Ezra Learning vs Heart of Dakota
Heart of Dakota is a Christian, Charlotte Mason-style curriculum sold as a teacher's guide with daily plans and the living books it schedules, taught by the parent from preschool to Grade 12; Ezra is an online Grades 1–9 curriculum in five subjects, priced for the household. Here is how they compare, line by line. Facts checked October 14, 2026; sources at the end.
What each one is
Heart of Dakota is a Christian homeschool curriculum from Heart of Dakota Publishing in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, written by Carrie Austin, M.Ed. Each guide — Little Hands to Heaven for preschool, Little Hearts and Bigger Hearts for His Glory for the early grades, Creation to Christ and Revival to Revolution in the middle years, and World Geography, World History and United States History for high school — gives 34 weeks of "open and go" daily plans on a two-page spread, scheduling Bible and hymns, history, geography, read-alouds, grammar, writing, spelling, poetry, art, math and science around living books. A family buys the guide and core books as an Economy Package and adds a Basic Package with devotions, grammar and the math of its choice: for Bigger Hearts for His Glory (Grades 2–3) that is $255.80 plus $102.48 with Singapore Math, $358.28 in all for one child, with read-aloud, reader, science and handwriting packages extra.
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.
Heart of Dakota fits best when…
Choose Heart of Dakota if you want to sit with your child and teach from real books with no screen, you like Charlotte Mason's living books, narration and copywork, you want Bible, history, science and literature woven into one day's plan that is already written for you, you want preschool or Grades 10–12, or you want books you keep and hand down to the next child.
Ezra fits best when…
Choose Ezra if your children are in Grades 1–9, you want lessons that teach themselves so you are free for the next child, you want daily practice in Math, English, Spelling, Bible and Geography that grades itself and shows you what he has mastered, you want a Bible verse read aloud in every strand of every subject, and you have more than one child — the price is for the household, not a set of packages per child.
The facts, line by line
 | Heart of Dakota | |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | Grades 1–9 | Preschool–Grade 12 |
| Subjects | Math, English, Spelling, Bible, Geography | Bible and hymns, history, geography, literature, grammar, writing, spelling, poetry, art, math, science |
| Price | $15 USD a month for the household (up to six children) | Bigger Hearts (Grades 2–3): Economy $255.80 + Basic $102.48 = $358.28; readers, read-alouds, science and handwriting extra |
| Free to start | Two sections of every subject and grade, always free | Sample PDFs of the daily format, the introduction and the first week of each guide; placement charts; a free catalog |
| How a lesson is taught | Narrated by a voice, drawings only, watch-only | The parent teaches from the guide's daily plan boxes: reads aloud, listens to narration, gives dictation; about 3–3½ hours a day in Bigger Hearts |
| Practice | Hands-on: drag, tap, sort, build, drop a pin | Narration, copywork, dictation, notebooking and hands-on activities, checked by the parent |
| Scripture | A Bible verse in every strand of every subject, read aloud | Bible and hymns every day, Scripture memory cards, devotions; "God's Word at the center" |
| Printables | A PDF sheet for every lesson + a library of 147 books and packs | Printed guide and books; no printables to download |
| Living books and read-alouds | A library of 147 PDF books and packs | Read-aloud and reader sets scheduled in every guide |
| High school | No | World Geography, World History, US History I and II |
| Science | No | Yes |
| History | No | Yes |
| Parent reports | Per child: minutes, mastery, needs-a-hand, PDF report | The parent keeps the records |
| Cartoons, games, characters | None | 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 Heart of Dakota'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. Heart of Dakota is priced per student. Ezra is priced per household, so a second, third or fourth child costs nothing more.
Ezra: $15 × 12 at the introductory price (normally $19 a month). Heart of Dakota: $358.28 a year for Bigger Hearts for His Glory (Grades 2–3): the Economy Package of guide and core books ($255.80) plus the Basic Package with Singapore Math Level 3 ($102.48), one child; the chart multiplies by the number of children. Both packages were shown at sale prices (from $294.02 and $116.45) on the day we checked. Read-alouds, the Emerging Reader's Set ($106.88–$145.62), science ($342.28) and handwriting are separate packages; the guide alone is $134.95 and is reused for the next child.
