After Spelling for an AL?

[mathmarm]

Hubby and I are debating which direction to go after SbSS 6 for our little word-nerd :). We're not going to use SbSS 7 or 8, but we are thinking about doing some written vocabulary work or possibly starting a formal writing regiment with him.

Jrs' physical writing ability has grown a lot and it's easier and more fluid, but he's not yet fluent.
He completed both of the Kumon cursive books and also another generic cursive workbook and has transitioned from learning/practicing handwriting to just writing by hand.  We have him use cursive for his daily copywork but manuscript for all labeling and listing tasks throughout the day.

Jr loves having "writing homework" and would like more writing in school. What does The Hive recommend?

Once he's completed his spelling program, what focus would you recommend for a young word-nerd? I'm leaning towards using a workbook for vocabulary development because using a workbook will keep the (physical) writing needs low, while still allowing him to have "writing homework". We were thinking that it will be easier to progress if his writing (the physical act) is fluent before we start a ELA-Writing/Composition program.

 

 

[Jackie]

We found vocabulary programs overly simple, unless we used ones aimed at high schoolers, at which point they became rather dull. If you find a great one, let me know!

We do use Vocabulary Cartoons. I just cut the spine off the book and hang up one word per day. There’s a “quiz” every 10 words to review.

Rummy Roots uses Latin and Greek roots in a card game. 

My daughter loved Caesar’s English from Michael Clay Thompson. If you might use the MCT materials later, it’s best used alongside the level it is in. If you have no interest in the full MCT program, CE can be used standalone. (Most people would advise you start with the Island level first, but if using the vocabulary as a stand-alone, I’d go directly to CE.)

If he wants to continue with spelling, Scripps puts out a study list every year for spelling bee prep. You can find it online easily enough by googling “Scripps spelling bee study list”. You can also find Words of the Champions that way, the booklet that they give the school winners to prepare for the regional bees. 

[Guest]

My DD loved diving into etymology. She was in the first group of kids to do Suki's etymology and vocabulary classes at Athena's, and was Suki's TA for several semesters.  She also reached Gold in the National Classical Etymology exam at the highest level (high school student with four or more years of Latin or Greek) before middle school-the NCEE is great because it is one, very, very hard test with different cut scores for different ages and levels (normally middle school and up, but DD started at age 8, and maxed out by age 10). 

 

Other fun resources (we used this for a club) are Word Up! By the visual Latin people (short videos) and Excavating English from Ellen McHenry's site. 

 

DD didn't get into spelling bees because the local one she could enter didn't let kids go on to the city bee until 6th grade. After three years of not being at all challenged, she retired, undefeated and bored. (And by the time she was old enough in their viewing, she was a college student and would have been ineligible). 

[mathmarm]

15 hours ago, Jackie said:

We found vocabulary programs overly simple, unless we used ones aimed at high schoolers, at which point they became rather dull. If you find a great one, let me know!

Did you consider the WordBuild books? If so what did you think? I'm looking at the Foundations/bk 1 of the WordBuild series. 

I've been looking into various workbook based options, since he wants "writing homework" but I want a workbook program that is flexible enough that we could do it on the whiteboard or build a game from the lessons if we wanted too and still make progress. I think that WordBuild might work because of how NOT cluttered and overwhelming the pages are.  The print is not microscopic and the lessons actually look pretty solid.