IXL (a TOS review)

 

 

Am I the only home school mommy ever on a quest to find the perfect online Math program?

 

 

 

That quest led me to a trial of IXL. 

 

 

 

 

The IXL Deets

 

• IXL is an online Math program that supports PreK – High School.  They are also in the process of developing Advanced Math and Language Arts studies as well.
• Membership gives you access to all levels of study.  This is a nice feature for kids who are advanced or may be struggling.  It allowed my 5th Grader to get his feet wet with Algebra…just because he was interested and my 1st Grader to fiddle around with Kindergarten work just for the warm fuzzies it gave her! 
• IXL is aligned to and offers State Standards references. 
• One of my favorite features about computer based learning is the immediate feedback!  Progress reports can be accessed immediately online but are also emailed weekly.  I loooooved this feature!  It even tracks minutes your child spends working on the program!
• The student works for “rewards”.  Personally, I thought it was a little cheesy.  But my kids were SO motivated by the little stickers they were earning!
• You can subscribe to monthly ($9.95) or yearly ($79) plans.  Click here for more membership information. 

 

 

 

 

Our Review

 

 

We have really enjoyed our time with IXL.

 

 

We’re already in the habit of spending 15 minutes a day doing Math-y stuff on the computer.  So we just slipped IXL into that 15 minute slot and wah-lah.  

 

 

The graphics are cheery.  My kids liked that they could choose a little avatar to represent their accounts. 

 

 

 

 

Both of the big kiddos surprised me with just how into the awards they were!

 

 

 

               

 

 

  Every time they won a new sticker in

their squares there was joy in the camp!

 

 

They also enjoyed the liberty of choosing which skills they wanted to work on.  When you click on the grade level you’re interested in a whole slew of study links pop up like so:

 

 

 

 

You then practice the skill of your choosing until you reach 100%.  Points are earned with correct answers and lost with incorrect. 

 

 

At times, it did seem to get tedious.  But I suppose when you’re working towards mastery there is bound to be tedium. 

 

 

:: smile ::

 

 

For my 5th Grader, IXL was mostly independent.  When he answered a question incorrectly a little box popped up to answer the whys of the mistake.  He was pretty capable of navigating any issues himself.  Understandably, my 1st Grader needed more help when she was presented with a new or challenging concept.  The Preschooler…well…we tried to work on some Math with him but his ADHD got the better of us.

 

 

Overall, we were really impressed with this program and both of the big kids benefited from our time using it!  In fact, it’s on my radar for a great summer supplement to keep them trucking in the Math depot.  Because it’s somewhere in the homeschool mommy rules that summer Math must have cute graphics and surprise reward stickers! 

 

 

…danielle

 

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given a six month subscription to IXL in exchange for my review.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a little helpful.  To read what others on the TOS Crew thought about IXL click here.**