Does anyone use this site? I was trying to get opinions, before I decide if I want to look at ordering it for next year. Or are there any other similar sites you would recommend for Math practice? We used to have one linked to our county's Math series, but they did not renew the membership.
My entire district got an account for every 2nd-6th grade kid. We love it! The two best elementary math sites to spend money on in my opinion are IXL (for practice on a wide array of concepts) and TheMathFacts.com (for tracking basic fact progress -- SO much easier and more fun than timed tests, and that's the one component IXL is weak in).
IXL is fine if your kids are disciplined enough to actually click and stay on what they're supposed to stay on. I found it too cumbersome for my kids. Too many distractions. We use Moby Max for math practice. Same idea, less hassle. They literally CAN'T click anything else.
I started Moby Max a couple weeks ago and I love it! The kids like it too - since they're all going at their own pace and level (determined by pre assessment) it's been a huge confidence booster for my strugglers. I often hear "I got a star!!" I also love that I can see exactly how they're doing, and have control over aspects like how much fact practice they get (I have changed that) and the order of the lessons (haven't changed that). I wasn't aware IXL had a free version - I thought it was only subscription based.
Loved IXL last year. This year we are focusing on First in Math which has really good practice games, just not as much of the progress monitoring/standards based that IXL has.
I've not. But a few other free sites are RoomRecess and coolmath4 kids. My class loves both. I'll take a look at IXL tho
I use it as a reteach/review of what we are currently learning. The kids like it because it's not another worksheet.
We have used IXL before but it turned out to be too boring for my 9-year-old son. He resisted to use it after one semester. I know math is important so I let him try Beestar instead, which was recommended by his teacher. As I see, my son's math ability is impoving fast in the past one year. Different from IXL's, Beestar's math program is free. All of the exercises are based on state standards that can be applied to most states. The questions are fun and typical, leading my son to master every math skill step by step. Its reward system is motivational. My son likes to win the weekly ribbons. It's great achievement for him to get on honor roll since there are too many competitive students from nationwide. A good way to make him confident. I also heard other subject programs on Beestar, such as language arts, science are really good. Will let him enroll soon.
Beestar I have to agree with Yuki that IXL can become easily tedious for my students too. They didn't really enjoy the consistent drill questions and having to get time docked off it they wanted to read the explanation to their incorrect answers. As for Beestar the reward system is very motivational for my students. They are more confident in their math skills and they enjoy seeing their names on the honor roll. Beestar is especially helpful for my students that need more time to grasp math concepts. I am able to track their progress individually and have their parents help them at home. The way Beestar has written their worksheets has really helped my students be more engaged in learning these new skills which is extremely important at a young age.
I LOVE IXL! More importantly, my students love IXL! I've been asking for it for years and my school got it for me this year. It has been just what I thought it would be. My students work harder on IXL than if we were practicing from the book. Kids who would groan about doing 10 problems in class will complete 30 in IXL without batting an eye. Some things I've done with IXL that has been beneficial so far this year: I have my students to come see me if they miss three in a row and we work one-on-one to find where their mistake is happening. I have a competition going between my 5 classes to see which class can get the highest class average smartscore on our skill that day and they enjoy being the class with the "bragging rights" that day. (Competition in the right doses can be quite healthy. ) When my high achievers finish quickly with an excellent score, I let them tackle the next grade level of that topic. They enjoy doing sixth grade level fractions.
I tried out IXL for a free trial this year. The students really enjoyed it and so did I. It was so easy to have some students who needed to be challenged more, to be able to move to more challenging math. I also could have students who really struggled in some area, get a whole lot more practice. I don't think one math site does it all, but IXL is my favorite.
Our PTA bought the whole school and IXL subscription. It was good in the beginning but the kids grew tired of it. Our technology committee found sumdog and the kids really like that better. It was more game oriented rather than drilling. So we are going to use that next year instead.
