Has anyone tried the EPGY math for Kindergarten? I am just curious to see if it is worth it. I am considering signing up DD this summer just to give us something fun to do together... but I want to make sure it actually is fun, worth the cost, ect. Does anyone know of where to get a sample lesson for K on EPGY?

Thanks!

There is very little "Kindergarten" material in EPGY because there is very little math taught in Kindergartens and the EPGY grade levels equate to the grade the topics are usually taught in schools -- they don't equate to the grade/age level the child should be completing that course. My son started EPGY in the middle of K when we pulled him out to homeschool. He completed all of EPGY Kindergarten in a single afternoon. But a benefit of using EPGY is that a child can continue working ahead at his or her own pace. I recall 1st grade took a few weeks and then second grade took a few months. Third grade also took a few months at which point we took a break to work on multiplication facts. So he completed through third grade in about 8 months.

EPGY used to have a few samples of lectures and a list of all the topics covered at each grade level, but I can no longer find them since they've updated their website. You could try emailing them and asking for a list.

I should add that DS would not call EPGY "fun" and it isn't designed with any bells and whistles to help engage the kids. But it does a great job at moving kids through the material at a reasonable pace.

DS did EPGY 5th/6th, PreAlgebra, Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. He also did them very quickly and liked the courses. We had a pretty negative experience with Geometry that seems to be a combination of some staffing issues and their Proof Environment.

We are now looking for a different Geometry course but plan to give EPGY another shot after that since that was the only really bad experience he had with EPGY.

rather look at Dreambox.com. It's a lot more fun and intuitive for kids. Dylan will be starting this mid way through this year I think. Right now he does SEMAS (japanese abacus) classes and loves that. We use a lot of the concepts at home in gardening, baking, shopping etc and he is loving figuring out on his abacus how many things we need.

thanks for that suggestion! That looks fun.

I can't imagine a five year old enjoying EPGY.

There are lots of fun math apps which are a lot more suitable for young children. I can't recommend any specifically, but Splash math is fun for slightly older kids. It seemed to me that K math is counting to 100 and addition and subtraction within 10.

Dreambox is totally fun! try the free 2 week trial and take it from there

If you look on the homeschool coop site you will often find discounted subscriptions etc (if you are going to use homeschool co op I am going to ask that you let me know and I will send you a referral link as you get points that add up for free stuff! haha)

EPGY gets good around grade 2, and Dreambox falls apart around grade 2. K5 Learning is not a bad alternative for the K-2 years, but I would definitely recommend moving to EPGY after that.

Interesting. DD tested out of most of K and 1st during the first few days then when she hit some walls doing second grade work, it wasn't fun for her anymore. She found it too frustrating yet she got the concepts offscreen with manipulatives without any problems.

Since then, I've gotten her a 100 board, unifix cubes with trains, and a set of place value blocks, and fraction wooden blocks. She spends about an hour a day, a few times a week experimenting with patterns (multiplication, fractions, divisions, etc) and whatever else she's doing. I don't know if & when I should start more structured math instruction with her using a curriculum but for now, she seems to be having fun discovering on her own. I might add a few more Montessori style materials if budget allows. I also think she'd enjoy Hand-On-Equations but we'll wait until she is older. I really am trying not to be the tiger mom because I'm tempted to find out how far her math talent runs.

We haven't really found that. Aiden is on grade 3 and Nathan is nearly finished grade 2. They still choose to do it daily and it forms the basis for their maths learning (homeschool). The learning principles are solid and the change in presentation at grade 3 level keeps it fresh and exciting

My daughter started EPGY last summer when she was 4.75 and we've had a mixed experience with it--
Cons:
-The K level was too easy so she grew bored quickly-- they were willing to bump her up to first grade- also too easy, but I worried that starting her at 2nd grade would have been premature--had no way of really knowing; I wish it had been possible to customize the starting point in a more targeted way.

-Sessions include several "math races" that are designed to encourage speed, but my daughter hates these so they're a barrier to her wanting to do it--

- Although the program is supposed to promote the child quickly through skills they've mastered, it's not quick enough for my kid who's looking for a challenge and tends to be really excited about a specific skill (e.g., division) rather than wanting to slog through things in order

Pros:
- Great practice for basic skills
-Encourages multiple ways of thinking about concepts **This is the greatest strength of the program in my point of view
- Sense of accomplishment from incremental progress

I pair EPGY with IXL-- on that site my DD can go after the specific topic she's really curious about and doesn't have to be sequential. I find it's a good balance. Hope that helps!

Our Pre-K DD started with Dreambox at 4yrs and moved to Dreambox + EPGY at 6. Dreambox has the advantage of getting kids used to the technology and having fun with it. DD likes the structure of EPGY and the transparency of the lessons. She moves between both packages depending on her mood. She dislikes the EPGY 'math race,' too, but when it's over, she moves onto new content and learns it very quickly -- but the 'immediacy' required in the races is what is off-putting to her. I think Dreambox gave her an excellent fundamental understanding of her number sense and confidence in math before starting with EPGY too. EPGY follows a structured learning program while Dreambox automatically varies the learning content and style.

DS is 4 and has been on Dreambox for 6 months and is into the 1st grade syllabus. He loves the format and is also developing an excellent number sense. I am holding back from introducing him to EPGY until he is 5 years old, as I think the Dreambox format is more suitable to hold his attention at this age.

Can someone explain the format of EPGY better? I've seen mention of "races" and lectures in it. How do those work? Are there other types of practice?

DS5 was doing dreambox a year ago, but sort of hit a wall with a concept that he couldn't quite get and the program wouldn't progress him past that point. It was like all of the game choices available were related to this one thing (I don't remember.). And then he refused to play, so I canceled. He's not too big on formal instruction and I've let him play Times Attack (the addition one) and a kind of Fruit Ninja game on the kindle.

He's kind of a mull-it-over kid and isn't good at/interested in math fact memorization. So he's kind of understanding the concepts of addition/subtraction/multiplication/division, but not that interested in practicing it over and over because "he already knows it" even though he doesn't know the facts cold. Does that make sense?

I would love to find something where he could get into some of the more complex ideas of math, which might help him see the importance of the math facts. It seems that so much of the elementary math is just learning variations of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and if you can get past that, things are more interesting...

I wonder if he would like Life of Fred books or maybe Penrose the Mathematical Cat?

Thank you so much for that really insightful explanation, Portia. This might be what we go with next year...

Just read through this thread. DD(4yrs) is giving Dreambox a try right now. We'll see how this goes!

We are trying to sign DD8 up under open enrollment (I'd like to try it for her before we consider it for our kindergartener) - I do not see the "gifted" check box or toggle menu anywhere. Can someone help me locate this?

Let us know how she goes on it