vocabulary curriculum

[brownie]

DS8 is doing Vocabulary Vine right now, which I thought would be perfect (and helpful) due to his love of science. You learn one new Latin or Greek root each day and 3+ words that use each root. They build on one another and many are scientific in nature. Thus it is also very logical ...not a random list of words.

However, he is not enjoying it and said he would prefer wordly wise like his younger brother has. I agree vocabulary vine is fairly dry but it is quick. We haven't gotten to games yet bc we don't have enough roots completed, but these seem rather silly/dull.

Any other suggestions before I throw in the towel and order Wordly Wise for him? Does Wordly Wise seem to be on target in its grade level? DS6 seems to be doing fine with #2 and I think #4 looks good for ds8 although he's officially 3rd grade...he is gifted with a strong vocabulary and reading skills.

Thanks! brownie

[priscilla]

I would consider Webster's Speller 1908 found for free on google books combined with dictionary.com. It does not have the latin roots though, but if you are doing Latin then that will not be necessary:).


Webster's Speller 1908 has spelling lists that are great and also has sentences using many of the words which can be used for dictation and copy work. I do this with my ds 7 and we cover spelling, indirectly phonics, dictation, copy work and vocabulary:).


http://books.google.com/books?id=onoKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA175&dq=webster's+elementary+speller&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false


http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/

Just a thought:)

[WendyK]

I don't know. Wordly Wise felt like busywork to me. We used levels A, B, C (older version). I decided to find something else. It made no sense to me to just learn some random list of words. My son never complained about it, but it just felt like it was busywork. We are now using Word Roots from the Thinking Company. It sounds similar to the Vocabulary Vine though. Basically one is introduced some roots and a few words. It is very quick. And I feel like in the long run it will be more useful.

I have books 1 and 2 of Wordly Wise (an older version) that I haven't used. I believe the level is 4th grade and up. I think on the one hand the book is the right level in terms of the vocabulary words. On the other hand there is a lot of writing in the book (another reason I decided to switch) that my son just couldn't do (he is 7). I know we could do things orally, but I am really trying to move away from that a bit more to get him writing more.

[EKS]

I have not used Vocabulary Vine, but if there are games that you think he would enjoy, then I would make him continue learning the roots until he knows enough to do them.

[LUV2EDU]

You can try a free online audio/visual version of Wordly Wise 3000.

http://wordlywise3000.com/word_lists/

[jlovebaker]

but is there a need for him to increase his vocab this way? My guess is that he is reading sophisticated books on history, science, etc. Does he really need this drill??? Just a thought ... I don't think that gifted kids at his age necessarily need "vocab" as a separate subject.

[WendyK]

but is there a need for him to increase his vocab this way? My guess is that he is reading sophisticated books on history, science, etc. Does he really need this drill??? Just a thought ... I don't think that gifted kids at his age necessarily need "vocab" as a separate subject.

I often wonder this myself, but doesn't it seem like the logical next step? Why do we start vocab in 7th grade? If one's kid is at that stage (but earlier) then why not start some vocab study?

[JennW in SoCal]

I never used any vocabulary curricula and my kids always scored at the top of the vocabulary sections of standardized tests. Reading, especially reading aloud and discussing new words, was all my kids needed.

My 10th grader is using Michael Clay Thompson's high school vocabulary program this year because it is all about roots and is more of a study guide. And this ds likes words, so he finds this program fun.

I personally detested Wordly Wise -- thought it was busy work and ineffective.

[jlovebaker]

either. I'm just not convinced this needs to be a separate subject for kids who are acceralated or gifted. Although, on second thought, I think that some latin/greek root work would be a good idea especially for science majors. So I guess if you really wanted to include it and your kid likes it, there's no harm in starting there. Just my ramblings ... :confused:

[WendyK]

either. I'm just not convinced this needs to be a separate subject for kids who are acceralated or gifted. Although, on second thought, I think that some latin/greek root work would be a good idea especially for science majors. So I guess if you really wanted to include it and your kid likes it, there's no harm in starting there. Just my ramblings ... :confused:

No I totally hear you. I change my mind on this all the time. My husband is from Germany and he doesn't get at all why we study vocabulary as a separate subject. I said for one thing we are tested on it as if it is a separate subject.

So my compromise has been to study the latin/greek roots.

[Truscifi]

I was thinking just studying Latin and relating the vocab words there back to English words derived from them might be enough. This is a ways ahead for us though, I might have changed my mind by the time we get there.

[jlovebaker]

tAnyway, that's our compromise too - study the latin/greek roots ... we'll do it this year and see how it goes ... the good thing is that it doesn't take much time at all!

[lisabees]

I would consider Webster's Speller 1908 found for free on google books combined with dictionary.com. It does not have the latin roots though, but if you are doing Latin then that will not be necessary:).


Webster's Speller 1908 has spelling lists that are great and also has sentences using many of the words which can be used for dictation and copy work. I do this with my ds 7 and we cover spelling, indirectly phonics, dictation, copy work and vocabulary:).


http://books.google.com/books?id=onoKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA175&dq=webster's+elementary+speller&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=onoKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA175&dq=webster%27s+elementary+speller&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false)


http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/

Just a thought:)

Now, how did I miss that? I am using the 1824 Webster's Speller, but I love the dictation sentences in this version. Thanks! :)

[samba2nite]

Wordly Wise (I bought the series for my yahoos) was too remedial for my 8 year old "word boy" of a son. I've been curious about the vine. My son thought wordly was not worthy of his time:glare:

[mchel210]

I am trying vocab from the classical roots 5th grade with my 7 yo. She seems to like it a lot. She is a natural speller and wanted to learn the roots for spelling bees. I just started, but she seems to like it. We tried ww last year, but you have to go with a higher level. We had 2. It was way too simple for her.

Another lady I know uses Princeton review ...I believe word smart jr. You read a story with words, and the back of the book has tons of vocabulary to review. It has so many great vocabulary words.

[brownie]

Thanks. I just saw a friend's Vocabulary from Classical Roots and the set up seems more Wordly Wise like but with less writing and with root-based words like Vocab Vine. I think it looks interesting and more appropriate for an 8-yr old to self-monitor with than Vine. I am going to have him check it out.

I do think he has little need for extra random lists of words, esp since we do vocab with our lit study, but this is different...teaching roots teaches kids that the words come from somewhere and you can use your knowledge of 1 word to figure out what another might mean. I think this is useful info for an 8 yr old. BTW - we're not doing Latin.

Brownie