HISTORY:
The history lessons are focused on American history, starting with the Native Americans. When you pull up the American History file, each file is organized by months - month one through month eight. Within each monthly file, it is broken down into weeks. This makes it really simple to find just what you are looking for and to look ahead for the month.
The lessons come from two main sources: Britannica Kids online and YouTube videos. For example, in week 1 Silas had three YouTube videos to watch and two topics to search on Britannica Kids. Each day he also had questions to answer that came from the videos he watched or articles he read. I noticed a few hands-on projects, like posters, that are scheduled in.
Silas is not a fan of watching YouTube videos, and some of these were long. He had difficulty answering the questions afterward so I helped him out. He also had trouble reading the articles on Britannica Kids and finding the answers. He is the type of child that needs a physical book in his hand to read and flip through. We took the American History portion very slowly and didn't do it every day.
MATH:
The math lessons are broken down by week. The first few weeks were review with addition and subtraction. Each lesson is two pages long with a lot of practice problems! I love the fact that it's traditional math and not Common Core, but the massive amount of math problems was a bit intimidating to Silas. He did complete the first few lessons in their entirety, but after that I had him do about half of the problems in each lesson if he completed them correctly.
GRAMMAR:
The grammar lessons are also broken down by week. Each day Silas had one grammar sheet to complete. Honestly, the grammar is my favorite part of this entire curriculum. The lessons are short and to the point, with clear instructions and a very doable amount of work. Silas flew through these lessons. I appreciate the fact that each week is labeled by topic (as is the math), so I can quickly see what he will be working on each week. I also like the fact that each week focuses on one concept, like plural nouns or past tense verbs. The grammar lessons are great for parts of speech review!
READING:
I also love the reading units! There are eight books scheduled, one a month, for your child to read. The book selections are great! "Charlotte's Web", "Holes", "Hatchet", and "Number the Stars" are four of my favorite books and four books scheduled for Silas to read. I feel they are very age-appropriate books. Each day your child will read an assigned amount and then answer a few questions. I really like the fact that there aren't an overwhelming number of questions to answer! Two or three direct, to the point questions to check reading comprehension are written for each day. Silas also loved this part and he loved "Charlotte's Web."
SCIENCE:
The science lessons are organized by month, and each month focuses on one topic. The first month is about matter. Like the history, there are YouTube videos to watch and Britannica Kids articles to read. There are also simple science experiments sprinkled in along with the questions about what your child has read or watched. Like with the history, Silas had trouble answering the questions about the videos and articles. He did enjoy the science videos better than the history videos! I gave him plenty of help in answering the questions, but we didn't do science every day.
I really like the spelling units! Each week has twenty spelling words along with flashcards, crosswords, word searches and fill in the blanks worksheets. The words were grade-appropriate and I think twenty words are very doable for a 5th grader.
WRITING:
The writing lessons are also organized by month with each month having a writing assignment. The first month's assignment is "Future Goals." I like the way the writing lessons are organized! Each week your child will work on one paragraph, and the four paragraphs will fit together to make an essay. Silas made a graphic organizer for each paragraph which helped him to break down and organize his thought and ideas. The writing lessons are short but effective!
MY FINAL THOUGHTS:
Homeschool Easy is a great homeschool curriculum for parents who are looking for a traditional, worksheet-based approach. At $100 for each entire grade level, that's a fantastic deal! You can also buy individual subjects for each grade for $10, which I think is also a great idea. There are a few subjects, like grammar and writing, that we will continue using. There are also a few, like history and science, that we will be abandoning. They don't match Silas's learning style, so we will go back to what works for him. The curriculum is very well-written, easy to find what you need each week, easy to print, and very organized. Check out what other reviewers thought of Homeschool Easy by clicking the banner below.
