Etap is the homeschool curriculum market’s equivalent to one-size-fits-all clothing. A poncho marked one-size-fits-all is supposed to fit most people regardless of body size, and Etap is supposed to fit most homeschooling families regardless of size.
You pay one yearly fee and gain access to complete curriculum for grades K-12. This curriculum includes educational materials and tests for Math, Science, History, and English. All of your children can access material at their grade level without paying additional fees.
Parents are typically attracted to Etap because it is an affordable option for families with multiple homeschooling children. While that is a definite advantage to the program, price alone should never determine your choice in curriculum.
Etap Advantages
Beyond the affordable price, the biggest advantage to using the Etap curriculum is the ability to complete schoolwork from any location with an Internet connection. The entire program is contained in the website, so you do not have the expense of purchase schoolbooks or the hassle of hauling schoolbooks around when you travel.
Another advantage is having all subjects presented through one source in the same layout. You do not have to find a different curriculum for each subject and then repeat for each child. Etap allows you to purchase a complete core curriculum for all children and all subjects in one place. Once your children familiarize themselves with the program, they can move through their studies each year without spending time learning new programs.
You may choose to supplement the Etap program with additional resources, but you do not have to do so. Most children can do the lessons on their own, which frees you up to get other things accomplished in your day.
Etap Disadvantages
Not all parents like the design of the Etap lessons. Each lesson includes a pre-test, up to three pages of instructional material, and then a lesson test. The pre-test reveals how much of the material the child already understands, while the final test reveals how much of the learning material the child comprehended after the lesson. All of this basic learning material is in written form so students can read it at an individualized pace.
Each lesson will also link out to YouTube videos and other resources that can be used to supplement the lesson. Using these supplementary materials is up to the child, so some will use them while others will not. There are also coordinating Discovery Education videos, but parents must pay for a subscription to that service in addition to purchasing the Etap program. These videos are designed to help students who learn better through a sensory experience.
Some parents and students simply do not find the Etap lessons engaging. Children who do not want to sit and read instruction material for all of their subjects on a daily basis may easily grow bored with this type of curriculum.
The Parent Perspective
Parents who enjoy the Etap program tend to fit into one or more of the following categories:
- Parents of 3+ children trying to homeschool on a budget.
- Parents with little to no time to plan and coordinate curriculum on their own.
- Parents who cannot directly participate in teaching their children every day.
- Families who travel frequently and need to homeschool on the road.
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If you are more of a hands-on homeschool parent and enjoy the process of planning curriculum and pulling different resources together, you are probably not well suited to Etap. If you find yourself in the above statements, then it may be worth taking the free trial to see what you think of the curriculum offered.
2 Comments. Leave new
We’ve been using ETap going on our 4th year this year, 2021. My oldest is a senior, youngest sophomore. They’ve both been Homeschooled since 2nd and kindergarten. We’ve used ETap for all the core classes except math.
Every year they are tested to see how they’re learning through our charter school, 2 to 3 times a year. My youngest, who struggles with learning, always tests at grade level, while my oldest has tested at college level since his sophomore year. The ability to work ahead, hyperlinks imbedded in all the lessons to more info, videos to engage with them deeper have all led to this success. My stubborn lazy learner- this is the learning program he asks for every year. He is an audio/visual learner & needs the extra that ETap offers him in order for the content to “stick”. Getting them to do school is half the battle. If they actually enjoy what they’re learning with- the battle is already won!
Both my kids love this program. We’ve tried others just to change things up a bit and always end up canceling and going back to ETap. In our opinion nothing has come close to this.
This year has presented a new challenge with CA getting more strict. Parents are fleeing from institutional learning and all the stuff that comes with it. ETap needs to update their state standards chart to make it easier for parents to use without the extra leg work to prove their students are meeting the states standards. Also the ability to order with our school funds needs to be easier. Our charter won’t purchase from online vendors if the vendor keeps a credit card on file. It’s common practice for vendors to do this and has never been an issue in the last 3 years. This year is presenting a bit of a challenge for the first time ever. Our charter has gotten more strict and is making it harder to use what we want to use for curriculum. Secular or not it’s getting stricter and stricter.
When the kids are testing really well it should be a no brainer for our Charter to recognize we’ve got a great thing going here. This online curriculum really has the beef! I now have self learners that have the skills to find on their own and learn anything they want. They don’t need a classroom and a teacher to teach them, they’re self taught now! This is absolutely Priceless in my opinion. What a gift ETap is!
I’m glad you are having success with your homeschool curriculum. I hope the situation with your charter improves. Here’s hoping! And hopefully eTap will recognize the need for responsive edits in connection with the changing times.