Grace Christian Homeschool: Review of IXL

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Review of IXL

IXL is an online comprehensive practice site offering over 4,000 skills in IXL Math and IXL Language Arts. IXL aligns with state standards giving your child unlimited access to practicing math and language arts skills.

IXL Language Arts covers grades 2-8 and IXL Math covers grades Pre-K-12. They are constantly adding new skills to IXL so if you haven't checked out their website lately, you may be surprised to see all the new skills offered.

The cost of a membership can be paid monthly or yearly. The monthly cost is $9.95 and the yearly cost is $79 - this membership is for 1 child and 1 subject area (math or language arts). You can also choose a membership for both subject areas (math and language arts) and 1 child for $15.95 per month or $129 per year. Additional students can be added for $2 per month or $20 for the year.

Here is a sample price subscription for 3 children for a year. You can go here and put in the number of children that you wish to purchase for to find your correct membership price.

Some of the perks included in your membership price are...

Questions that adapt to your child's ability and continue to increase in difficulty as they improve
Weekly email reports on your child's progress
Email notifications of your child's accomplishments
Children unlock awards as their practice time and skills improve
Reports showing you your child's strengths and trouble spots

IXL works on most computer platforms - see here for more on technical requirements.

In Our Homeschool

We used IXL with Stephen and Sarah. Stephen practiced 8th grade and Sarah practiced 6th grade. They both used IXL Math and IXL Language Arts. I chose to start them with their current grade level but you also have the option of practicing by topic. The parent can hide the grade level so your student can practice any topic in any grade level and not feel like they are behind.

Stephen and Sarah completed 10 minutes of practice each day.

When you look at this screenshot of a IXL Math, you will see...

The number of problems that you have attempted
A handy timer that counts the time you have spent working (you also have the option of turning this off if it bothers your student)
Your SmartScore - If your student answers correctly their SmartScore increases but if they answer incorrectly their SmartScore will go down, they will be give the correct answer with and explanation on how to solve it.
The problem to be answered is on the left with the choices of answers

As your child increases their practice time and masters skills, they will unlock awards. Here is a sample of the award screen. This simple action really motivated my children to keep going to see what virtual prize they could unlock next!

The Language Arts screen works the same way as the Math.

One of my favorite parts of using IXL was the simplicity. I didn't have to go and find out how Stephen and Sarah were doing. They sent me an email to let me know. If I wanted to check their progress, I could at any time. We began with their current grade level and in the beginning both of them struggled but it wasn't long before they seemed to really improve and start mastering a few skill levels. This curriculum offers a tremendous amount of practice to keep students study skills sharp and focused. I have seen great improvements in my children in as little as 10 minutes a day!