Have you heard of VocabularySpellingCity? I had and we had used the free site in the past for spelling practice but I had not paid for the premium subscription in the past; it just wasn’t in the budget. We really enjoyed some of the free features and I knew I would like the premium features. So when given the opportunity to review VocabularySpellingCity and try out the premium features for the TOS Review Crew, I was excited to give it a try.
What is VocabularySpellingCity?
VocabularySpellingCity is an interactive, online spelling and vocabulary program. VocabularySpellingCity allows homeschools, traditional schools, and parents to utilize an online environment to work on spelling, vocabulary, writing and language arts.
VocabularySpellingCity was a finalist in the 2013 EdTech Digest Awards Recognition Program for the Cool Tool Award. Cool Tool awards recognize new, emerging and established technology solutions for education.
VocabularySpellingCity has both free and premium memberships. There are many great features available in the free membership and even more games and options including vocabulary and writing options.
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w We Used It?
We have a spelling program that is working for us. It provides us with 15-20 words each week to work on. We were able to use our current spelling program with VocabularySpellingCity which was very impressive. Four days a week we used VocabularySpellingCity to work on our spelling words. Our 3rd grader loved using VocabularySpellingCity to work on Spelling and Vocabulary words as well as writing and handwriting all utilizing the spelling words from our program by utilizing the premium membership’s customizable list option.
We actually had been doing great with our spelling program but had not done well with keeping up with a vocabulary program. VocabularySpellingCity allowed me to integrate vocabulary into our homeschool easily.
Each week I spent about 5 minutes entering the new spelling word list, an option with VocabularySpellingCity. VocabularySpellingCity premium membership allows users to enter custom spelling lists, which I did by entering our weekly spelling list.
Here’s what we did:
On day 1 Avarie would take a PRACTICE TEST to determine a basis of our list. She then would go through the vocabulary TEACH ME option as well.
On day 2 Avarie would play games to practice both spelling and vocabulary for her word list.
On day 3 Avarie would take another PRACTICE TEST and play some more games on the website. She would then print her list and practice writing her spelling list in cursive to practice cursive writing as well (premium members have the option to print lists with a variety of options such as printing the words in manuscript or cursive, with direction arrows, etc.). I liked that this gave her another option for cursive practice as well as working on the vocabulary and spelling words.
On day 4, Avarie takes a final SPELLING TEST. (The PRACTICE TEST can be taken multiple times but the SPELLING TEST is only taken once and it is graded.)
Teachers/Parents have a separate account from students. The Teachers Account allows the teacher to make assignments, check progress, and input customized lists. This is a great option for premium members.
If you don’t have your own spelling lists or program, VocabularySpellingCity has its own built-in lists to choose from. You can even choose themed lists like holiday lists, literature lists, and dolce-sight word lists. There are lists by grade as well.
Some of the games that Avarie liked included LetterFall and HangMouse. There is also an option to practice writing a sentence or paragraph with the words, which I really liked. This was excellent writing practice to incorporate into our day as well. We did this once a week as extra practice.
Avarie is a natural speller and tends to move through the spelling lists very quickly. One of the advantages of VocabularySpellingCity is that, even if she is able to spell all the words correctly immediately, she was able to work with the words through games, vocabulary, cursive and paragraph/sentence writing with the words.
Overall Thoughts
We really enjoyed all the VocabularySpellingCity has to offer. There is so much available in the program that it seems a little overwhelming at first; however, VocabularySpellingCity does an excellent job at tutoring users with short, snippet videos.
The parent’s resources are great and very thorough. The student has his or her own account and can play games or practice words as often as she wants. With a variety of flashcard and game option, students can play something different for practice each day.
Customized lists are easy to make. Lists are easy to manage through the List Management tab in the teacher account. Teachers can see what each student is doing, how much time they have spent in activities and scores. It is very helpful and easy to use.
We were given a one year family membership to VocabularySpellingCity with one parent license for up to 5 student accounts. The age range for VocabularySpellingCity is K-12. You can check out VocabularySpellingCity on their website. There is a free portion of VocabularySpellingCity in which you do not have the option to save lists and have limited access to games but is still an excellent medium for spelling practice. Vocabulary, Language Arts, writing, additional games, and customizing option are available with the premium membership. You can purpose a premium VocabularySpellingCity membership for $29.99 per year for 5 student licenses, which is an excellent value.
Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.
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