Spelling and Vocabulary City

If you have not already utilized the FREE and very awesome website Spelling City, please consider doing so.  While there is a subscription option that allows you to do more, with the free option you can create your own spelling and/or vocabulary lists and then your child can play online games using the word lists you've created.  I used to use this site a bit when my oldest son was in third grade.  I put in his weekly spelling list and printed out worksheets for him to do to practice his words.

In our homeschool, I'm using the vocabulary list option and am finding that I LOVE it!  As I mentioned a few posts back, my oldest son is currently reading The Cricket in Times Square for literature.  On THIS website, I found online quizzes to go with that book as well as vocabulary lists.  I typed the vocab lists into Spelling City and every few chapters I'm having him use my list to write definitions for his words.  He writes the definitions on index cards which are filed alphabetically in a card file.  After he does his cards, I give him various games to play using the lists.  He then reports to me his "score" for the game.  So far he's really enjoying doing his vocabulary this way.  One great feature is that when you type in a list as "vocabulary" the program automatically offers you several suggestions for definitions and allows you to pick the one that fits the context of the book you've taken the word from.  Therefore, you don't have to spend time looking in a dictionary for a good definition of each word........it's already done for you!!  This free resource is well worth a look!  Let me know if you already use it and if you have any additional suggestions for getting the most out of this great resource.