Our DS8 has been using EPGY in the classroom as a full replacement for math since Dec. (He started the year using ALEKS.)
The school agreed to his using ALEKS when he passed the 4th Grade year-end assessment right after school started. He used ALEKS for 5th, passed the school's test and then started EPGY for 6th because we all felt it would better prepare him for the EPGY pre-algebra.
One problem I have with EPGY is that it is not possible for the child to bail on a topic if he gets stuck. This has resulted in several says of yucky scores for EPGY, as our son can't always expect the teacher to drop everything & come help.
In ALEKS, the student can exit out of a topic and choose something else. Then, after school, we could cover whatever topic(s) he skipped. This worked PERFECTLY.
So while I am very pleased with the caliber of EPGY, I really, really wish they had a similar feature.
As for the ultimate approval from the school, it was actually OK'd at the district level a few years ago and is on their official list of approved curriculum. That was nice... no waiting! (Maybe check with your district's curriculum office?)
We did have some arm-wrestling with the previous teacher about generating homework & quizzes, which was fine under ALEKS. With EPGY, though, there is no quiz function so we ultimately got him a pass on that. For homework, I just produced worksheets based on whatever topic required additional practice. EPGY provided its own homework, but it didn't focus on the problem areas -- just a bunch of busy work.
He'll be done with EPGY 6th grade in a few more weeks or so, and I am very curious to see how he does on the EPGY final exam AND the school's own 6th grade year-end stuff. I have a 6th grade math book from the school, so will be able to cover anything that he doesn't hit in EPGY.
