Overview
It can be tedious and tiresome having to check and grade numerous spelling and vocabulary tests, so it’s no wonder that there was a ready market of teachers as well as home study parents that wanted something to make it easier and more efficient, as well as more effective.
The Claim
The creators of Spelling City claim that their suite of resources will help students learn word lists faster and with less wasted time than with other methods. They say that their tools are set up so that they’re easy to use for adults, so you’ll be able to quickly whip up tests and quizzes with the exact words that are being studied in class, and the software will make it so you don’t have to be present for each child to use it.
The grades go from Pre-K to the 12th grade so the assumption here is that no matter how basic or advanced the class or the child you’ll still be able to teach them in the same manner, only increasing the difficulty of the words being used.
The Hype
There isn’t too much hype involved here because the people that are going to need this site already know what it’s like trying to teach spelling and vocab, and know that there has to be a better way. This is presented as that better way, and one that is a win-win for everyone involved.
The Cost
There is a free version of Spelling City, and an upgrade to the premium version as well. The pricing structure for the premium version is as follows: Parents can teach up to 5 children for $30 for the year. Teachers that have up to 25 students pay $50 for the year, and it’s an extra $1.95 per student per year if you have more than 25 students. There are discounts that kick in if you are at a larger school and need several hundreds or thousands of students to use it.
There’s a 30 day money back guarantee in place to make sure that both you and the students or your children are happy with the software.
The Commitment
You’ll need to commit to learning to use the site to suit your needs and objectives, and to present it to your students or children in a way that gets them engaged with it and preferring it over other teaching methods. It seems rather easy to learn the behind the scenes steps to make tests and games, but you’ll still need to invest the time to become adept at it.
Evaluation
The way they have Spelling City set up is pretty intuitive, and they allow you to change things up depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. You can give your students a test if it’s test time, which means you won’t be burdened with how to make the test, and the best part is you won’t have to go over them with a fine toothed comb either, as it will grade them automatically for you. If it’s learning time you can make things more fun by putting it in the form of a game. In this case you won’t be tasked with trying to come up with game ideas, or figuring out how to facilitate the game because it’s all done for you.
Spelling City offers plenty of value at their free level, and even more at their premium level, and they are getting our Thumbs Up rating. All of the resources we tested out worked like a charm and they have all of the basics covered, as well as several ideas that are clever and should get kids more interested in learning their vocab words and checking their spelling accuracy.
Our Recommendation
In a world where spell check and autocomplete is largely making spelling skills irrelevant, it’s still a good way to get kids to learn new words and increase their vocabulary. Being able to listen to the words being used in a sentence is a nice feature since you won’t be the one that has to repeat the same thing over and over again. And that’s just one of many great features.
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View Comments
it sucks i play and it sucks. this is the story why when i plaed one game plantation i googled who to spell it and it was P L A N T A T I O N it was not accepting the A why can you plz fiks this plz am try to get good grade in school
Sucks waste of time takes one hour for one activity dident even help with spelling
I homeschool my children and have used this site for three years now. I have never used the premium site as I have found the free one to do everything I need. It allows you to make your own spelling lists or you can search for others (I do my own). The child can have the computer say the word and then spell it. There are numerous games to play to help the kids learn the words and they have a new vocabulary section I am going to try this upcoming school year. I have recommended this site to others I know who homeschool as well as friends who have children that go to traditional schools but are having problems in the area of spelling. You can even have your child take tests on here and print out the results with their name and the date. This is one of the best sites I've incorporated into my homeschooling program. I love it!
This site was recommended to me to use in compiling tests and quizzes. In all honesty I found it to be a wonderful, short-use tool. They layout is easy to navigate and search through as the lists are sorted by grades, then sub-topics. However, I found that if I used at least two spelling lists per week, I would run out of lists in a matter of a few months. But for free, this resource is amazing and I can't really complain. I expect to periodically revisit but I'm not sure I will become solely dependent on it. If you have a child who is looking for a colorful, fun way to practice their spelling or a teacher who is desperate to find a spelling list quickly, then this is it!
Definitely a great resource for teachers to use on their students but eventually there wouldn't be enough to hand out. Since many websites tend to have a free limit before they start charging. It might be a better idea to go with a paid plan. But you could also use this for inspiration when you can't come up with tests and quizzes. Seems like a great product to use to home-school as well. I will be sure to check this out for sure.
This seems like a great product! I remember going to the computer lab as a kid and doing online games to learn different things. It was always really fun, and I was really excited to use the programs. I can imagine kids feeling the same way about these games.
This also seems like a great tool for teachers who already have a lot to come up with to teach their other lessons. I'm sure it's a lot easier for them to submit the words they need to teach and have a website that can come up with interesting ways to teach their kids the vocab they want them to know. It looks like a good way for the students to practice the words at home as well.
It's important for students to still focus on spelling, even though there is spell check, because there are a lot of standardized tests where students have to write essays out by hand. I think this is a great website idea.