WordBuild Online - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

In April I learned that the Schoolhouse Review Crew had a new vendor, Dynamic Literacy.

They were offering several products for review, and I was selected to review a product called WordBuildOnline.

We were given two student accounts, and I was expected to have one student log in at least three times per week. WordBuild. was created to go along witih the Elements level of students. It contains all three levels of Elements morphemes, and more. WordBuild does not want students who did not take their "Foundations" level training to get into words they are not familiar with, so  WordBuild has a preliminary section of review built right into it.

When I received my Parent information, I immediately set up my two student accounts, and we got started. WordBuild is a vocabulary program created by a man named Jerry Bailey. 

The building blocks of the program, morphemes, are based on Latin and Greek roots,. The definitions of the morphemes are presented in a painless way that enables the student to learn the meaning of word roots, prefixes and suffixes incrementally. Students log in, and in a session timed to never be longer than 15 minutes a day, the student works his/her way, activity by varied activity, through exercises that teach and test the student's knowledge invisibly. The student has access, at any time, to lists of roots, prefixes and suffixes to locate definitions the student cannot remember. See a video about WordBuild  HERE.

As I said above, the WordBuild concept is based on Morphemes, a term which describes parts of a word that give the word its meaning. An example of a Morpheme would be "form". The student is given the definition of the word "form", and then taught the definition of prefixes (re-, de-, in-, con-) and suffixes (-ed, -er, -al, -at). The student learns how to combine the root with the various prefixes, and how to determine the meaning of the various combined words.

As the student continues to work deeper into the program, the program keeps track of how the student is doing and repeats, adjusts, advances, reviews according to the progress the student is making. The program is relatively painless in situations where the student provides an incorrect answer, and provides stars with chimes for a correct answer. As a tool for improving vocabulary and increasing comprehension, it is very effective.

My favorite part of the program, as the parent, is the email that is sent to the parent each time the student completes a section, telling which section, and how well he/she did on the activities.

There was one point in our trial where the student struggled to determine the correct answers to an exercise on the screen. Frustration rising, wrong answer after wrong answer, and suddenly the 15 minutes was over and the exercise ended.

This turned out to be a very diffusing method of ending the frustration. I was able to have the confidence to let it go and not worry about it, knowing the program was keeping track and would come back around to accomplish mastery. The device of the student's frustration was abruptly gone, and that was that!

I do have to say there are a couple of minor negatives.

• The music in the program never changes. (It doesn't play all the time, but it becomes repetitive.) I did not find an option to turn off music, but that would be nice.
• The comments of praise for correct answers are also repetitive. I guess there is only so much one can say to indicate an answer is correct.
• Sometimes the question/answer combinations seem like they are geared more towards 2nd language learners rather than students seeking to increase their vocabulary. One answer choice for "Formal" might say "to shape", and the word "to" might go with a definition for "form", but not for "formal". When you think about it, though, all the work on WordBuild, even the work that seems silly (like you would not say "to formal"), is building and reinforcing a larger vocabulary.

I was talking to my older daughter, and although she did not have WordBuild when she was younger, she was very enthusiastic about it. "Our work in Greek and Latin roots, when I was younger, got me through college!"

It is also fun to watch the videos of Jerry Bailey, the creator, and then listen to the voice on WordBuild -- it is Jerry Bailey!

I highly recommend WordBuild to you for the building of vocabulary in your students grades 6-12. The work they do on WordBuild will be relatively painless but will bring important returns that will help them in high school, college and beyond!

Jerry Bailey kindly created a discount code for me to pass along to you, my readers. It can be used at www.dynamichomeschool.com for 25% off the books or at www.wordbuildonline.com for 10% off.

The code is: hsreview

Other members of the Review Crew also reviewed this vendor. To see other product reviews, please click the button below.

   

VocabularySpellingCity - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

In September I was delighted to be selected to receive a VocabularySpellingCity Premium Membership from VocabularySpellingCity for purposes of review. 

I had the opportunity to review VocabularySpellingCity in the past (my previous review), but there are aspects to the program that I discovered this time that I didn't find last year. (I don't know if they are new, or if the program is just so comprehensive and amazing that it takes awhile to discover all the great things about it!

I have had access to the Premium Membership for a little over a month now, and I am still discovering ways I can integrate it into my program. The more lists I get set up with the program, the more we use the program. I just have my son log into his account each day and work through the assignments I have set up for him for that day. When he completes an assignment and takes the test, I am able to monitor his progress through the Teacher's Toolbox tools. 

The first way that I wanted to use VocabularySpellingCity was to create SAT Prep vocabulary lists for my son from an online set of lists I had found. There are so many words there that I focused on words I figured he didn't know the meaning of or words I thought he didn't know how to spell. So I got lists set up, and he is quickly catching up to me, so I need to input more words.

