Do you have teens who are preparing for the SAT?   Or those who just want to develop their vocabulary? Maybe
VocabAhead One Thousand SAT Vocabulary Videos & MP3s is a DVD you might be interested in getting.

This DVD covers over 1000 SAT vocabulary words that are in cartoon and audio format. You can either choose to watch and listen to each vocabulary word on your computer or on your MP3 player or other devices such as Ipods, iPhones etc.

The Pros of this product are:

• You can use this product on-the-go in a format a lot of kids these days are more likely to use. Rather than needing to sit in front of a computer they can learn and review the words while they are on the go and making their time a little more productive.
• The visual and audio aspect of this product is perfect for kids who have different learning styles and abilities.
• I do like that the vocabulary words not only includes the definition but also sets the word in an example so that you can get a better understanding and concept of the meaning behind the word.

The Cons of this product, for me, are more of a personal preference. One thing that I would like to have seen with this product was for it to also show the roots and meaning behind each word. Rather than this be just a tool to memorize individual words, I think it would have been more educational and meaningful to have my child learn the words associated with the word roots also. Another con for me, as a Christian, I was rather put off by the context in which some of the words were defined. I felt that the examples used for some of the words did not portray a positive Christian view or even a positive view of parent / child relationships. For example, the word, “abase”, as part of its description uses the example of parents yelling at their children to abase them and stating that those kids often grow up to lack confidence. You can check out the associated video for the word, “abase” here on their website. Another example is for the word, “maverick”, showing the pro-life and pro-choice debate where the pro-life person is visually portrayed in a negative light. The pro-life person looks angry and is wearing red which is also a color used to show anger. This made it clear to me that the person who created that particular example was not very supportive of a pro-life, Christian belief. You can go to the VocabAhead website to view videos from their word lists here at http://www.vocabahead.com/Videos/tabid/58/Default.aspx. It seemed to me that the examples for some of the words could have been more carefully selected. I am not sure if words like “debauch” and “licentious” are definite words seen on SAT test but the way they are portrayed on the videos for this DVD exclude them as acceptable viewing by my children. For myself, I had to review the words prior to allowing my teen to view the cartoon and listen to the audio. Even if I let her watch/listen to it, I made sure we discussed what was being portrayed for that particular word. In all honesty, the viewpoints expressed in some of the examples disappointed me and made me feel that this was not a good choice for our family. Also, there was no real user-friendly interface for this product. You have to select each word individually in order to view/listen to it. I would have liked to see some way of a play all feature or being able to make play lists.

With all that said, I started off feeling that VocabAhead could be a good tool to use in preparing for the SAT, however I really ended up feeling that it missed the mark for the expectations I had for it. Rather than saying everyone should dismiss it altogether, I really believe you need to check out the VocabAhead website for yourself and explore the pros and cons based on your own viewpoint to see if it would be a good fit for your family. Also check out the TOS Crew blog at http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783745/ to read what my fellow reviewers have to say about the DVD as well as the related book that VocabAhead has for purchase.

If you are interested in this product I suggest checking out the VocabAhead website at http://www.vocabahead.com/. You can check out the word lists on their website at http://www.vocabahead.com/WordList/tabid/71/Default.aspx.

This DVD can be purchased for $24.99 through Amazon.com or by going through the link on their website here at http://www.vocabahead.com/Products/tabid/131/Default.aspx.

Note: I received this product for free as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew in order to provide an honest review for my readers.

Filed under: Home, TOS Crew by Barbara
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