Best vocabulary curric

[Wholesomemomma]

What is your favorite vocab curric and why? What grade did you start teaching it?

[Sneezyone]

We use Wordly Wise in elementary grades 2-5 and will graduate to vocab from classical roots in grade 6 but that's just because the kids were used to it from private school. It works well so why change? I've got nothing to compare them to.

[Ethel Mertz]

We use Vocabulary from Classical Roots as well as derivatives we run across in our Spanish and Latin studies. DS also keeps a vocabulary notebook and records words he runs across in his reading.

[Forgiven]

We have used MCT's (Michael Clay Thompson -- These are sold through Royal Fireworks Press) vocabulary books. So far we have completed Building Language and Caesar's English 1. We are almost finished with Caesar's English 2, and then we'll move onto  Word Withing a Word (I think that's what it's called). I love the depth of the program, and my two kids who have used these actually use the words they learn. It is awesome to hear some of the words that they use, and even more exciting when they see a new word and can guess what it means based on the roots used in the word.

 

We use these books in conjunction with the entire MCT curriculum, which is why we did Building Language (We did it when we did MCT's Island Level). If I were just using it for vocabulary, I would skip Building Language and start with Caesar's English 1.

 

Angie

[SparklyUnicorn]

MCT.  I can't recall when we started.  I am guessing 3rdish grade. 

 

We are in level 4.  I don't know that we'll continue with it after that.  We liked CE 1 and 2 so much more than we are liking WWW1. 

[Wholesomemomma]

Thanks! So I could use MCT's vocab separate from the rest of their curriculum? That would be fabulous... Is it a workbook? How does it work?

[SparklyUnicorn]

Thanks! So I could use MCT's vocab separate from the rest of their curriculum? That would be fabulous... Is it a workbook? How does it work?

 

Yes I think so.  I think the whole program is great, but if I had to pick my favorite of all of them I'd say it was the vocab.

 

There isn't much writing.  No traditional workbooky stuff really.  It's mostly reading and learning words and stems.  There is a lot of discussion about various authors.  It's quite different than any other vocab book/program.

 

We read it about 2x per week.  The other days I just quizzed on stems and words.  I continually quizzed on all the lists.  By the end there was 100% retention. 

[Forgiven]

Thanks! So I could use MCT's vocab separate from the rest of their curriculum? That would be fabulous... Is it a workbook? How does it work?

 

Yes, you can use MCT's vocabulary separate from the rest of the curriculum. It's not exactly like a workbook. At least we don't use it as such. We do everything orally, and we skip the word searches, though my kids will go through and do them on their own. We take about a week to do a lesson, but I'm not sure what others do. Every other lesson (This is CE 1&2) is either roots or vocabulary words. We make our own flashcards and go over them every day before reading from the book. There are exercises in the book to do, but again, we do it all orally. If it asks the kids to write sentences, I just let them tell me their sentences. There are also quizzes for each lesson. I sit and read the words for them to define, and they write the answers down on paper.

 

My oldest two have been working at the same level. My DS works a level above his grade, and my DD works a level below her grade. They are in the third level right now. I have found that my DS may be in a bit over his head this year, so am not sure if I will give him a year off before starting the next level. But that's with the level overall. The vocabulary level is just fine for him. 

 

Angie