IXL Reviews: Why We Love it in Our Homeschool of 1

Are you looking for honest IXL reviews to decide whether it will work for you?

There are lots of new online homeschooling options popping up over the last few years. You want to make sure it is worth the money!

No problem, I am going to go over what our take on IXL is. When I first reviewed this we were living in the UK, so a lot of the focus of this review is on the differences between the US version and the UK version.

At the time we were following the UK National Curriculum so I have also shared my views on whether IXL would work in that situation.

Subsequently, we moved to Florida, and as we opted for the US version there was no transfer. We both enjoy the adaptive learning of IXL and think you will too.

If you are looking for even more homeschool curriculum reviews check out all of the others we have reviewed over the years.

Carry on reading for our IXL homeschool reviews.

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There is a UK edition to IXL which follows the UK curriculum and has UK spellings and UK money. I am pleased I have had the opportunity to review the American version for you though.

In my opinion, although there are a few negatives for UK students (please see below) it has more subjects to study. Check out IXL for 20% off.

If you are looking for even more of the best homeschooling programs UK resources check out over 90 we have listed in our most popular post.

What is IXL?

IXL stands for “I excel” which I think is a very apt name.

It is not just for maths and English too. IXL also has science, social studies, and Spanish.

It is for all ages from grades K-12 (If you are in the UK see the table below to see what grades your child is in.)

Check out IXL for yourself with 20% off.

Is IXL good for homeschooling?

What I instantly loved, which I have not come across before, is IXL did not ask for my son’s age! I know, this at first really surprised me.

As soon as my son logged onto IXL he had to take a diagnostic homeschool test, which is about 150 questions in both maths and language arts (English). Now we had no idea how long this “test” would take, but it took Freddie about 3 hours. Now Freddie is only 9 years old so he, of course, had plenty of breaks in between.

The results were amazing, and exactly what I would expect. My son was deregistered from school, as in my opinion he wasn’t being pushed hard enough, and he should be working at a higher level than grade 3.

We have been homeschooling since June 2018 and this diagnostic assessment confirmed everything we already knew.

In math, his overall level was 510 (which is 2 years above) and his overall language arts level was 520 (which was also 2 years above.)

This level of personalized learning is something I have not seen before.

IXL for homeschool

The diagnostic report was so detailed. Not only did it tell me his overall maths and language arts level, but it also broke it down into different sections. In maths there were:

• Numbers and Operations
• Algebra & Algebraic Thinking
• Fractions
• Geometry (check out the best geometry homeschool curriculum)
• Measurement
• Data, Statistics & Probability

So I know that my son needs extra work on geometry in particular. So rather than having to stay working in grade 3, he is working in grade 4 for geometry, grade 5 for data statistics & probability but grade 6 for everything else.

The English report is just as detailed and is broken down as follows:

• Reading Strategies
• Vocabulary
• Writing Strategies
• Grammar & Mechanics

My son is working in grade 6 for all but grammar & mechanics which is at the beginning of grade 5. It tells me what he struggles with as well: Capitalizing titles, capitalizing names and places, punctuating dialogue and commas with the names of places.

Every lesson Freddie does his diagnostic report also changes. This can be printed out or just viewed online.

IXL recommendations page

After the diagnostic test has been taken there are loads of recommendations for your child to do. They can scroll through and choose what lesson they do next, be it maths or language arts.

Check IXL out for yourself, but you are going to love it.

Once they have chosen which skill they would like to work on the child selects the lesson.

It shows them on the right of the screen how many questions they have answered, the time elapsed, and the smart score out of 100.

There are absolutely loads of certificates to be achieved and virtual stickers. So if they are progressing well, or spending time on IXL they get rewarded.

What’s also great is, that I got an email telling me how hard my son had been working. Although he works on a desk behind mine, and he was so proud he told me as soon as he got it.

Parent information with IXL

The level of information that parents get with IXL is also much more than I have seen before. There is a certificate center, where you can see how they are progressing.

This is so useful to us homeschool moms.

The progress and improvement page is also really handy.

You can see exactly what lessons they have done and how they did in it.

Clearly, Freddie needs more work with two-dimensional figures for example. But IXL will keep this on the recommendations page until he completely understands it.

The usage details are also brilliant. It shows how many questions they have answered, how long they have spent practicing, and what skills they have progressed in.

Honest IXL review from a homeschool mom

This is one of the best online home education programs we use.

I love the fact that you are not stuck in one year group for all lessons.

I love that you can choose which lesson or skill you want to master.

If you opt for the American version of IXL there are a few negatives for UK students though:

• The spelling is American
• When working in money it is in US Dollars not UK £
• The measurements are imperial and not metric
• It follows the US standard of education and not the UK national curriculum.

However, even with these negatives in the American version, I absolutely recommend IXL learning to any student. For me, these small negatives were not enough to put us off. As there are Spanish, science and social science lessons as well. If these IXL reviews don’t put you off, which they shouldn’t they are definitely worth trying in your homeschool.

If the negatives would put you off though please do opt for the UK version. It is just as good as the American version, but at this time it does not have science, Spanish or social science.

If you purchase through my link you will receive 20% off membership, try it today.

Can I use IXL if I am in the UK?

As we originally reviewed IXL when we were living in the UK I wanted to give you the differences between the UK and USA versions. We used the USA version (as it was better, despite the fact that it was using American terminology.)

The differences between the UK and USA versions of IXL

• The UK version of IXL is available for maths and English
• The USA version of IXL has maths, English, science, Spanish, and social science lessons.
• The UK version follows the UK national curriculum. The school year suggestions follow the UK school system. There are localised spellings, the money is in £ and not $ and the weights are metric.
• The American version follows the standards set in America. The school grades are American. There are localised spellings, the money is in $ and the weights are imperial.

Overall though we both have continued to love IXL and would recommend it to any homeschool family.

Last Updated on 10 September 2024 by Clare Brown