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With resources for Pre-K to 8th grade, IXL Math is a good site for practice and drill. While the site also has a paid membership that includes comprehensive coverage of math skills, the free access provides plenty of interactive practice on a variety of skills arranged by age and topic. The coverage meets state standards and tracks your child’s progress.
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Cons: scores can drop suddenly and students can get unmotivated, need strong readers to figure out errors on their own
Grades Used: K-12 Math
I use IXL with my students. We use it for the repetition and immediate feedback.
I feel like it’s a great supplement for any curriculum.
The downside as others have said is the scoring system. If students are doing very well and then they get a problem wrong their school can drop dramatically.
This is not unlike ALEKS where if I recall the student has to complete 10 problems correctly after missing one question.
So to overcome that hurdle of accuracy, I have to work with each student’s needs. Sometime, I make it a game with IXL. Get 70 this time, then 80 next time, and then 90 or 100. It works well because it also provides time to go back and review topics.
Or, to build discipline in your students who have the motivation to not give up, challenge them to get 100 every time.
On other limitation of IXL is the variety of problems.
In conclusion, I think IXL is best used to reinforce learning, or to help a student who is constantly struggling with a basic concept overcome their issue by giving them immediate feedback and lots of repetition. I have students use IXL to prep for the SAT, work on multiplication issues, and focus on particular topics. It can be used to help student self-correct and learn how to analyze errors. Student can learn how to read the answer explanations to see what they did wrong, and this in turn helps them be better math learners.
Cons: Can be demoralizing
Grades Used: K, 4,5,
IXL is interactive and keeps a kid’s attention. The points system can be a great thing or a terrible thing. My youngest child loves getting points and that motivates him. My oldest child also loves getting points, and he enjoys the congratulations IXL gives when he gets a question right. But whenever he struggles with a concept, the continual negative feedback with a honking sound become very discouraging to him. We stopped using IXL for him because he was getting so overwhelmed and began thinking he was bad at math. I went back to paper and pencil without the immediate reprimand for being wrong. He’s doing much better now.
Cons: Punishment
Grades Used: 1,3, 6,7,8
IXL will punish students when they get one problem wrong after many correct answers. They will slip from an 86 to a 65 for one incorrect problem after 15 correct problems of various styles in one unit. Students with any learning disability or ADD/ADHD should avoid this software.