If you enjoyed Caesar's English I & II

[krisperry]

We love Caesar's English. We are not thrilled with the Word within a Word series. Are there any other fantastic vocabulary books with a similar format to CE I & II?

[Spy Car]

:lurk5:

[delaney]

:lurk5:

[Crimson Wife]

I don't like what I've seen of WwW and DH really wanted me to use the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop with DD. That was what the Catholic schools he attended growing up used (the books are secular FWIW) and he swears they helped him tremendously on the SAT. So that is what we will be starting once our charter teacher finally delivers our order (I requested it back in January and it still isn't here yet :glare:).

[TheAutumnOak]

What don't you like about Word Within a Word? We are currently using Caesar's English 1 and I plan to continue with the series.

 

:bigear:

[SunnyDays]

:lurk5:

 

Bumping back up.

[Lovin Learnin]

We are just finishing up with CE II and I don't know where we will go from here. I LOVE CE. She has learned so much and is retaining it all. But the WWW samples just look so . . . busy. I get overwhelmed just looking at the shear volume. It makes me feel like we would need to spend a bunch of time on vocab, which I have no desire to do. I don't want to shortchange her though.

 

Looking forward to what others have used.

[KarenNC]

:lurk5:

[8filltheheart]

I don't like what I've seen of WwW and DH really wanted me to use the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop with DD. That was what the Catholic schools he attended growing up used (the books are secular FWIW) and he swears they helped him tremendously on the SAT. So that is what we will be starting once our charter teacher finally delivers our order (I requested it back in January and it still isn't here yet :glare:).

 

Thanks for posting about these. I had forgotten about them. I am going to order these for my older kids for next school yr.

 

FWIW, I have an aversion for stem vocabulary programs, so WWW would not be a fit here.

[SunnyDays]

To veer the topic just slightly... could you use Caesar's English as a standalone vocab/stem program, without using the rest of MCT Town or Voyage??

 

I know at the Island Level, Building Language ties in a bit but could be very standalone. Just wondered if the two levels of CE would be the same?? Thanks. :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

I only have CEI so far, but I would say it could definitely be used stand-alone. FYI, they are substantially revising CE I and will have a new, 2-volume set out (in March??:glare:) so you might want to hold off for that if you are thinking of using CE on its own . . .

[delaney]

I have to say that I just started Caeser's English today with DD and I am not really impressed. First it has no visual appeal for her. Second, the info in the unit seems to be scattered and unrelated. She is like, "What?" The Roman fact seems fun but I don't see the point of the author info or the poster. I appreciate the exposure to the words but honestly even I find it dry and boring. Except for the exposure to the words I doubt my oldest will retain very much of this.:confused:

[joannqn]

We are just finishing up with CE II and I don't know where we will go from here. I LOVE CE. She has learned so much and is retaining it all. But the WWW samples just look so . . . busy. I get overwhelmed just looking at the shear volume. It makes me feel like we would need to spend a bunch of time on vocab, which I have no desire to do. I don't want to shortchange her though.

 

Looking forward to what others have used.

 

 

WWW is VERY intensive. Each of the first 15 chapters covers 25 stems. They look at one stem in depth and give 5-6 example words for each stem. There is one example sentence for each stem. There are classic words challenges. There are about dozen questions for in depth critical/creative thinking (analysis, synthesis, etc.) using the stems/words. There are some interesting notes to read and think about too. It's a lot. While I really like the questions, I've chosen to have DD pick just one to do from each chapter. We also are only doing half of the book in a year. I could even see doing the books more in depth over three years if you have enough years.

 

Each of the last 10 chapters covers 25 words. Without grabbing our book, I can't say what those chapters include...if they are different from the stem chapters.

[krisperry]

What don't you like about Word Within a Word? We are currently using Caesar's English 1 and I plan to continue with the series.

 

Caesar's English makes me swoon ;) I love the way it quotes the classics and love the stories with the rich vocabulary. Love the ties to Latin and history. Just love.

 

Word with in a Word feels clinical in comparison. Like the poster above me said it is a lot of material but the killer for us is that it lacks all the "coziness" of CE I & II. I suppose that sounds a little weird to want my vocabulary book to be cozy. :o CE highlighted the beauty of the words and we have spent many hours in awe. Sadly, I don't get that with Word within A Word.

 

To clarify, I don't think Word within a Word is a bad program. In fact it is very meaty. I'm just not ready for the jump. I feel a little lost after all the great discussions on the couch curled up with CE. What do I do with all the lists and stems that will give me the same deep appreciation for our language? I keep trying but despite my efforts, we find Word with a Word to be less than engaging and remembering the stems is much,much more difficult. Memorizing the words and stems in CE was effortless because we were so impressed with the words through their examples. Of course, I don't need effortless. And I do expect the work to get considerably more difficult as the years progress. I just did not expect the two programs to feel so dissimilar to each other.

 

Darn, I need a Caesar's English series for 3-12 :tongue_smilie:

[krisperry]

I don't like what I've seen of WwW and DH really wanted me to use the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop with DD. That was what the Catholic schools he attended growing up used (the books are secular FWIW) and he swears they helped him tremendously on the SAT. So that is what we will be starting once our charter teacher finally delivers our order (I requested it back in January and it still isn't here yet :glare:).

