Compare IXL with us
IXL is a practice site that schools and families use alongside a curriculum. Beyond practice, we teach each skill in a lesson written for your child before your child practices it.
Skill practice or a complete curriculum
IXL is an online learning and practice platform with more than 20,000 skills in math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish, for pre-K through Grade 12 and adult learners.
Each of our subjects is a complete course, with the teaching and school record included alongside the practice.
Where your child starts
IXL's Real-Time Diagnostic measures knowledge in math and English language arts. It takes about 45 minutes per subject and uses the result to build a plan for practice within IXL.
To start your child where they actually are, we write a placement test for each subject. It has 25 questions, or 12 for younger learners, and it adapts as your child answers.
From every answer, we estimate where your child is solid but not yet finished, and that's where they start. Each subject is placed on its own, so your child might begin in the middle of fourth-grade math and the beginning of fifth-grade reading. In grades 3 to 12, a child who prefers paper can print the free placement test, then upload a photo of the answer sheet for grading.
What a school day looks like
On IXL, the child works through practice skills aligned to standards and textbooks. Instructional videos sit alongside that practice, while the family chooses the math and other subjects to use.
Our Parent Dashboard lays out today's lessons by subject. You can build the week around your family's hours and print it for the fridge.
Interactive articles weave in your child's interests, with images and videos made for them. Reading checks confirm understanding, then your child applies the idea in a project, such as optimizing lap times for F1 or working out a rocket’s fuel load.
When your child gets stuck
Our Always-On Mentor sits beside every reading and project, so help is there the moment your child needs it.
The mentor also steps in on its own when your child seems stuck, explains the idea another way, and can make it visual by drawing on its board. In a reading check or a project, it guides your child's thinking without giving the answer away.
Learning to keep a notebook
From Grade 3, our readings offer an optional Notebook guide to help your child organize their learning. It encourages lesson headings and unit labels, and the printable guide offers tips for taking notes in their own words rather than copying the article.
The guide encourages your child to note where they struggled and how they got past it. One tip is to star a useful takeaway, then gather those takeaways into a review page. When your child scans and uploads their notebook pages, we help them remember those ideas and shape practice problems around the places they struggled.
Who grades the work
We grade everything your child submits as soon as they submit it, so grading never lands on you. When your child gets something wrong, we help them work through it, and projects come back with feedback so they can revise them.
Records, state paperwork, and the transcript
IXL reports on progress through its practice skills. Parents can see real-time analytics and progress reports for that work, giving them a view of how the selected practice is going.
At TheHomeschoolingCompany, your child's school record builds as they work: daily check-ins log attendance, and everything they finish is saved automatically. Attendance logs and learning summaries are ready to export, and we draft the documents your state asks for from that same record, including portfolios with real work samples.
Our high school transcript builds from completed work, with courses, letter grades, credits, and GPA calculated for you.
Moving from IXL to us
School in a Box includes up to 12 subjects, from the core to custom electives on anything your child is curious about. Single Subject covers one course, if you would rather start there.
Start the 14-day trial and choose School in a Box or Single Subject.
Pick your child's subjects, including any topics they have been asking to learn more about.
Your child takes a placement in each subject, and their whole curriculum is built around them.
Other questions
- Can my child retake placement if a subject feels too easy?
- Yes. Your child can retake placement in one subject while their other courses carry on, and completed work stays saved.
- Can my child read lessons on paper?
- Yes. Lessons, reading checks, and projects can be done on paper. Your child scans and uploads the finished pages for the same detailed feedback as online work.
- Can brothers and sisters each have their own path?
- Yes. You add every child to one parent account, with separate lessons, grades, and records.
- Can we use ESA funds?
- We are approved in Arizona, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Utah. Program rules apply.
Your child's curriculum. Your family's time.
Go beyond a practice score: your child explains the idea in writing, and we grade it with written feedback right away.
$149/month per child after the trial.