Easy Peasy

[Petrichor]

Can someone tell me about Easy Peasy? I looked at it, and it's not for us, but wondering if anyone has had a good experience with it. Or a bad experience. Any experience, really. 😄

A friend of mine is unhappy with the environment at her kid's school, and is thinking about pulling him out but she wants something that is all planned out for her. She's under the impression that online public school is going to require a lot of catch-up work at this point in the year. She also has a bad experience with one of those online schools - too much busy work, too much time commitment, etc.

I'm wondering if easy peasy is something I should bother suggesting to her. She will likely put him in another private school next year.

[HomeAgain]

I'm like you, it wasn't for me.  I didn't want to have to scroll every day and I couldn't find a way around that.

Maybe Discovery K-12 would work for her?  She can set the assignments and it's in a slightly better format.  Plus, she has the option of paying for the parent account and getting grades/transcripts.

[freesia]

I am liking the Physical Science for my fourth grader a lot.  It's mostly to make sure we are consistent and she gets co-op classes and documentaries that she loves to watch.  I think it's a good mix of video and hands on and reading to get a good basic job done (and as good as most science texts for fourth grade--and more hands on, actually.)

However, that is the only part I have really looked at. It's probably not as "rich" as I would like overall.  I also don't like my child on the computer all day and, if I wanted that, I'd probably chose something else.  However, if something major happened here and I really needed something laid out like  this and on the computer, I would consider it as a stop gap.  It does cover all areas.

I think she'd be happier with something like Oak Meadow or Sonlight, too.

 

[ElizabethB]

I would suggest instead easy to implement curriculum at appropriate level for him.  What grade level is he and what is he behind in?  If he's behind in reading, DVD/audio/mom reads aloud for science, history, etc. For quick read aloud science in all science subjects, I like the new Real Science 4 Kids books, short but uses science language.  Audio for history Story of the World if in elementary, will need something DVD or something else if middle school or older.

[katilac]

My first bit of advice to her would be to actually speak with the online public school. January would be an entirely new semester, and it's not high school so no worry about specific credits. The vast majority of schools K-8 are just going to have the kid jump into the new semester, particularly within the same school district. I know she had a bad experience before, but catching up shouldn't play into it unless she knows it's a fact. 

Regarding Easy Peasy, I think a family would have to be not only Christian but people who consider the bible as a literal and historical document to use it as is. EP teaches that the bible is considered one of the most historically accurate history books in the world, and biblical accounts are taught as history (as part of history class). I am personally not comfortable with some of the commentary on other religions, particularly as it is taught within history class. 

Easy Peasy was, yes, too easy for my homeschool, and not organized in a way that I liked. Sometimes the vocabulary and context for literature would be given after reading instead of before. Sometimes definitions would be too simplistic or not quite accurate. I don't see the point to some of the assignments, like seeing how fast you can recite a poem - speed is not a good oral skill to teach, lol. 

I do know that some people use it successfully, either certain courses or the entire program, but it is not something I would recommend to a student planning to return to school in the fall semester (or who even has a chance of returning quickly). I would speak to the private schools that are being considered and see where he needs to be for his grade level and what skills are critical, and work from there. This is particularly important if he is moving on to high school, but will smooth the path for any grade. Schools, particularly private schools, often have different areas of emphasis. One school might require lots of writing across the curriculum, so that could be a focus for spring semester. 

Once they have an idea of what the schools will expect, they need to take a look at where the student is. The school most likely did standardized testing and that's a good place to start. Various free assessments can be found online as well

For one semester with inexperienced homeschoolers, I would recommend something like ALEKS online for math. It will give a thorough assessment and pinpoint skills that need teaching and remediating, putting the student in a stronger position for next year. This will work for any level. 

Language arts will depend on where the student is and where they need to be by next year. If they are solid on skills and strong reader, I might use the semester to let them read voraciously within their interests, with minimal output. I would require a certain amount of variety and of course quality. Working on skills would depend on age and ability. 

Do you have any more info? Grade of student, general ability, interests?