Vocabulary from Classical Roots for my 14 year old?

[branycbur]

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with a review for Vocabulary from Classical Roots. My 14 year old said she wants more vocabulary and this is only curriculum I know. Is it good? Is there a better one out there? Any advice would be most helpful!
Thanks!

[Rhondabee]

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with a review for Vocabulary from Classical Roots. My 14 year old said she wants more vocabulary and this is only curriculum I know. Is it good? Is there a better one out there? Any advice would be most helpful!
Thanks!

I guess it is better than nothing - LOL! We haven't used anything else, so I can't compare at all. It does seem like my DS has retained some of the words. He recognizes them in other places, and even uses some occasionally. But many people like Vocabulary for the High School Student and Vocabulary for the College Student (or something like that).

I do use the teacher's guide, since my DS hates flashcards. I detailed our routine here (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1083229#poststop), if that helps.

[Carmen_and_Company]

I guess it is better than nothing - LOL! We haven't used anything else, so I can't compare at all. It does seem like my DS has retained some of the words. He recognizes them in other places, and even uses some occasionally. But many people like Vocabulary for the High School Student and Vocabulary for the College Student (or something like that).

I do use the teacher's guide, since my DS hates flashcards. I detailed our routine here (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1083229#poststop), if that helps.

My eldest preferred the Vocabulary for ... series over VFCR. I have both on the shelf & Storm alternates between the two programs for a change of pace.

[OC Mom]

I don't like VFCR or the Vocabulary for High School, etc. series. We've tried both. Doing vocabulary from a workbook seems very artificial, and hasn't been helpful in our home.

We use the suggestion from Hewitt Homeschooling to keep a vocabulary notebook in jr high/high school. Either the student can come up with the words from their literature reading, or the parent can do it. I've found it's pretty easy to skim their reading and pick out words that they don't know. Then I either highlight them, or jot them down. (If you are using Hewitt's Lightning Literature program, they have some vocabulary lists from the reading already done). Sometimes there aren't very many unfamiliar words; other times there are too many. If my 10th grader had had to define all the unfamiliar words in The Scarlet Letter, she'd never have finished the book! So in that case, I chose the words she was most likely to encounter in later readings.

The student enters the word in a notebook, usually with the sentence context around it. Then he looks it up in the dictionary and writes the definition. We go over the words together. I've never come up with a quiz or test process, but I think I will for my younger student.

We try to go back through the notebook occasionally for review. I sometimes choose a word that my student has forgotten as a "word of the day" and write it on the board.

[StephanieZ]

I like Ceasar's English. You could look into it.

[pianoplayer]

I love VFCR. My 10th grader is in his last book (book E), and my 7th grader has just finished book A. I especially like the way that VFCR emphasizes Latin and Greek roots and gives the student practice in analogies and best usage.

[Momof3Maidens]

We have used VFCR for about five years now for dd14. We absolutely recommend it. I find her all of the time commenting on knowing words based on her vocabulary lessons. I love the Greek and Latin roots it provides. No bad reviews here!

[Tammyla]

Wordly Wise 3000 2nd edition is another high school vocabulary option. My dd choose this as an extra this semester as a change from VFCR.

[ChemMommy]

I will say that my kids have a good vocabulary to start with (yeah, for reading) but they have gotten more out of the Classical Roots books than they have of the Vocabulary for Enjoyment (Vocab for HS, Vocab for college bound) series.

You have to work on the words in the margins in VFCR, in my opinion, to get the most from the program. But, I often see my kids try to decode words based off the Latin and Greek roots they've learned. VFCR has fewer kinds of learning activities, though.

Vocabulary for.....series has been mixed at best in our house. The variety of activities is great! BUT.....I made the mistake of buying the grade level book for my kids. I think we identified maybe a dozen words in the book that the kids didn't know. Sigh. I'd recommend buying one or two years above their grade level.

We've had no problem finishing a VFCR book in less than a year by working on it every day and then we switch to the Vocab for...series and do every other activity (or even every 3rd activity). My kids don't seem to need as much reinforcement to retain the vocabulary words as the book provides.

HTH!