Is this the same as learning sight words?

No. Sight words are high-frequency words like 'said' and 'they' that a child recognises instantly in print, and most of them are words a child already understands. Vocabulary building is about meaning — adding words like 'shivered', 'ancient' or 'gather' that the child may never have heard, whether or not they can read them yet.

My child can read well but doesn't know what half the words mean. Is that normal?

Yes, and it is common in Grade 1 and 2. Decoding skill can run ahead of word knowledge. It tends to show up later as trouble with comprehension, which is why vocabulary is worth working on separately from phonics.

How many new words should a young child learn in a week?

A small number learned deeply beats a long list. Roughly six to ten words a week, each met several times in different sentences, is realistic for this age. Words met once are usually forgotten within days.

How long should a session be for a five year old?

Around 15 minutes. Attention for oral word work drops off sharply after that at K-2, and shorter sessions two or three times a week produce better retention than one long one.

Vocabulary Building

Elementary (K-2) · English Language Arts

Vocabulary work in Kindergarten through Grade 2 is mostly oral. Children at this stage understand far more words than they can read or spell, so sessions focus on hearing new words in context, saying them aloud, and using them in the child's own sentences. Evelyn Tutor works by voice, which suits this well: a word like 'enormous' or 'gather' is introduced inside a short spoken story or picture description, then pulled apart, tried out, and revisited later in the conversation. The goal is a child who reaches for a precise word instead of 'big' or 'went', and who has a habit of asking what a word means rather than skipping past it.

Start a session on Vocabulary Building

What this covers

Learning word meanings from spoken context — hearing a new word inside a sentence or short read-aloud and working out what it could mean before being told
Sorting and naming categories: knowing that a robin, a hawk and a duck are all birds, and that 'furniture' or 'vegetables' name a group
Shades of meaning between related words — walk, march, stroll, dash; warm, hot, boiling — and choosing the one that fits
Opposites and near-synonyms used in the child's own speech, not just recognised on a worksheet
Multiple-meaning words such as bat, trunk, bark, ring, and using the rest of the sentence to decide which meaning applies
Common word parts appropriate to K-2: un- (unhappy), re- (redo), -ful, -less, and plural and tense endings that change meaning
Using a target word two or three times in original sentences, since a word is not learned until the child can produce it

Where learners get stuck

Believing that reading a word aloud correctly means knowing what it means: Phonics instruction rewards accurate decoding, so children learn that sounding out is the finish line. A child can read 'ancient' perfectly and have no idea it means very old. Sessions separate the two questions explicitly: can you say it, and can you tell me what it means?
Locking onto one meaning of a multiple-meaning word: The first meaning a child learns becomes the only meaning. A child who knows 'trunk' as an elephant's nose is genuinely confused by a tree trunk or a car trunk, and often decides the sentence is wrong rather than the meaning. Practice puts both meanings side by side in contrasting sentences.
Taking figurative language literally: Five to seven year olds are still building the idea that words can mean something other than their parts. 'It's raining cats and dogs' or 'hold your horses' produces confusion or distress. Common idioms are treated as single vocabulary items with their own meaning, taught the same way as any other word.

What a session looks like

A session runs about 15-20 minutes of talking. Evelyn tells or reads a short passage containing two or three target words, pausing to ask what the child thinks a word means from the way it was used. The child gives a guess, hears the meaning explained in simple terms, then answers quick either-or questions ('Would you gather leaves or gather a song?'). The child is then asked to make up their own sentence with the word, and the words come back later in the session in a new context so the meaning is met more than once. Because it is voice-based, a child who cannot yet write or read fluently can take part fully.

Helpful to know first

Able to hold a spoken conversation and answer simple questions aloud
Can listen to a two- or three-minute story without needing it repeated
No reading or writing ability required — the work is oral, though children already reading will connect the words to print faster
For Grade 2 learners, familiarity with basic sentence structure helps when building their own sentences with new words

Questions

Is this the same as learning sight words?: No. Sight words are high-frequency words like 'said' and 'they' that a child recognises instantly in print, and most of them are words a child already understands. Vocabulary building is about meaning — adding words like 'shivered', 'ancient' or 'gather' that the child may never have heard, whether or not they can read them yet.
My child can read well but doesn't know what half the words mean. Is that normal?: Yes, and it is common in Grade 1 and 2. Decoding skill can run ahead of word knowledge. It tends to show up later as trouble with comprehension, which is why vocabulary is worth working on separately from phonics.
How many new words should a young child learn in a week?: A small number learned deeply beats a long list. Roughly six to ten words a week, each met several times in different sentences, is realistic for this age. Words met once are usually forgotten within days.
How long should a session be for a five year old?: Around 15 minutes. Attention for oral word work drops off sharply after that at K-2, and shorter sessions two or three times a week produce better retention than one long one.