Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
What is Homeschool Easy?
First, you should know that there are several all-in-one grade level products to choose from. The company currently offers packages for grades 1 through 5. We selected the 4th Grade Entire School Year Curriculum for this review.
The program includes daily worksheets, lesson plans, and pretty much everything you need to homeschool in one purchase. The subjects covered are: History, Language, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing. You can also choose to purchase just one subject (or several) as part of an a la carte purchase to help fill in the gaps for any program you are currently using or to help give kids extra practice at any time. There are extremely affordable (usually less than the cost of a single homeschool workbook.)
How does Homeschool Easy work?
The company offers a 1-week free trial of any of their products for you to get a feel for the program. This could be useful for many reasons. First, it might be necessary to see how your child does with a worksheet-focused curriculum. Also, it gives you a bit of a preview for the grade-level content in the program. You can see right off the bat if your child is at the level needed to jump right into the year.
Once you purchase your product, you'll be sent download links to start using the program right away. This may be just what you're looking for if you need to start school today and can't wait on things to be ordered and arrive in the mail. (Many publishers are experiencing backlogs of physical books. This saves you time and hassle.)
You will need a printer and your own paper to print out all of the worksheets for the program. You can do them all at once, by subject, or just print what you need for the week --- or even the day. This can help you manage clutter or organizing space. Keeping your materials on your computer until you need them is a big appeal for people who travel while homeschooling or who don't have much room to store big textbooks!
What are the materials like?
Homeschool Easy is an 8-month, 32-week program with materials for each core subject every day. You can choose to do every subject every day, or you can do some subjects on certain days a week. The grammar, for example, had "Commas" as the topic for a particular week. The worksheets for that would have taken my kids about 5 minutes a day to do. So, you could easily have your kids do two worksheets (or even three) to progress through the course more quickly or to do it just once or twice a week instead of every day.
How is it taught?
Since this is an elementary-only level program, it would be fairly simple for an adult of any educational background to lead. Each week's worksheet set comes with a basic explanation of the topic, as a refresher for the parent and the student. There are also helps for the parent, in the form of videos linked from the answer sheets, for subjects like math. When you buy the program, you'll be given a quick one-sheet guide to how you could best teach a subject. So, for math, you would demonstrate the lesson or watch the linked YouTube video with the child. Then, the child could do the worksheets. Then, you would use the answer sheet to check their work and go over any issues you see.
It's a very minimalistic program, but I can see how it would be very effective for the elementary grades. You are moving through the material at a good clip and also sticking to the basics. There's no Common Core or extra methodology in this program.
Subjects like Science and History require you to register for a Brittanica Kids account. Literature (also called "Reading") will need you to either buy some paperbacks, check them out from your library, or use Google Books or Kindle Unlimited to access them for free or at a low-cost. You could also pick and choose subjects based on what you have in the home.
Helpful hint: The worksheets have lines to do the work, but children who write large or need more room to work may want to do their writing in a separate notebook. This could be a good option for those who are using handwriting paper to work on their penmanship!
Homeschool Easy Review Summary
For a no-fuss homeschool curriculum that covers every core topic, Homeschool Easy makes it as easy as can be. Everything is stored on your computer, and you can print as you go. It's incredibly efficient, and even parents without much teaching experience can manage it, thanks to the linked free videos and additional resources. Kids who work well on their own can do this with very little direction, so I see it as a good choice for working parents, too.
Also, compared to the cost of buying multiple teacher's manuals, workbooks, or online live or asynchronous courses, the price can't be beat. For anyone new to homeschooling, who just wants to jump in affordably, this is a good route to go. Experienced homeschoolers looking to simplify their routine or work within a smaller budget will be pleased, as well.
Learn more
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See what other parents think about the program here!
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