IXL-Review

As part of the TOS Review Crew, I was asked to write a review on IXL



We have used IXL as a great supplement in the past.  You can read what we thought about IXL back in the olden days,  here and here.




IXLis a curriculum supplement that has both math and language arts lessons available. 

The Math portion is huge and covers PreK all the way through Precalculus, or preschool through 12th grade. 

The Language Arts portion has lessons available for grades 2-8, but they are close to revealing lessons up through 10th grade.

General things I like about IXL:

• The curriculum is divided by grade level, but if your child isn't a cookie cutter child and doesn't necessarily fit into their grade level, you can hide that information and just have them work on what they need to without having the pressure that they may not be working on the "right" grade level.  You can also use this to be able to challenge your child with harder concepts - without telling them the work you are giving them is grade levels above their age.  (A-man accidentally did this the last time we were using IXL)  Or, if they need to have a little encouragement that they aren't "dumb", you can secretly have them work in a grade level or two behind, so they get some of their confidence back.
• There are reward/sticker pages (if those help motivate your child - mine were split...some thought it was cool, some could care less whether they get a pretend sticker on an award page.)
• IXL sends weekly reports to the parents so, even if you aren't sitting right there while they work, you will know what they have (or haven't) accomplished and how much time they worked on them.
• Questions that adapt to your child's ability, increasing in difficulty as they improve.
• Immediate feedback and question-specific explanations

All you have to do to get started is create your parent account and register your students on the parent page.  You even get to create a little cartoon version of your kids.  Then whenever the student logs in, they just picked "themselves" and went to work.  IXL keeps track of what they do, from how much time they spend to what they work on....and how they do in every area.  As the parent, I can log on and take a look, but, like I said in the general thinks I like about IXL, they also send me weekly reports in my e-mail account to keep be posted (just in case I forget to log in and check - yes, it has happened).




I think it is always a good idea to use different teaching styles, wording of problems and approaches (even games) with kids.  I think that it gives you a greater sense of whether they are really "getting" the concepts or not.  For example, I want the kids to know what to do with math, whether you use the words "subtract", "take away", or "minus".  IXL uses a slightly different approach and wording of problems than our normal curriculum, which was a good thing for my kids to be able to practice/interpret problems.

I also like IXL because it just gave them good old fashioned practice with their numbers, adding, subtracting, multiplying, etc.  Sort of like the old concept of using flashcards to really get your math skills drilled into your brain.

For you non-old fashioned people that have iPads, Androids, and/or fancy things like Kindles, you can get the IXL app.    Right now, the iPad has the full curriculum available, and Android and Kindle has Math grades PreK-8 available.




IXL math could also be a good option for people who worry about their kids forgetting too much of their Math or Language Arts over the summer break.  It is something that can be done quickly and easily throughout the day without supervision from you.

Language Arts has been expanded quite  a bit since we last used IXL.

This is just a sampling of the skills they cover.  If you look closely at the bottom of each grade level it tells you how many more skills are covered at that level.  For example, 3rd grade covers a total of 116 skills and 7th grade covers 109. You can go read more details of the Language Arts skills being taught. 





So how much is it to use IXL?  Pricing for family memberships starts at just $9.95/month or $79/year for one subject. Each additional child costs $2/month or $20/year. For more information or to purchase a family membership, go to www.ixl.com/membership/family/pricing, and select your preferred membership option to view pricing details. This is another good page to look at as well:  https://www.ixl.com/membership/family/subscribe/yearly/math

So, an annual subscription for one child for math is $79; for math AND Language Arts, it would be $129.  For two children for math, it is $99 for the year; for math and language arts, it would be $149.  Make sense?



See what other TOS reviewers through of IXL for math and language arts.