A UK Home Educator's Review of IXL.
IXL: Adaptive Learning for the UK Home Educating Family.
I was given the opportunity to review IXL Learning recently in exchange for a full annual membership of IXL. (I think, for my non-UK readers, the link will redirect to your country’s site instead. If you want to explore a different country’s platform, just tap the flag icon and choose a country from the drop-down). I’m excited to tell you all about how much my kids have enjoyed using this digital educational resource aligned with UK educational standards. With the annual membership to the IXL adaptive learning website, your family can have access to all their online resources for Maths and English for Reception – Year 13.
IXL for Maths
IXL has everything you need to assist students in Maths & English all over the UK and abroad for those following UK standards for education in your homeschool. While the online app is considered supplemental, it’s an excellent resource to use as an academic guide as well as for exam revision.
It’s so nice that they have Maths set up so that everyone, regardless of location, has access to exactly what their kids need to succeed. IXL is compatible with all four entities of the National Curriculum for Maths in the United Kingdom. Here’s how it’s organized by country:
- England – Key Stages 1-5 Maths Curriculum
- Northern Ireland – Foundations – Stage 5 Maths Curriculum
- Scotland – Early Level – 4th Level Maths Curriculum
- Wales – Foundation Phase – Key Stage 5 Maths Curriculum
IXL for English
IXL also has English for Reception through Year 13. They provide everything needed to engage your child through the different phases of Language Arts learning using fun visuals and interactives for personalized learning. The online dashboard is easily organized by year to make it very clear what is available for each specific year of schooling. It’s super easy for both kids and parents too.
Annual Membership of IXL
An annual membership of IXL allows you to set up individual logins for each child (with their own secret word) in addition to the parent’s dashboard. This simple set up process allows the parent to check in and see how each child is doing. Regular emails allow parents to evaluate the progress or struggles, that may be occurring; alerting them to check their dashboard/login and come alongside their child if needed.
Our Favourite IXL Features
One of the features I really like is that their app works on so many different platforms and devices, you can download your subscription from the App Store, Google Play and Kindle Fire. Tailor-made learning across all these platforms provides opportunities for your kids to use their time wisely while on the go rather than playing mindless games.
One of the aspects I think is really powerful in IXL is the adaptive learning questions that create a personalized learning experience for each student. Being able to quickly assess a student’s ability and adjust the question selection to pinpoint the exact area to work on, is awesome. This is essential when trying to understand if there are any learning gaps due to changing curricula too many times.
IXL Maths Diagnostics
My daughter and I agreed she really needed to spend some time in the diagnostic section of the app. We had just changed from a non-UK Maths curricula again, so we needed to easily identify any gaps in her knowledge. The IXL adaptive learning diagnostic tool was perfect for identifying areas in which we needed to reinforce understanding. Here’s what my daughter had to say:
I liked the IXL’s maths diagnostic tool because it was easy to use. You click on the diagnostic, choose a problem, and off you go! It is useful for parents and teachers because it shows them where the student or child is academically and then the adults know where the person needs help. -Darby, age 13
By using the Maths diagnostic tool, we were excited to find out that even after changing Maths curricula 4 times in the last 6 years, there were very few gaps. The ones we did find will be able to be improved upon using the focused IXL sections in each specific year. That is precisely what we needed after we identified the trouble spots. The diagnostics PDF that can be created is perfect to take a snapshot of progress. It can easily be used throughout the school year to assess overall improvement as well as specific topics that need to be revisited.
IXL English
My son, on the other hand, chose to do IXL English. He settled on testing out the Greek & Latin Roots to see if his Latin studies are paying off. Happily, this section was easily accomplished. He has since moved on to working through the Reference Skills section. I’m really glad they have this section because knowing how to use a dictionary and thesaurus is a dying art. I’ll continue to work through the various Year 6 English sections with him to reinforce good grammar, punctuation and literary skills using the IXL adaptive learning feature to help pinpoint areas on which we need to focus.
IXL for UK Home Educators
IXL’s UK platform is a home educator’s dream resource. It has so many tools that are on point with all the different country’s educational systems for Maths. The English resources are a perfect addition to help students learn or revise their grammar and literature concepts that will be required on exams. This traveling, home educating family is excited to continue to use our annual membership of IXL to supplement the foundations of both Maths & English as we home educate our children in preparation for GCSE’s, Highers or A-Levels here in the UK.
Read what other homeschoolers all over the world are saying about IXL.