Vocab Videos - a review

Over the years people have always commented on what extensive vocabularies our children have. We attribute this to not "dumbing down" our conversations with them. We have always used "big" words around them and when talking to them, thus increasing their vocabularies. They are also read to a lot, and not just books on their level, but books just a bit beyond their level and this to leads to a more extensive vocabulary.

Them hearing words used in context is, in my opinion, the best way to teach new vocabulary words. Long lists of words that they have to memorize the meaning to is just not as effective as actually hearing the word used. This is the concept that Vocab Videos uses to teach vocabulary. The program is designed for late middle school and high school students to prepare for the SAT. It is a great concept, and a great way to introduce vocabulary. Each word has a short episode that uses the word in a "real world" situation. There are 20 words for each set of episodes. After your student has watched all the videos there are worksheets and quizzes they can take to make sure they have retained the knowledge. As I said, this is an amazing concept. Students are going to retain more information if it is used in a real way, and not just a list in a vocabulary book.


Paul is a little young for this product, being only in the 6th grade. However, I felt he could benefit from it because he does have a strong vocabulary and loves to increase his vocabulary. It ended up that I used the program some for myself, and did not allow him to use it. The concept is wonderful, and for most high school students, most of the content is appropriate. However, for my 10 year old, I was not ok with some of the content. The videos are inundated with poor attitudes toward authority figures as well as terminology that I don't allow used in our home "oh my God", "Good Lord", and several slang terms that I don't want my children listening to.

On the whole this is a phenomenal way to increase vocabulary, and I totally understand that many people do not have the same views as our family does and would see great benefits from this program.

It is also very reasonably priced at $24.99 for a 6 month subscription or $39.99 for a full year. This individual subscription gets you full access to the library of 500 videos as well as all the study resources (quizzes, worksheets, flashcard maker and crossword puzzles.


Disclosure: I received this product for free in exchange for a review on my blog. There was no other compensation given for this review. All opinions stated here are my own, honest opinions.

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