Compare Khan Academy with us
Khan Academy offers videos and practice for the courses you choose. We give your child a whole school year: every subject starting at their level, lessons written for them, and the work graded as they turn it in.
Practice courses or a whole school year
Khan Academy is a nonprofit with more than 840 online courses, from Kindergarten math to early college, in math, science, English language arts, social studies, computing, and test prep. Learners teach themselves from videos, articles, and practice exercises, and a parent can set up a class, assign lessons, and set due dates.
Our courses form a complete school year, with a starting point in each subject and written work that goes beyond practice exercises. Your family chooses the hours while the lessons take care of the teaching.
Where your child starts
Khan Academy suggests starting a course with a Course Challenge. It finds strengths and gaps within the course the family has chosen and recommends which skills to study next.
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
A Khan Academy day follows the courses the family has picked. A learner watches a video or reads an article, then practices the skills in that course's exercises.
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
Khanmigo is a separate AI tutor subscription for Khan Academy's courses. It helps a learner work toward an answer within that material, while the family still chooses the courses that make up the year.
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
Khan Academy scores practice exercises through its software. Its teacher tools show the scores and skills to work on, giving the parent a view of progress within the selected courses.
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. Much of our work is written, such as explanations and projects, so the feedback tells your child what their reasoning got right and what to fix, not only whether an answer matched.
Records, state paperwork, and the transcript
Khan Academy's records follow progress and mastery within each course. They show how the learner is doing in that material; the courses your family chooses determine what appears in that view.
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 Khan Academy 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 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 a child who is not reading yet use it?
- Yes. Kindergarten through Grade 2 is spoken: your child listens, answers out loud, and an adult stays nearby.
- Can brothers and sisters each have their own path?
- Yes. Each child takes their own placement test, so a younger and an older child each start at their own level, and both sit in one parent account.
- 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.
Turn subject practice into a complete course with a next lesson and feedback on your child's explanations.
$149/month per child after the trial.