 

Thank you for the recommendation. We are secular homeschoolers so I was happy to see your side note stating that the books are secular. :001_smile:

[Matryoshka]

I'm actually really liking WWtW. We're just taking it slow. We put it down for a big chunk of the year, but have recently picked it up again. There's still nothing like MCT for retention. My kids actually didn't love CE all that much either (particularly all the Caesar's quotes about the Gallic wars), but they've never forgotten the words. Like glue, they are.

 

I'm curious about the Sadlier-Oxford books, too, though - I think my older two are headed to ps high school next year, and I think the school uses these. They are worthwhile then? How are they set up - are they just workbooks/study the list/take the quiz? Are they cumulative?

 

I was thinking I'd try to sneak in some WWtW afterschooling, but if these Sadlier-Oxford books are all that, maybe I can relax? I know my kids retained nothing from other roots programs that had them do worksheets with matching and circling and filling in blanks and such.

[krisperry]

I'm actually really liking WWtW. We're just taking it slow. We put it down for a big chunk of the year, but have recently picked it up again. There's still nothing like MCT for retention. My kids actually didn't love CE all that much either (particularly all the Caesar's quotes about the Gallic wars), but they've never forgotten the words. Like glue, they are.

 

I'm curious about the Sadlier-Oxford books, too, though - I think my older two are headed to ps high school next year, and I think the school uses these. They are worthwhile then? How are they set up - are they just workbooks/study the list/take the quiz? Are they cumulative?

 

I was thinking I'd try to sneak in some WWtW afterschooling, but if these Sadlier-Oxford books are all that, maybe I can relax? I know my kids retained nothing from other roots programs that had them do worksheets with matching and circling and filling in blanks and such.

 

Can you share with me how you are using WWtW? Perhaps if I use a different methodology, I would be more satisfied.

 

I found some samples of the Sadlier-Oxford books last night. Let me see if I can find them again. Here you go: http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/catalog/category.cfm?category_id=10880&qpath=1705#details

I took a look at quite a few vocabulary samples last night. These words do appear to be quite challenging. So, as long as they stick, you should be good.

[Crimson Wife]

I'm curious about the Sadlier-Oxford books, too, though - I think my older two are headed to ps high school next year, and I think the school uses these. They are worthwhile then? How are they set up - are they just workbooks/study the list/take the quiz? Are they cumulative?

 

I haven't gotten my order with the current version books yet (our teacher just found out that it got sent to the admin office). However, my pack-rat DH has a file with some high school work, including some of his old VW books. I've seen D, F, and G of the '88 copyright.

 

There are cumulative reviews within each book but I do not see reviews of words from earlier books. One could easily make flashcards for reviewing those.

 

VW is a traditional workbook but I like the looks of it better than Wordly Wise or Vocabulary from Classical Roots. It would be nice to find a vocab program more similar to MCT's CE series, but given how strongly my DH feels about using VW, that's what I'm going with after my children finish CE2.

[TheAutumnOak]

To veer the topic just slightly... could you use Caesar's English as a standalone vocab/stem program, without using the rest of MCT Town or Voyage??

 

I know at the Island Level, Building Language ties in a bit but could be very standalone. Just wondered if the two levels of CE would be the same?? Thanks. :)

 

Caesar's English can definitely be used as a stand alone, probably more so than anything else in the program...

 

 

I only have CEI so far, but I would say it could definitely be used stand-alone. FYI, they are substantially revising CE I and will have a new, 2-volume set out (in March??:glare:) so you might want to hold off for that if you are thinking of using CE on its own . . .

 

The new Caesar's English 1 is already available...It came out last week I believe...

[Matryoshka]

Can you share with me how you are using WWtW? Perhaps if I use a different methodology, I would be more satisfied.

 

Well, when we were doing it regularly (which I'd like to get back to), we'd do a list over two weeks. Two days a week I'd work with them, pretty much reading aloud from the student book. For the first page, I read out the root and the words associated, then make them guess at a meaning, and the etymology (Latin, Greek, or Germanic?). Then we read through the Stem Close-up. A couple days later, we read through the Ideas and Analogies pages, and do Mystery Spelling. The next week, we read through the Notes and Classic Words. On the "off" days they're supposed to go through the words on Quizlet (all the lists have already been input by others). Then at the end of the second week, the quiz.

 

If we don't get to it as often as I'd like, or if they don't do Quizlet on every off day, it still seems to work just as well.

 

I found some samples of the Sadlier-Oxford books last night. Let me see if I can find them again. Here you go: http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/catalog/category.cfm?category_id=10880&qpath=1705#details

I took a look at quite a few vocabulary samples last night. These words do appear to be quite challenging. So, as long as they stick, you should be good.

 

Honestly, it's not how "challenging" the words are that concerns me so much - it's the "so long as they stick". What has been different about MCT from all the other programs I've seen is the connections it makes in their brains, and that's what makes it stick. The S-O samples here are all fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, circle the better word - the complex connections aren't there. I don't see any patterns to make sense of, wordplay and puns that bring out the meaning of the stems in the words (all of which MCT has in abundance). When we've done programs like S-O seems here, the long-term retention has been very low, even if they can ace a test at the end of the chapter.

 

I think I may have to torture them with afterschooling with WWtW. :D Even one list a month that sticks is better than multiple lists of words that are forgotten.