The Oscar winner for Best Original Song went to a guy who thanked his mother for letting him quit soccer to be in a musical. He dedicated his win to all the kids who sing in the rain and to all the moms who let them.

I’ve written before about passion and how EP frees my kids up to spend time on their passions. That’s what has been important to me, giving my kids a good foundation and then letting them build on it, their own way.

I know it’s hard to let your kids play and explore and create and have fun when you hear about how “rigorous” this and that curriculum or program is. “Rigorous” seems to be a big buzzword in homeschool circles these days. I’d rather have joy and peace than rigor in my homeschool day.

My kids have always done school the “easy” way. School before Easy Peasy was even easier for us. Easy Peasy was actually a longer, more involved school day than what we did before. My family has been using EP longer than anyone else, obviously. My kids did all the EP lessons when they were younger, but as I’ve got kids into high school, I’ve let them take more of a lead on their direction.

It can be hard when your child wants to go into the arts or some other field where you know jobs might be hard to come by. It can be tempting to worry and to want them to have all that rigorous education when they really just want to create. If your child is passionate and puts in the time and hard work, then they can get good enough to be one of those ones who get to make a living doing what they love. That Oscar winner used to be just a boy singing in the rain.

Is Easy Peasy the key to every child’s future? Of course not. There is a key, though. It’s called the grace of God. He gave my kids their talents and personalities that drove them to the things they love to do. He provided free painting lessons for my daughter after I was fussing to Him in prayer about how I couldn’t help her move forward with her art. He inspired the Easy Peasy way of school that gave my kids a great foundation and the hours to invest in their work.

So when I look at my eleven year old reading or making music and his younger brothers dancing and creating imaginative games, I try to relax. God’s got a plan for their future and it’s a good one.

And a note: EP has high quality courses. There are many high school courses that are based on AP courses. There are courses that use lectures and materials from universities. I’m not saying that EP lacks in “rigor.” I’m saying I’m against rigor for rigor’s sake. I’m putting my faith in God, not in my curriculum, not in rigorous academic standards, not in anything else.

Here’s the article on the same theme that I wrote for the main site.