Final Word on Miller-Levine/Pearson Online Access?

[paulsbookworm]

I have been reading all the past threads about getting online access to the Miller Levine materials through Pearson.  Was there ever a resolution about whether homeschoolers could get these or not? 

I don't want to spend all that money and not be able to get them when I could buy the IPad version for $15.

 

Canaan

[AEC]

I went through this with them last year.

I did, in the end, end up getting access to the digital material (never did find useful videos, but the testing materials with answers and answers for the workbook have been great).

However - I probably made a dozen or two phone calls to them to get it.  Eventually they caved because I was clearly not going to go away otherwise and I did in fact pay for it.

They made it pretty clear that their new policy is that they do NOT provide the digital access to homeschoolers.  Even if you get a school code you are 'not a real school'.  They directed me to their homeschooling site, which at the time was so bad I couldn't even figure out how to buy books from it.

[Haiku]

When I talked to them they told me that they are aware that "people are telling each other there is a way for homeschoolers to get access, but there isn't." They said in the past they made some exceptions because their policy wasn't clear but at this point they will allow no access. This was two weeks ago.

[EKS]

Two years ago I was able to get access for MasteringBiology with just a few emails and phone call.  I was told that it was important to order the materials from them (and not Amazon) in order to get it.  But maybe they have changed their rules since then.

[purplelily]

That may be a bad decision for them as Home Education is growing.

 

[Vida Winter]

Pearson is at least as bad as the DMV, IRS, and Verizon all rolled into one.

[Haiku]

That may be a bad decision for them as Home Education is growing.

 

Yeah. It makes no sense. My son wants a textbook for 9th grade science, so I will be ordering from Holt. Pearson has lost my business with their stupid policy.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When I looked at the Pearson homeschool site, it seems that they are selling the Dragonfly edition.  I used that a year ago, but would really like to transition to the newer Macaw edition.

 

Is there some idea that people will pose as homeschoolers in order to get access to the teacher material?  I am not very interested in paying a premium price for a 10 year old book.

 

I also noticed that they didn't list any of the AP Euro or US History titles that they sell, even under their AP tab.  It's a rather sad site in my eyes.

[Haiku]

Pearson does sell the macaw book on their Oasis site.

[Pegasus]

In my experience, it is easier to get Pearson online access if you have an ".edu" email address and don't state that you are a homeschooler. This wasn't very recently, though, so I don't know if it still holds true. If you know someone with an ".edu" email address, it may be worth a try.

 

I have no idea why Pearson would want to restrict access to homeschooling parents. Those textbook sets are pricey and one would think they'd want the business.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

In my experience, it is easier to get Pearson online access if you have an ".edu" email address and don't state that you are a homeschooler. This wasn't very recently, though, so I don't know if it still holds true. If you know someone with an ".edu" email address, it may be worth a try.

 

I have no idea why Pearson would want to restrict access to homeschooling parents. Those textbook sets are pricey and one would think they'd want the business.

I suspect there is a risk (perceived or real) that people will in fact pretend to be homeschoolers in attempt to get teacher materials and answer keys.

 

I'm not sure Pearson's disorganization is all about preventing that. I would think there are more actual teachers selling their preview copies.

 

The market for selling to homeschoolers is a tiny blip. Not only are there fewer homeschoolers, but the products they buy are spread widely. I suspect that selling a series to one big school district, with a full package of test banks, lecture slides and online supplements is bigger than the whole homeschool market.

[EKS]

I have no idea why Pearson would want to restrict access to homeschooling parents. Those textbook sets are pricey and one would think they'd want the business.

 

The business they get from homeschoolers is a drop in the bucket compared to what they get from schools.  Schools want to be sure that access to instructor resources is restricted, and if Pearson angers a few homeschoolers to ensure the integrity of their materials, I'm sure they figure that it's worth it.

[JoJosMom]

Last year (2014-2015), I was able to access Pearson online materials for a different textbook.  I had to file some sort of declaration, though, before they'd let me have access.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I was able to get access to Mastering Physics a few years back.  It took weeks of calls and emails.  I don't know if I would be able to get the same access now.

 

One thing I can suggest is that there is a contact form on the Pearson homeschool site.  If there is something specific that you think they ought to be selling there, drop them a note.  Maybe there isn't much demand, because there isn't much on offer, because there isn't much demand.  In other words, if you don't build it they won't come.  Perhaps there would be more incentive on their part to offer items to homeschoolers if they perceived people would buy the finished product.

[AEC]

It's pretty clear Pearson's intention is not to provide access to teachers editions or materials (including tests & answers) to homeschools.

They are fairly bad about communication, even with their own people, so if you ask enough people you'll probably find someone who believes it's fine because they used to do it and the still have things like homeschool affidavits linked from some places on their sites.

 

If you do decide to go ahead and order from them directly because you want access to the teacher's editions, I would be prepared to argue for it a lot and I would get IN WRITING any statements from any of their reps saying you'll get access.  And then be prepared to fight.

 

Even though I managed to make it work for me last year I'm not even going to try with other subjects this year.  They're trying really hard to close whatever loopholes they might have had in the past and not allow it.

[Teresa in MO]

I bought the Macaw book with teacher's access from Pearson about 4 years ago.  Used it with two of my dd, had access to everything.  A couple of weeks ago I logged into my account and now all of the teacher's material is gone!  Has anyone ever had this issue?  It was supposed to be a 6 year access.

[Mom22ns]

I bought the Macaw book with teacher's access from Pearson about 4 years ago.  Used it with two of my dd, had access to everything.  A couple of weeks ago I logged into my account and now all of the teacher's material is gone!  Has anyone ever had this issue?  It was supposed to be a 6 year access.

 

Yep. I've actually had it happen twice. The first time I contacted them and it was restored. It was system upgrades or something. The second time was within the last year and I was already done using it, so I didn't argue. I was guessing it happened with all the homeschool lockout stuff, but it might have been more innocuous than that - like before.

 

If you don't use it for awhile (I had a year off between kids) it seems to go away and you have to get it reset. The question is if they will still reset it and I don't know the answer.

[AppleGreen]

I tried half heartedly to get access this year, but it was not worth my time or energy to deal with them. I do not think they want homeschoolers to have access to their materials in the way it available for public/private school teachers.

 

I purchased some other elementary science from them that they specifically billed for homeschoolers and sent it it back. It was a joke. The resources they offered homeschoolers were pretty much worthless and definitely not worth the $60+ they were charging. I talked to them and told them so. They were basically offering an immensely striped down version of the teacher site that did not include access to any of the worksheets, tests or anything. IIRC, it was just the teacher's manual.

 

I found enough other resources available to make the Macaw book work without going through Pearson, although we ultimately ended up switching science. Glad I have all these biology resources...  :closedeyes: