Ezra Learning vs Switched-On Schoolhouse

What each one is

Switched-On Schoolhouse (SOS) and Ignitia were two editions of the same Alpha Omega Publications courses: SOS, a "computer-based Christian homeschool curriculum" for families, "first released in 1997 on CD-ROM", and Ignitia, the same courses on an online platform "created exclusively for Christian schools". SOS is no longer sold — AOP's remaining SOS product pages are titled "Discontinued", and its homeschool site lists only LIFEPAC, Horizons, Monarch and Ignite Christian Academy as brands. Ignitia is still sold to schools, Grades 3–12, with no price for families on AOP's site. A family looking for SOS today is pointed to Monarch, AOP's online curriculum for Grades 3–12 in Bible, History & Geography, Language Arts, Math and Science with more than 60 electives, at $439.95 a year or $43.95 a month per student, with a 30-day free trial for first-time users.

Ezra Learning covers Grades 1–9 in Mathematics, English, Spelling, Bible and Geography, with about 6,900 hands-on practice skills and 1,220 narrated lessons, each with a printable sheet. Scripture (Berean Standard Bible) is read word for word in every strand of every subject; there are no cartoons, games or characters. The Family plan is $15 a month per household, up to six children, and the first two sections of every subject and grade are free.

The facts, line by line

		Switched-On Schoolhouse
Still sold to families	Yes	SOS: no. Ignitia: schools only. Monarch: yes
Grades	Grades 1–9	Monarch: Grades 3–12
Subjects	Math, English, Spelling, Bible, Geography	Monarch: Bible, History & Geography, Language Arts, Math, Science + 60 electives
Price	$15 USD a month for the household (up to six children)	Monarch: $439.95 a year or $43.95 a month per student
Free to start	Two sections of every subject and grade, always free	Monarch: 30-day trial, first-time users, one student
How a lesson is taught	Narrated by a voice, drawings only, watch-only	Monarch: mostly text, with video and audio
Practice	Hands-on: drag, tap, sort, build, drop a pin	Monarch: interactive assignments, automatically graded
Scripture	A Bible verse in every strand of every subject, read aloud	Monarch: Bible courses and a faith-based approach
Printables	A PDF sheet for every lesson + a library of 147 books and packs	Monarch: printable lesson content from the courses
High school	No	Monarch: Grades 10–12 with transcripts of course work
Science	No	Yes
History	No	Yes
Parent reports	Per child: minutes, mastery, needs-a-hand, PDF report	Monarch: grading, lesson plans and progress for each student
Runs on	Any browser, any device	SOS: installed from CD-ROM (no longer sold); Ignitia and Monarch: a browser
Cartoons, games, characters	None	SOS lessons had "interactive games, movies, maps, and timelines" (AOP, 2013); Monarch: none that we know of

Facts checked October 14, 2026 on the two sites. Prices and plans change; the links at the end go to Switched-On Schoolhouse's own pages, and we correct this table when we are told it is out of date.

What it costs your family

The biggest practical difference is how the price is counted. Switched-On Schoolhouse is priced per student. Ezra is priced per household, so a second, third or fourth child costs nothing more.

How a lesson is taught

A Switched-On Schoolhouse lesson ran on the family's own computer: AOP described "media-rich lessons packed with interactive games, movies, maps, and timelines" with "automatic grading and recordkeeping"; Ignitia moved the same kind of lesson into a browser for schools, and Monarch does the same for families. In Monarch a lesson is mostly a page of text the student reads on the screen, with video and audio in some lessons, then interactive assignments, quizzes and tests that the program grades for you. The student works at his own pace, and the parent sees the grades and the lesson plan in the parent account. It suits a child who reads well and can work on his own, which is why it starts at Grade 3.

An Ezra lesson is a short narrated slideshow: one voice reads every word while a simple line drawing builds up on the slide — no cartoons, no characters, no questions asked of the child inside the lesson. The lesson ends with a Bible verse read aloud, and every lesson has a printable sheet for the child to do on paper. Then the child goes to the practice skills of that strand, which are hands-on: drag the pieces, tap the picture, build the number, sort the words, drop a pin on the map.

Where the Bible sits

Both programs are Christian. Switched-On Schoolhouse, Ignitia and Monarch are all Christian curricula from a Christian publisher: Bible is one of the five core subjects, with a course for every grade, and the other subjects are taught from a biblical worldview. In Ezra, Scripture is not a subject on the side. Every strand of Mathematics, English, Spelling and Geography closes with a verse from the Berean Standard Bible, read aloud word for word, and a Scripture practice skill sits at the end of every strand. Bible is also a subject of its own in every grade, with a character strand (obey right away, tell the truth, no quarrelling) in each. The verses are never paraphrased.

What Switched-On Schoolhouse has that Ezra does not

Through Monarch, its successor: Grades 10–12, with transcripts of the course work. Science and History as full subjects. More than 60 electives — languages, business, art, health, computer courses and more. Automatic grading of tests and quizzes with a gradebook for each student, which matters most for a teenager working alone. A 30-day free trial of the whole program. And for a school, Ignitia: the same courses with teacher tools, planning and automatic grading for a whole classroom.

What Ezra has that Switched-On Schoolhouse does not

A Bible verse in every strand of every subject, read aloud word for word from the Berean Standard Bible. Practice the child does with his hands — dragging, sorting, building, dropping a pin on a map — rather than ticking boxes. One calm narrated voice with a simple drawing on every slide, and no cartoons, games, characters or rewards shops. A printable sheet for every lesson and a library of 147 books and packs (copywork, handwriting, grammar, spelling, Bible, maps, a year planner). One price for the household, however many children. And two free sections of every subject and grade, so a family can see all of it before paying anything.

Where the facts come from

• Monarch online curriculum and pricing — aop.com
• About AOP (current brands: LIFEPAC, Horizons, Monarch, Ignite Christian Academy) — aop.com
• Ignitia, "created exclusively for Christian schools" — aop.com/schools
• Switched-On Schoolhouse, "first released in 1997 on CD-ROM" — aop.com blog, 2013
• Discontinued SOS 9th Grade 4-Subject Set — aop.com product page
• Ezra Learning: pricing and curriculum pages, October 14, 2026.

Switched-On Schoolhouse and Alpha Omega Publications (AOP) are names of their owners, used here only to identify their products. If you represent Switched-On Schoolhouse and a fact here is wrong, write to hello@ezralearning.com and we will correct it.