How I Use Khan Academy to Homeschool, Step by Step

I use Khan Academy for one job: the basics, math and language arts, starting around 5th grade. It’s free, and you can assign the exact lessons your child does each day and see every answer they gave. Here’s my whole routine, step by step, and it takes me about ten minutes a morning per child.

Why Khan Academy, and why wait until 5th grade?

Khan Academy is a screen, and it takes discipline and independent work. Littles get more out of sitting down with you and doing it together, so they get the hang of the basics: reading, writing and even basic arithmetic.

Around 5th grade, a child can sit in front of a screen and learn how to become more independent. Even then, I keep it minimal. It’s great for a subject you’re not comfortable teaching. It also works as an outline, a scope and sequence that shows you what your child is supposed to be learning at each grade level.

The fun and extracurricular subjects, like herbalism, belong off screens and outside.

Is Khan Academy really free?

Yes. Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its help center says all of its content is completely free. Two things to know before you start:

• It isn’t an accredited school. Khan Academy says work done on the site doesn’t count toward a formal diploma. Use it as one piece of your homeschool, and keep whatever records your state requires.
• Khan Academy Kids is a separate app for ages 2 to 8. I keep my little ones off screens, so I don’t use it.

Step 1: Set up your account and a class for each child

1. Make yourself a free account and turn on the parent role in your settings.
2. From your Parent Dashboard, create an account for each child (you can make one for a child under 13) or connect to the account they already have.
3. Go to the Assignments tab and create a class for each child. Khan allows one child per class, up to 10 children.

Khan’s help center lists quizzes, articles, videos, unit tests and course challenges as what a parent can assign. I set mine up with a teacher account and one class per child instead, because that lets me assign the practice exercises too.

Step 2: Find out where your child really is

Before you assign anything new, give your child the Course Challenge for their grade. It shows you which skills they already have and which ones need work. If the gaps are big, drop back to the Get Ready course for that grade (Khan’s own example is Get Ready for 3rd Grade) and fill them first.

Step 3: Assign the day ahead of time

Pick the next day’s lessons ahead of time: the video or article first, then the exercise that goes with it. Two house rules keep our mornings smooth:

• Everything starts first thing in the morning and is due that night. Same start time, same due time, every day. Consistency is paramount.
• Lesson before exercise. Tell your child to watch the video or read the article before trying the practice. A low score with no video checkmark usually means they skipped the lesson.

Step 4: The ten-minute morning check

Every morning, sit with each child for about ten minutes and look at yesterday’s work.

Step	What you check	Where to find it	Time
1	Did they finish yesterday’s work?	Assignments, then Scores	1 min
2	Did they actually watch the video or read the article?	The checkmark under the video or article icon	1 min
3	What did they get wrong, and why?	Click the assignment, then the Responses report	3 to 4 min
4	Sort each item: move on, retry or reteach	The decision table below	1 min
5	Assign today’s fixes	Assign	2 to 3 min

Once a week, check the Skills report to see whether any skill is stuck, and the Activity Overview to see how long they actually worked.

A blank score means they didn’t start it. Ask why before you assume it’s a skill problem.

Step 5: Decide what each score means

The score lines are my house rule, not a Khan setting. Adjust them as you learn your child.

Result	What it usually means	What to do today
80 to 100%	They have it.	Move on.
60 to 79%, careless errors	They know it but rushed or misread.	Retry the same exercise.
Below 60%, or the same error repeated	A real gap.	Reteach: assign the lesson and the exercise again.
Lesson not watched, low score	They skipped the instruction.	Assign the lesson first, then the exercise.
Same skill low two or more times	A missing building block.	Drop back to the Get Ready course.
Skill stuck for two weeks or more	The pace is too fast.	Slow down and push new lessons back a day.

Step 6: Ask three questions at the sit-down

Ask these in order, about the questions your child missed:

1. “Walk me through how you got this one.” This tells you whether it was a slip or a real misunderstanding.
2. “What does the lesson say to do here?” This checks whether they actually took in the instruction.
3. “Try this one out loud.” Have them redo one missed question while you listen. If they get it, assign a retry. If not, reteach.

Keep the tone diagnostic, not corrective. Wrong answers tell you what to teach next.

How I do the morning check with Claude

I use Claude, an AI assistant, to do the checking for me. Each morning it reads yesterday’s scores and the exact answers my girls gave on the questions they missed. It sorts every item with the same decision table, assigns the retries, reteaches and drop-backs plus the next new lessons, and sets everything to start that morning and be due that night. Then it gives me talking points for each girl.

That leaves me the best part. I go over their misconceptions using those talking points, and I teach what they didn’t understand after the video. I get to explain it in different ways, bringing in different modalities. That’s the “teach it more than one way” idea from the research on how kids learn.

And the girls know I’m checking their work. So they take their time and do their best, and they know that if they don’t understand something, they’ll get remediated and an explanation from me in a different way.

What if I’m nervous about using AI for this?

It’s one thing to ask AI for information. This is different. Here it learns a program, assigns the work, looks at the data and explains the data to you, and everything it assigns is right there in Khan’s reports, so it’s easy to check. That’s how AI can save you hours of time, so you get to the fun part: connecting with your children, explaining things and fixing misconceptions. That’s how learning happens quickly and without tears, at least in my house.

Quick fixes when something looks wrong

• Your child can’t see an assignment. Check its start date. Items only appear on their start date.
• A video shows incomplete, but they say they watched it. They were logged out or skipped ahead. Have them rewatch it while logged in.
• A score won’t update. Reports can take about ten minutes to refresh. Reload the page.
• You added work mid-day and they “don’t see anything.” Their home screen may say they’re done for the day. Have them open View all assignments.

And the rest of the day?

Off the screen. Khan covers the basics. The fun stuff, like nature study and herbs, happens at the table and outside. That’s how Eden’s Table works: one plant a week your child can see, smell and touch. You can try a free week and see how your child responds.

Sources

• Khan Academy, About Khan Academy
• Khan Academy Help Center, How can I use Khan Academy to homeschool my child?
• Khan Academy Help Center, How do I make assignments for my child?
• HSLDA, Homeschool laws by state (legal map)