How a lesson is taught
A Heart of Dakota day runs from the guide's two-page spread: the parent opens the day's boxes and works through them in one sitting or across the day — reads the history pages aloud and asks the child to narrate them back, reads the Bible passage and sings the hymn, gives the copywork or dictation, does the math lesson from the program the family chose, and reads the science and the read-aloud. The child reads his own reader aloud to the parent, draws or writes in a notebook, and does the hands-on activity. The parent checks the work; there is no screen, nothing to subscribe to, and the guide and books are kept for the next child or sold on. Bigger Hearts for His Glory takes about 3 to 3½ hours a day, five days a week, for 34 weeks.
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. Heart of Dakota calls itself "Christ-centered" with "God's Word at the center" of its activities and aims at "character training from Scripture": every guide schedules Bible and hymns daily, with Scripture memory cards and devotions in the packages. The Bible version is not stated on its site; readings come from a Bible storybook in the early years or the family's own Bible. 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 Heart of Dakota has that Ezra does not
Preschool and Grades 10–12. History, science and literature taught through living books, with read-aloud and reader sets chosen for each year. A day that is already planned, box by box, so the parent opens the guide and goes. Narration, copywork, dictation and notebooking in the Charlotte Mason way, and hymns sung every day. The choice of math program (Singapore, Math with Confidence or Apologia). And real books the family owns, reuses and hands down.
What Ezra has that Heart of Dakota does not
A Bible verse in every strand of every subject, read aloud word for word from the Berean Standard Bible. Lessons that teach themselves — one calm voice and a simple line drawing — so a parent with several children is not the voice of every lesson, and practice the child does with his hands, generated endlessly and graded on the spot, with a report that shows mastery, minutes and where he needs a hand. Spelling and Geography as full subjects of their own. A printable sheet for every lesson and a library of 147 books and packs. No cartoons, games, characters or rewards shops. One price for the household, however many children, instead of a guide and packages for each. And two free sections of every subject and grade, so a family can see all of it before paying anything.
Questions families ask
Is Heart of Dakota cheaper than Ezra Learning?
For one child in Bigger Hearts for His Glory (Grades 2–3), the Economy Package ($255.80) and the Basic Package with Singapore Math ($102.48) come to $358.28, bought once, with readers, read-alouds, science and handwriting extra; Ezra is $180 a year at the introductory price. The guide ($134.95) is reused for the next child, but each child in a different guide needs his own set; Ezra is one price for up to six children.
Does Ezra Learning cover high school?
No. Ezra covers Grades 1–9. Heart of Dakota has guides through Grade 12 (World Geography, World History, United States History I and II), so a family with a high-school student needs Heart of Dakota or another program for those years.
Does Ezra have Science or History?
No, on purpose. Ezra teaches Mathematics, English, Spelling, Bible and Geography. Heart of Dakota schedules history and science every week from living books, with hands-on activities.
Is Heart of Dakota Christian?
Yes. It describes itself as Christ-centered with God's Word at the center of its activities, and every guide schedules Bible, hymns and Scripture memory daily. Ezra is Christian as well, and reads a verse from the Berean Standard Bible in every strand of every subject.
How much of the parent's time does each one take?
Heart of Dakota is parent-taught: the parent reads aloud, listens to narration and gives dictation, and the Bigger Hearts guide says about 3 to 3½ hours a day. In Ezra the child watches the narrated lesson and does the practice on his own, which grades itself, and the parent reads the report and helps where the report says he needs a hand.
Can I try either one for free?
Heart of Dakota posts sample PDFs of each guide's daily format, introduction and first week of plans, plus placement charts and a free catalog; there is no trial of the books. Ezra keeps the first two sections of every subject and grade free, with no time limit and no card.
Are these facts current?
They were checked on October 14, 2026 on heartofdakota.com and ezralearning.com. Prices and packages change, and the package prices we quote were shown as sale prices; the links under Sources go to Heart of Dakota's own pages, and we correct this page when we are told it is out of date.
Where the facts come from
- Heart of Dakota home page
- Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Teacher's Guide
- Bigger Hearts for His Glory — Economy Package
- Bigger Hearts for His Glory — Basic Package
- Ezra Learning: pricing and curriculum pages, October 14, 2026.
Heart of Dakota is the name of its owner, used here only to identify the product. If you represent Heart of Dakota and a fact here is wrong, write to hello@ezralearning.com and we will correct it.
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