Having three young kids, I need to be able to dedicate some time to one-on-one work with the kids – especially my oldest. One way I’ve found to make this work for us is by having some sort of online back-up that is still education but the kids get excited about it. I am excited to share the full annual membership for the IXL Learning program we have been reviewing.

IXL is a personalized learning program for kids ages preschool-12th grade. They can work on math, language arts and for those at a second grade or higher level – social studies and science as well.  My youngest wants to be the big kid so much, so he absolutely loves that he gets to do his own classes too. My kids have been “speaking” Spanish for a while so they were excited to see that they could work on learning Spanish.

To get started, your child answers some questions in different categories. This will give you an idea of where your child should start working. Once your child starts working, they can click on the Recommendations tab that will get them working on some math or language art skills they still need help in. Another feature here that I think is great is that you can click on the MN standards page. If you want your child working on what will be on the state testing, they can click on any of the different study areas listed to work on problems related to that.

One thing I love when trying to decide what I want the kids working on that day is that I can hover over a topic and see what type of questions it covers without clicking that page open.

When your child is working, the screen will show a few different things. First, you will see the question your child is working on with an answer box and a green submit button below it. On the right side of the screen is the part that my kids get so excited about. There are three parts to this – questions answered, time lapsed and SmartScore. As your child progresses through the questions, they can earn ribbons under the SmartScore. My kids seriously love this part – trying to get that 100 score is their goal every time. The best part of this section though is that below the question is a section that allows your child to work on the skills leading up to that question if it’s a question your child isn’t ready or able to do yet.  I absolutely love this because the concepts build on one another to progressively get more difficult or challenging for each child.

Often times, I let them choose what they want to work on, but when I know there is something I want them to work on, or we have learned or are working on something that they are struggling with, I can select that topic for them to work on.  You can also look up their troubled spots, check their progress, see skills they are working on and so much more from the analytics section.

You can guarantee that every day when they log on they are looking at their awards center to see how many badges they have earned. They can also earn certificates for their achievements. As a parent, having an easy way to keep track of what your child is working on is important. You get regular emails letting you know your child has reached a new certificate. You can also log in under yourself and check your child’s practice times and what they have been working on.

If your child is younger – a tablet of some sort will probably be easier for them.  I know Henry – my four-year-old struggled to navigate the mouse when he was trying to use the computer but once he got on the tablet – he loves it and gets so happy every time he gets an answer right.  

One thing to mention about IXL is that if your child is younger than 2nd grade, there is only the math and language arts option.  Charlie – my first-grader still does some of the science and social-studies activities as well.  It is much more challenging for him but if that’s what he feels like working on, that’s what he works on.

 

All three of my kids enjoy using IXL almost every day.  I especially love knowing they are still getting some learning time in even if I’m not the one helping with it.  You don’t have to just take my word for it though – check out some more of my fellow CREW members reviews by clicking the image below.