More Book Ideas

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We borrowed more books from our library, to continue our quest to finish the Great Words, Great Works book list put together by the National Spelling Bee. Anna Porter Public Library in Gatlinburg, TN may be small, but it is mighty. When they do not have a title, they will get it for us through ILL.

Selections from Great Words, Great Works

Selections from Great Words, Great Works

I have learned to send about five title requests, especially if we are talking chapter books. Picture books require 20 minutes to read. A chapter book written for a third grader can have 188 pages. They may be small pages with seven pages of illustrations total, for instance, but it will still take about three or four hours to read out loud. If you have to take these books back in 14 days with no renewal possible, then you have to really hurry up. Continue reading »


Wordly Wise 3000 Review

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The only vocabulary curriculum on the market, Worldly Wise 3000 has been around for decades and only gets better with each new edition. We are working out of the latest edition, which is the third.

Wordly Wise 3000, 3rd edition

Vocabulary curriculum, available for grades K-12

Even though it is clearly written for classroom use, Wordly Wise 3000 can be easily adapted for homeschooling. We started out with the volumes for Kindergarten and First Grade, which require you buy the Teacher’s Manual, as well. After that, grades 2-12 do not require the Teacher’s Manual. So you only need to spend about $9 for a consumable student workbook per child. Rainbow Resource Center seems to have the best prices though you can find these everywhere else. Continue reading »


Astonishing

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The other day, my son was telling a relative something and he used the word “astonishing.” I made a mental note of it, being very proud of his vocabulary, and trying to remember the last book we read where he might have seen the word “astonishing.” I could not. We read so many books.

NaBloPoMo2015

For the first time, I am posting every day for a month.

Other people present noticed he used the word as well, and seemed impressed.

It is astonishing when an eight-year-old uses the word “astonishing” in casual conversation, don’t you think? And I can only attribute that to our reading 1,000 books before kindergarten and about 30 minutes a day since their second week of life. Add to that turning off the TV and limiting screen time to only 30 minutes a day (usually YouTube videos or DVDs) and you have a recipe for building vocabulary.   Continue reading »


Vocabulary Matters

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On the birthday of Noah Webster, a quick post about how much vocabulary matters, how reading to your child today is just as important as giving him three healthy meals before the night falls, and how to download a free book by New York Times best-selling author and marketing guru Seth Godin.

The single most important indicator of future success is a student’s vocabulary. How to develop it? Read a ton of books on a variety of subjects. It’s that simple. Your library card just became your most valuable possession… Homeschooling does not have to be expensive or stressful. Take a trip to your local library, pick up a handful of books your child likes and another handful of what you think he should read. Sometimes the two lists are not the same.  Continue reading »


Snake Oil Educational Games Review

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Out of the Box Games offers fun educational products and we were glad to review Snake Oil – Party Potion. This particular game is for ages eight to adult, but my children had no problem playing it. They are seven and four.

I did have to read the cards for my daughter, who is four and does not read long words. And, sometimes, I had to give her an idea of how to put the cards together, but she relished it. She asked for help and quickly repeated out loud what I was suggesting to her. This was a great experience for her because she loves games. She is my playful one – everything is funny and fun to her. On the other hand, she hates to lose and she lost a few times.

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