CREW Review- Vocabulary Spelling City

 

Do you have great spellers in your house?  Us- not so much.  So I was excited to get the opportunity to review  Vocabulary Spelling City.  If they think they can help us, then I am willing to give it a try!

What it is:  An online program that encompasses spelling, vocabulary and even handwriting for ages K-12.

What it does:  Teaches, reviews, quizzes, grades and keeps track of it all for you.

How it works:  You, as the teacher, can create master word lists to be taught, or you can choose from the many lists they provide, to include dolche lists, homophones and contractions and even subject specific lists.  This means you can use any spelling program you have and add those words with just a few clicks.  Studying -ed words this week?  Just add your words and you are ready.  If you are just staring out homeschooling, no need for a formal spelling curriculum, just use the lists they have provided and you are covered!

  Your child can then take a pretest, make flashcards, or my son's favorite part, play a game!

 

Games include unscrambling letters to make the words, crossword puzzles and more.  A premier membership opens up even more choices. 

You can also test definitions for the words of your choice.  The neat thing about this is that the computer will generate definitions for you for the words you input, or you may write your own definitions to better fit your family!

How much does it cost:  Premium membership, for up to 5 students, $29.99 per year!   You can order Vocabulary Spelling City by clicking here!  Here's what that includes-

       

What we thought:  It took me a while to explore this site, there's a lot there, but once we got the hang of it, we really enjoyed it.  Here's where the multiple training videos will help. Looking at them before you get started will clear up a lot of initial confusion you may have.  Often I would enter my son's spelling words in the morning and then he would get on and take the test.  I would then type in a new list using the words he missed and label them Missed Words 8/15, for example.  He would then study those words using the games. (why study words that you already know how to spell?)

The next day I would simply add a few new words to the list and we would begin the process again.  Because we use a spelling program that tests new words each day this method worked great for us, but if you use a traditional spelling program that teaches 20 new words a week, no problem.  This is a great way to practice for you as well.  I would just encourage your child to play several different games each day or they will tend to stick to their favorites.  (trust me, lesson learned!)

BONUS!:  My son is an auditory learner.  Say it out loud and he knows it for life.  I think that one of the reasons this program worked so well for us is because of the multiple auditory aspects of the site.  I would be willing to bet the same would be true of highly visual learners.  For those who are not as savvy on the keyboard, many of the games are also printable.  Just look for the printer icon next to the game you choose.

Bottom line:  This is a great resource that we will continue to use!  For a family of multiple children, my time is sometimes limited and having the computer call spelling words alone is worth its weight in gold in my opinion.  Add to that a more visual and auditory way of learning and all of the options offered on Vocabulary Spelling City and I think it is well worth every penny!  Give it a try and see if you agree!

  To see what fellow CREW members had to say about Vocabulary Spelling City, click on the banner below.       Disclaimer- I received a free online premium subscription to Vocabulary Spelling City in exchange for my review of this product.  All opinions are my own and were not influenced by the company in any way.