VocabularySpellingCity has a variety ways for the students to work on the program. There are flash cards:

There is a fun game called Word-a-rama:

There is another fun game called Letter Drop: 

Unfortunately, my son, "Mr. Attitude", doesn't want fun ways to learn. He doesn't want to learn. He just wants to be done. So most of his time on VocabularySpellingCity was just spent right on the word lists and tests, trying to finish, not caring about other fun things on the site he could do.

Nevertheless, this program has benefit to our homeschool. Watching the videos available on the site, I got more and more ideas of ways I could use this program for my son's benefit. The videos go very quickly, so I often ended up watching parts of a video again and again to see what the screen had on it (things I was interested in that were different from what the narrator was focusing on). Additional ways I am beginning to use this program:

• Vocabulary lists from our Science course;
• Math lists;
• Social Studies lists;
• Language Arts lists; 
• Literature word lists;
• Science word lists;
• Handwriting practice;
• Writing assignments;
• 26 ways to learn lists!

So what I am saying is that the further I dig into this website the more amazing it seems to be! I especially like the fact that when my son takes a test on this program, the results are tallied electronically and his score is stored for me to retrieve and record in his records. That was so easy!

Many of the videos on the website are geared toward how this program would be used by a classroom teacher. Some of the great functions needed by classroom teachers aren't needed by home school parents. We don't need to know how to send letters to parents, etc. That shouldn't deter you from considering this program. We can ignore the aspects about how to load large groups of student names and how to group them. That doesn't bother me.

The aspect that I like best about this program is creation and designation of assignments to the student. I love for my son to go to his page and see what his current assignments are. That is so perfect for him with his particular issues. ("What do I need to do to be finished?")

Are there any disadvantages?

The biggest problem many home schoolers will have with this program, besides the time needed to learn how to use it (which we have to do with any new thing that we switch to), is the time it takes to set things up at the front end to keep things flowing smoothly throughout the year. My son's biggest complaint about our home school is that, when he looks at me, I am constantly on the computer. He can't really discern whether I'm playing games, reading email, creating lesson plans, learning a new language, reading about a new product -- he just knows that I am on the computer doing what I "want to do", and he wants to be on the computer playing the video game that he is addicted to and isn't being allowed to.

The second difficulty that I have has nothing to do with the program itself, but has more to do with the ever delicate balance we are constantly walking in my home, trying to get my son to understand the importance of being trustworthy on the computer to stay on the task(s) assigned. His sole goal seems to be to finish assigned tasks so that he can switch his screen over to either his video game or the video site where he watches videos about his video game. It is a never-ending battle. Still working through trying to figure a way to configure one desktop so that it can only access the educational sites I want him to go to and block the sites that he is allowed on during his "free" computer time.

So, there's the honesty. These issues are not insurmountable, but they are real in my house.

VocabularySpellingCity's Premium Membership costs $29.99 for a full year for up to five students. It is for all grade levels (K-12). If you (bless you!) have more than five in your home school, contact the sales department to see if they can give you more slots. You probably don't need a Teacher's account (for up to 25 students, costs $49.99 for a year), so maybe they can pro-rate additional students in your family.  actually has a free, "Basic" program. From there site, here are the difference and benefits you get by purchasing the Premium Account over the Basic Account:

 Overview:

I just have to say, I'm in love with this program. I am so glad to have been given this opportunity to see the new expansions and improvements to the site. I look forward to continuing to use it this year. I consider the price to be very reasonable even for a one-student family like mine, but those with more children get the same value at the same one low price! I think this is a wonderful program at a great price. If you still aren't sure, then sign up for the "Basic" program and use that for awhile. You can upgrade to Premium whenever you want!

I received a one-year free Premium Membership in exchange for my honest review of this program. Other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew also had the opportunity to review this program. To see their reviews, click the CREW button below.

Vocab Videos: A Schoolhouse Crew Review

Today I will be telling you about an SAT Vocabulary Learning Program/Website called Vocab Videos.

From their website:

Vocab Videos was originally developed to teach SAT Vocabulary and tailored around learning key SAT Vocabulary words. Since that time, the system has proven an extremely effective vocabulary-learning tool for a variety of different tests beyond the SAT such as the ACT, ISEE, SSAT, and GRE tests. Vocab Videos is also an exemplary learning and teaching tool for any vocabulary learning program/class or individual vocabulary learning needs. Examples of uses outside of SAT and other test vocabulary are classroom vocabulary programs and ESL (English as a Second Language) vocabulary learning. For educators, we offer SAT/ACT professional development and materials licensing and have developed programs designed specifically for classroom vocabulary learning accompanied with several valuable educator vocabulary resources.

The Vocab Videos program is based on watching humorous, memorable videos to teach vocabulary in a contextual format. Using both auditory and visual cues, each video includes a real-world representation of the meaning of a word in a way that you can easily relate to and understand. In addition to the videos, the program includes quizzes, worksheets, a multimedia flashcard maker and many other tools. The vocabulary platform also includes a number of special educator features that allow teachers to monitor student usage and progress. Ready to get started? Take a look around the site and you will see a host of great vocabulary learning resources for the SAT including a free SAT word list and much more. Take advantage of our free trial to get started today!

