheet import lets teachers bulk-upload existing student rosters on setup.

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Deliberately later

• Practice log with auto-reminders — requires habit-loop design and notification infrastructure; earns its complexity once core engagement is proven.
• Video library linked to lessons — video hosting and streaming add cost and scope; better after content needs are validated by real teachers.
• Audio/photo practice submission — depends on storage policy and moderation thinking; natural v2 addition once homework workflow is trusted.
• Teacher feedback on submissions — builds on submission feature above; sequencing it second keeps v1 shipping fast.

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Data model sketch

• users — id, name, email, hashed password, role (teacher / student / parent), created_at
• parent_student_links — id, parent_user_id, student_user_id
• lessons — id, teacher_id, student_id, scheduled_at, status (booked / completed / cancelled), booking_confirmed_at
• availability_slots — id, teacher_id, start_time, end_time, is_booked
• lesson_notes — id, lesson_id, body_text, created_at
• homework_assignments — id, lesson_note_id, task_description, due_date, is_complete
• skill_areas — id, teacher_id, name (e.g. "Scales"), description
• progress_entries — id, student_id, skill_area_id, rating, recorded_at, teacher_id
• file_uploads — id, owner_type, owner_id, file_url, uploaded_at

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Screens

• Student dashboard — single-view summary of upcoming lesson, outstanding homework, and latest progress ratings.
• Parent dashboard — mirrors student dashboard; links to each linked student's portal.
• Teacher dashboard — list of all students, quick-access to post notes and update progress after sessions.
• Lesson detail page — full notes, attached files, homework task list, and progress updates for a single lesson.
• Progress tracker page — per-student skill grid showing historical ratings across all skill areas.
• Schedule and booking page — calendar of past and upcoming lessons plus the availability-slot booking widget.
• Account and roster settings — manage roles, link parent-to-student relationships, and import student roster via spreadsheet.

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How to use this document

• Bring it into Mind Palace, where the guided platform and its AI coach pick up from exactly this document and build the product with you step by step.
• Hand it to a developer as the complete v1 brief — scope, data model, and screens are all defined.
• Keep it as the single source of truth while you build, so every feature decision traces back to one document.