Brian Townsend is an IXL Professional Learning Specialist with eight years of experience as a middle school teacher, department chair, and instructional coach.

As a parent and former educator, I love to have a part in my children’s education. While their teachers drive instruction in school, I know there’s more I can do at home. Luckily for my kids (and me), I have access to IXL!  

At home, I focus on helping my kids better understand what they’re learning in the classroom. We also go over topics they might be struggling with or areas where they need some extra practice, and even find ways they can grow their learning.

Here are the highlights from this article!

• Creating a plan that’s specific to your kids: In just a week, get a ready-made plan for your kids with skills they can work on [jump to section]
• Encouraging independent learning with rewards: Pair your plan with rewards to excite your IXL-ers! [jump to section]

Creating a plan that’s specific to your kids

Before my daughter started Kindergarten, we would mostly use IXL to play educational games. It wasn’t until she took her school’s mid-year diagnostic that I really put an IXL plan into place. The diagnostic gives an overview of how students are performing based on their grade level.

After comparing her beginning-of-year diagnostic and her mid-year diagnostic scores, I saw there wasn’t much growth. It felt like an opportunity to help her reach the next level of learning. 

To make our plan, we began with the IXL Diagnostic. For just five minutes, two to three times a day, I’d sit with my daughter while she worked on the diagnostic. Within a week, we had her results! It doesn’t take much time out of your day to get them started. 

Through the IXL Diagnostic, you’ll receive a Diagnostic Action Plan that shows your IXL-er’s overall levels in math and ELA and their levels in specific strands. Plus, you get unique skill recommendations to see exactly what your kids should be working on. It makes it a breeze to put together a plan at home. 

For my daughter, we started with ELA and the recommended skills in her lowest-scoring diagnostic strand. 

Encouraging independent learning with rewards

As you can imagine, it’s not always easy to get your IXL-ers to work on skills at home. But it’s all about finding fun ways to motivate them!

I created a simple IXL tracker that my daughter would color in after updating her IXL Diagnostic and reaching proficiency or higher on an IXL skill from her Diagnostic Action Plan. Once all the boxes were colored in, she’d earn a prize like a sleepover in Mom and Dad’s room or a movie and popcorn night.

Within a week, not only was my daughter working through her IXL tracker, but our four-year-old son was begging for his own! At your home, you could try other simple rewards to see what excites your kids, like stickers or making their favorite food when they reach milestones.

Seeing my daughter grow 10x from her mid-year diagnostic to her end-of-year diagnostic at school was a huge proof point that IXL works, and it’s easy for any parent to get started! Check out the IXL Diagnostic to put your own plan together at home.