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Vocabulary recommendations for 3rd/4th grade, please.


BlessedMom
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My DH used the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop series growing up and highly recommends it. He swears that it helped him tremendously on the SAT in high school.

 

I took a look at the books and was pretty impressed. My DD is currently using MCT's Caesar's English series but I'm strongly considering switching after she finishes CE2.

 

Kolbe starts the series in grade 4 with the Orange level. Note that while Kolbe is a Catholic ISP, the S-O books are completely secular.

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I love Caesar's English and think that of all the MCT materials, it's the piece that could best stand alone if you have other LA materials you like and are just looking for a vocabulary resource. I'm not sure my children would have been ready for it as third graders, however. For us, starting it in the 5th/6th grade range was perfect. Retention and absorption for my students has been phenomenal. They really own the words once they finish CE; it takes the student way, way beyond just knowing the definition.

 

Another vocabulary resource my children loved - and this was around 3rd/4th grade - was Vocabulary Cartoons. We started out with me scheduling it, giving quizzes, etc., and then things got busy and I just put it in the bathroom :D. I honestly think they got just as much out of it that way! And retention was great; they still reference the cartoons when one or another of the words comes up.

 

The one that would get a thumbs down from me was Wordly Wise. We tried that one year, and it just seemed like busy work to me. They didn't hate it and seemed to do fine on a chapter by chapter basis, but long-term retention wasn't great.

 

Good luck finding something that works for you :)

 

SBP

Edited by SBP
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I really like the CE series but am not sure whether I want to continue with MCT at the middle school level. I've heard mixed reviews about Word Within the Word and after looking at the sample on the RFWP website, I think I might want something a bit more traditional like S-O.

 

I haven't totally made up my mind yet as I won't have to make a decision about it until some time next year (depending on exactly when we finish CE2).

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We used wordly wise for my oldest when she was in 3rd grade. I really liked it because it has reading comprehension and vocabulary. But now we are using Classical Writing which incorporates vocabulary which I like better because I don't have a separate curriculum to deal with. I think that if your curriculum is rich in language that a separate vocabulary is not necessary (of course my opinion)... :)

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I think that if your curriculum is rich in language that a separate vocabulary is not necessary (of course my opinion)... :)

 

I think it really depends on what goals you have for your children. Vocabulary is a very large portion of standardized tests like the SAT & ACT, so if you have a child who may be aiming for a highly selective college, I believe that formal vocabulary study is important.

 

And beyond that goal, my oldest reached a point where vocabulary became the limiting factor in her reading comprehension. She had mastered phonics and could tell you what basically any passage said. But what all the words actually meant was a different story much of the time. That's where formal vocabulary study is helpful.

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We went from Wordly Wise 3000 to Vocabulary Cartoons. My dc had NO retention with Wordly Wise 3000 but Vocablary Cartoons has been 100% so far. I have been quizzing like crazy because it took me so long to figure out WW3000 was not working out. The red book is the elementary book that is recommended starting in 3rd grade :001_smile:

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