The world of online learning has opened many doors for homeschoolers. My whole family of 5 kids got to review the IXL math and language arts online learning program. This supplemental math and language arts program is easy to work with, set up, and carry with you to places like the dr, therapist, or grandma’s with IXL apps.
IXL MathPre-K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus
IXL Language Arts 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th
We worked on material from grade 1 up to Geometry. This is a supplemental program to augment your normal math curriculum. The grades available right now are listed above. The good thing is the website says they are always working on adding new material and skills to this list. When I sat down to set up each child’s program it was simple.
Each child got their own avatar and could click on their avatar when the family was signed in. Then you can choose whether you want to work on math or language arts. Now you get to choose what grade level and specifically what skill your child will be working on. Since this is not a straight curriculum you don’t have to follow a set plan of lessons.
Take my two youngest since the LA did not go down far enough for my littlest they were together checking out 2nd grade. I found that my 1st grader could work on specific skills with a high degree of success. This was great because as she worked and built up time practicing, bonus questions, and skills mastered she got rewards and affirmation. My other daughter soon learned that 2nd grade was too low and with great glee moved up to 3rd grade. She was not as motivated as my little one by the online perks but loved to see the ‘skills mastered’ section showing her achievments.
Next comes my middle schooler that is uneven in his learning. Language arts is one of his weaker areas. This practice was a good thing for him. We did dial it back grade wise so he had mostly success and didn’t build up frustration at the program and subject. I was happy that I got to show my son that while learning irregular plurals was a bit behind. Writing sentences was right on target. This improved his confidence overall in the subject.
My two high schoolers didn’t have a LA program but they did (cause mom asked nicely) check out the 8th grade material available. It really was 8th grade solid work. It would be fine for a teen working on solidifying and bringing together the foundation blocks of LA like structure, grammar, and the beginning of more higher level critical LA needed in classes like literature.
Math was rather straight forward. The grade level was spot on. My high schoolers that are right at the end of Algebra 1 could easily find where they were on this very descriptive practice lesson plan. The only thing that bothered one of my daughters was it was clearly not there to teach you Algebra it was there to let you practice and when you went wrong show you the correct way. This is what IXL is doing, supplemental learning. For my daughter her autism kicked in and made it hard for her to see that fine differentiation between the 2 learning program models. We worked it out in the end and she happily went on using the program for practice.
My middle schooler was all over the map! I was going crazy helping him find the right skills to work on and what he had already mastered. In part because the math curriculum we used last year was very focused on one math skill with a side helping of other skills. That means this year we have some holes in learning because we didn’t continue that program. IXL helped use both understand where he needed an assist and where he was doing just fine. Thankfully many things he just needed to practice and he got the hang of them. IXL allowed us to pick and chose whatever grade we wanted. Whatever skill we wanted to work on. This approach left my parent page showing time and grade either overall without specifics or per grade with specifics so I had to do several pages of print offs for further records to keep track. Frankly I don’t think they could do anything to change that. IXL made my life easier by keeping all those records for me!
Finally the littles and their math. Each got to go to their grade level in math and work. The problems were appropriate for the skills and grade level but the amount of doing 100 problems for mastering a skill was not. Too many problems. And basing mastery in part on how quickly things are answered at that age didn’t work for us either. My new reader takes time to read and my slow processor needs time to mull things over before answering. They both liked it and practiced but would not complete a skill mastered as per the program’s rules. At least not in one sitting.
Our time with IXL math and language arts was pleasant. It worked well as a practice program. There were days that the kids would be fighting over who got to go next then they would do several skills all at once. Other days… well not as enthusiastic to practice. If your child needs more practice and you are looking for a flexible method and high quality teaching program IXL should get a look! This program should get a sticker that says ‘will travel’ on the logo. That means fellow van-therapy-co-op-music practice parents we have math and language arts that comes with and is easily used without prep time.
Product Format: Online Program
Age Range: K-12
Social Media
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Many of my review crew friends also reviewed IXL math and language arts. Feel free to stop over and read how it worked in their family and different style of homeschooling. Click the picture below.
Thanks for sharing!