Learning with K5

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to review K5 Learning free of charge for five weeks. So, I decided that we'd give it a shot and signed up. Now, we've tried a few different online programs in the past to varying degrees of success and failure. So, I was a bit skeptical. 

At first I signed up both Peanut (5) and YCJ (8) to see if they'd both do well on it or if they'd both like it. Peanut gave up on it after a few weeks. She was not enjoying it and has many other online and computer programs that she uses to reinforce her learning each day.

That left YCJ. At first, because I hadn't had her do an assessment, things were far to easy for her and it frustrated her. I requested an assessment and within about fifteen minutes they were ready for her to do. Unfortunately YCJ skipped quickly through the assessments (a no no) and probably hasn't been placed in the correct spot. I didn't request another one because she wasn't irritated at the lessons any longer and was actually doing them for a few days. She'd actually stopped growling at the computer while doing the lessons and exclaiming, "I know this already!"

Here are some bonus points for K5:   
* You can either have your child do an assessment before beginning or request on later. Indeed you can request one at any time.
* The program is extremely user friendly.
* You can review reports on your child's progress, number of assignments done, grades they received, and much more including the detailed reports.
* You can assign your child lessons to do in Reading and Math.
* Assign spelling words and change Spelling settings.
* They have awesome customer support.
* You can print off worksheets from the site for extra work on difficult subjects for you child.
* And they have a refer a friend program.

Here are a few of the negatives I found while using K5:    
* The cost. A monthly subscription for one child is $25 (each additional child for the month you add $15) and the yearly subscription for one child is $199 (each additional child per year is $129). Now, you'd either subscribe by the month or the year so those costs don't compound together but for a family on a strict budget this is rather a lot of money.

OK, so I really only found one negative thing about the program. Our family is on a very tight budget where we tend to try to keep the costs per child's curriculum choices between $100 and $200 a year, and the closer to $100 the better. IF this program cost less money then I'd be more likely to purchase it for use in my home. Just doing this program for my three children would blow my curriculum program out of the water for the whole year and wouldn't allow for subjects like science, social studies, bible, handwriting, art, etc.

It's a shame that this program didn't cost less as I know that if it did more people in my situation budget wise would be willing to pay for it. It is a great program, only the cost keeps us from subscribing.

I would, however, recommend this program to anyone who could afford it without putting themselves into trouble when it comes to their other curriculum needs. 

We have another week or two of our free trial left and I'm sure I'll have YCJ do a few more things on it while we can. Honestly, she has barely touched on most of the lessons, and I think this is mainly because she is more of a hands on learner. Most programs we've tried with her on the computer seem to fizzle after just a few days. 

Linking this review up with:   
Unschooling Momma

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Our Busy Homeschool

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