This summer, my son had the opportunity to try out Vocab Videos to see what it is like.  This program is a hoot! And it really, really works!

Side Note:  This program could be offensive to conservative home schoolers.  I have not watched the entire program yet, but in the first set of twenty words there were several occasions of God’s name being used in vain (“Oh my God!”), and in later episodes I have encountered name-calling (“idiot”, “loser”), use of unpleasant vocabulary (“sucks”), negative sarcasm (in jest),  mild to not so mild swearing (“damn”).

Also, there is an adult office theme, and a theme of dating and girl-friend/boy-friend that some parents won’t want to introduce their kids to yet.

I have parented through the teens that way in the past, and we have adjusted our opinion about the wisdom of keeping our son in a supervisory “bubble” at this point. He knows what we believe, but he lives in this world. In this world there really IS a large contingent that swears, uses God’s name in vain, and uses this type of humor. Compared to cable, these videos are way mild.

I really like these videos as a tool and am definitely planning to use them all year long. I think they will have a huge positive impact on my son, not a negative one. I will always keep my son bathed in prayer, and will trust in God to protect my son as he gradually grows into an adult that must live in this secular world.

Vocab Videos offers a one-month free trial for educators.  A small subscription (up to 20 students) costs $74.99; a medium subscription; a large subscription (up to 100 students) costs $254.99 (larger subscriptions also available). A "subscription" gives 12 month access to the following for the educator:

• Teacher Dashboard to monitor student progress
• Individual student accounts
• Access to all videos and study materials
• Digital Quizzes, Multi-media Flashcard Maker, Digital Worksheets

An individual student can get a six month subscription for $24.99 or a one year subscription for $39.99, which includes:

• Access to the entire video library of 500 Vocab Videos
• Total access to an extensive suite of study resources and tools: digital quizzes, digital worksheets, multimedia flashcard maker, downloadable crossword puzzles

The teacher access provides so many wonderful things. If you choose a student subscription, you will probably also want to consider purchasing The Workbook which costs $11.99.

 
 With a Teacher Account you have "all power"! You can easily monitor and manage the student accounts that are signed up in your Teacher Account.

The way the program is laid out is that there are 25 different episodes available. Each episode covers 20 words, pronouncing each word, defining each word, demonstrating each word, and explaining how the word demonstrated the definition while simultaneously reminding the student of the definition in print. When you have worked through all 25 episodes you have covered 500 vocabulary words. Laying the program out one story-episode a week, I  am having my son do the following:

• Watch the episode through on Monday;
• use the flash cards to review the words daily;
• have son re-watch the video and do the worksheet on Wednesday;
• pop-quiz my son orally on the vocabulary list on Thursday; and
• giving my son the written quiz on Friday.

 Check it out below to see just what influence vocabulary instruction can have on students:

Read the Vocab Video Story, and click on the video there to learn more. Meet the cast. Read student success stories. Learn more about the videos, the learning tools, the Science of learning, but RUN don't WALK to learn more about this program. This is the best vocabulary method I've seen for my son, and I'm just delighted. Here's a look at an example of one of the flash cards:

A most gratifying mommy/teacher moment occurred after we had been using this for several weeks.  We were out in public, and he observed an interaction between two folks near us. He whispered to me, "That's an example of one of our vocabulary words!"  He was thinking of the word, "urbane" which means polite, suave, and cultivated in manner. JD couldn't remember the word right then, but he remembered the definition, which is part of the journey. On a multiple choice test he might have gotten it right. With more review and the tools in the program, I am confident he will be well prepared for the SAT in four years! 

•  My son thinks this program is, "All right." Coming from my son, that is high praise indeed!
• This program is engaging, amusing, and memorable. It is a very unique and valuable tool for SAT Vocabulary preparation.
• This program includes stimulation for the visual learner and the audio learner. Because of its format, I believe it would also succeed with hands-on learners as well.
• The program includes videos, printable resources, and resources you might wish to purchase in hard (paper spiral) format.
• This product is an SAT preparation product designed for grades 7 and up.
• Viewing the videos can be done independently by the student. Most parents will probably want to pre-watch the videos so they know what their student/child is covering (and being exposed to). The parent will want to plan a strategy to cover the program during one school year, including scheduling use of flash cards, quizzes, and use of worksheets, which will need to be printed out.
• Some students will benefit by watching the videos several times, which is fine.
• This program is secular.  

I have a very strong opinion about this product. I love it and look forward to continuing to use it throughout our upcoming school year.

DISCLAIMER:  As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a 12 month Teacher subscription to Vocab Videos in exchange for my honest, uninfluenced review. The opinions expressed herein are my own. I was not told what to say.

This has been a Schoolhouse Crew Review.

To see more Schoolhouse Crew Reviews, visit the blog page for this product.