DD10 has done some work on the OE EPGY program for a couple years now just as after-schooling/enrichment. I don't remember a placement test, but I do think others have mentioned one. I just started her at the 3rd grade level and went from there. She just gets on the program every once in a while and to be honest I still don't quite understand how to tell when she has officially learned everything she is to learn at each level. Parents can go in and bump the student up through the levels, which is what I’ve always done, so I’m not sure if the program moves the kids up through the grade levels on its own or not. We initially wanted the program for just the math, but after a while she started doing both the math and language arts. It is a bit "dry" and there are certainly no flashy games or prizes/badges to earn, etc., but I feel at least the math is a well-rounded program.
DD10 has worked through the EPGY 3rd-6th grade math curriculum and it is probably time to bump her up to the 7th grade level or try the beginning algebra. She has been doing some basic algebra at home and with her gifted teacher for a while now, but I wanted to see her work through the 6th grade EPGY curriculum after she had to deal with enVision Math at her public school this past year. I just wanted to be sure she understood the concepts before moving on.
It is set up as an individual program and multiple children would require multiple accounts. I don't think I would use it as a stand-alone curriculum, but it would be good as part of a curriculum. Once a child gets going, the program is set up to run for 20 minutes, so the child can work on as much of that subject they can until time runs out. This would mean 20 min of math and another 20 min of LA. This caused some issues for DD10 because she would be in the middle of solving a problem and she would time out. I found a way (or asked our SSA) to get rid of the 20 minute time limit, but I sure don't remember how I did it. For math, DD10 just keeps a bit of scrap paper on hand if she needs it and I’ve allowed her to use a calculator at times. As others have said - the LA doesn't really require any writing but it gives a listing of words that the student has to drag and drop into place. DD10 has had some issues with the drag and drop parts - I think mainly because she didn't quite understand what the program was asking her or the sentence she created wasn't an exact match to what the program wanted (if that makes sense). Another issue she has mentioned is when they ask her to form a sentence she has a different idea about what she wants to write and the words she wants to use are not in the choices the program gives her, so she has to rethink using the given words.
One benefit (IMO) is the reports you can print out showing what level the child is working on, what concepts they have covered, and a scored percentage. For example – the child worked 10 division problems and got 8 correct. The program gives you that information showing you the 80% and you can go back and look at what they got wrong to try to determine if they just didn’t understand or maybe hurried through, etc.
If your DS8 does end up doing the algebra you'll have to let us all know what he thought.
