Logging your first activity in Willowfolio: what the fields actually mean

Short answer

Open the log, pick the activity, write a short description, submit. The other fields (engagement, three-period stage, mood, duration, materials) sharpen the record but none of them is required. Short and honest beats thorough and performative.

Walk-through

1. Open the log from the Overview page and tap "new entry".
2. Pick the activity. Start typing; the app will offer matches from the Montessori material list. If your activity is not on the list, type it in freely. Activity names do not have to be formal.
3. Write a two-sentence description. Purely descriptive: what the child did, for how long, one telling detail. "Zara poured water from the small jug into two cups, twelve minutes, second cup steadier than the first."
4. Engagement (optional). Low, moderate, high. See the glossary below if unsure.
5. Three-period stage (optional). Only relevant for presentations of named Montessori materials. Skip for practical-life or open-ended work.
6. Mood (optional). Use the descriptive phrase that matches (bright, flat, frustrated, settled). Do not use it as a score.
7. Submit. The entry appears in today's journal view.

Glossary of the fields

Engagement. Was the child present in the work. Low: glancing around, leaving frequently, clearly not in it. Moderate: at the work, participating, possibly engaging socially alongside. High: fully absorbed, difficult to interrupt.

Three-period stage. Maria Montessori's three-stage lesson structure, used for naming or identification work. Stage 1 (introduction): "this is X." Stage 2 (association): "show me X." Stage 3 (recall): "what is this?" Log the stage the child was at during the session. If the work was not a naming presentation, leave this field blank.

Mood. The emotional context the child brought to the work. Recorded as descriptive shorthand (bright, flat, frustrated, settled, tired). Not a score; not a verdict. A frustrated session is not a failed session; it is a session coloured by frustration.

Duration. Minutes. An approximate number is fine; the app rounds down when it totals durations so a best-guess number is as useful as a stopwatched one.

Materials. Which specific material(s) were used. Optional; useful for the termly sequence check but not required for a daily entry.

If that did not work

• The activity did not save. Check your connection and retry.
• The three-period stage field is confusing. Leave it blank. The stage is a Montessori teaching structure, not a required field; it helps the app tailor future suggestions but does not block logging.
• You forgot to log during the session and it is now bedtime. Log it from memory tomorrow morning. Retrospective logging is fine. The dedicated article on record-keeping cadence in the related reading explains why.

If you are still stuck, email [email protected]. A real person reads it.