Literally, that's the name. Lee Giles named it right because it has taken a huge amount of planning off my shoulders when it comes to a full and well balanced curriculum resourcing for our several kiddos (all in different grade levels!).
Besides the fact that it is incredibly well orchestrated; offering several additional resources beyond just your core subjects; it's free. Yup, you read correctly. Free. You are welcome to, and I encourage you to, make a donation annually as you can, in whatever amount you can as this is how their family makes a living from my understanding. But no momentary contributions are required for use.
Why is that the case? Well it is technically a resource and not a curriculum. And that's okay. Lee took all the work out of the resource organization to allow it to all be used as a cohesive curriculum should you choose. So let's take a dive into why my family has used this for the last 7 years with all our kiddos.
#1 Affordability
When we first started our home education road, we were broke. Like BROKE, broke. So any and all extra funds were desperately needed elsewhere. In fact, we were so desperate for funds at the time, homeschooling almost didn't happen because we had always been taught it was too expensive to do. And honestly, if you're willing to dig around a bit to find what you want or even put some things together on your own, that simply is far from the truth. I put this as the number one reason we went with this because this was almost the one reason we had to never homeschool when we started out and it is majorly the reason I am told by other parents as to why they choose not to home educated their kiddos; even when there is a great desire to do so.
#2 Christ Centered Education and Goals
This has quickly shifted into our personal number one reason for home education. We want to know that our kiddos are receiving an education not built on a social movements or biased agendas (beyond that which demonstrates and teaches the attributes of Christ) but rather purely an educational experience. While the education the kids receive with Easy Peasy is a Christian based curriculum, they are still able to learn of other theories or points of view as they grow further in their educational levels. I value this deeply because Truth stands alone. And if you are unwilling to hear, learn or see other points of view or perspective, then you truly do not come to a decided upon place of KNOWING the truth you claim to believe within and for yourself. Now, these other perspectives are not taught as truth. They are not bashed either. Simply presented as "this is what others believe or think or historically have claimed.". The Bible teachings presented here are sound, simple, and beautiful. Bonus Points: They also have aided greatly in my older kids learning how to read and search out scripture independently. As a busy mama, this is super helpful to be able to have them learn personal disciplines as habits when I am unable to sit exclusively with them and help them study out things. Watching them have moments that 'click' in their understanding of the Scriptures is so much fun to witness!
#3 Keeps Track of Progress For Me
Yup. That's right. It's free and it tracks for me. While I may not be receiving an email detailing their individual progress and milestones, on the home screen as they go through their lessons, it keeps up with them and tells what's coming next. This is a huge asset to me as I am not balancing 5 grade levels; 3 of which are still very much so hands on. I do opt to purchase workbooks. So there is a bit work I create for myself by doing so. If I were to only use the online portals this would stay 100% up to date every day. The only reason we haven't so far is because of the sheer amount of travel we were doing the last few years. I wanted to know that work was getting done and the workbooks were simply the easiest way to complete assignments without the internet distractions while on the road. We also didn't want to pay for hotspot at the time.
#4 Versatile and Easy to Incorporate With Other Material
I like to switch things up every now and then and throw extra supplements or reading/learning materials in with whatever the kids are learning. I also utilize a unit study from My Father's World to go through history, science and Bible with that allow for more discussion. I have found that the histories coincide quite nicely together. They were not made for each other, so there is some back work that I have to put in by telling them where to go, but all in all because of how it's laid out, it works well for us. When I mix things in or up for the kids it tends to excite them again with what they're learning. So I lean heavily into this for my tactile learners and when things just seem a wee bit dull.
#5 Can Pretty Much Teach Your Kid For You... if you wanted.
That's right folks. There's such an enormous amount of 'tutoring' like videos and resources available that you can be as hands off or as hands on as you'd like. Given the ebs and flows of busy times in family like, especially with a lot of kids and needs, this is a beautiful perk to this resource for us. But it leads me to my only complaint with the program...
Why I don't like it...
When you're learning on the program and you get to use the links, they're outside source links. So I highly encourage you, as does Lee, that if your child isn't an avid reader or been taught computer safety and integrity, don't leave them alone with it. It will send them to outside links and sources. And while those sources are wonderful and trustworthy, you need to be sure your child is with the computer as well. Because, let's face it. It is the internet. And literally anything, everything, and everyone else is on it too. And that is just a harsh reality with a program like this.
All in all though, we've been using Easy Peasy for almost eight years now. We've loved and valued watching the resources available through the resource grow and the courses offered expanded. We don't plan to switch anything up for our kiddos for now. I am honestly super excited for the higher middle and high school levels with EP because they seem fun and exciting!
Here's the link if you wanna check them out for yourself!