Easy Ways to Improve Vocabulary

I’ve written before about one simple way to improve vocabulary.

Since that time we’ve gotten more word obsessed, and have added other simple ways to broaden our vocabulary.

Why are words so important to us? Why have we made this one of the main focuses in our homeschool?

I love this quote:

“By words we learn thoughts, and by thoughts we learn life.”

— Jean Baptiste Girard

I want to give my children the gift of WORDS, THOUGHTS - the gift of a deeper life through understanding literature.

An interest in words can become a family culture - just something you DO. After a while your kids will look for many opportunities to learn words.

Some of these suggestions are easy to implement - you can start TODAY.

Others are larger strategies you might want to consider as you are teaching your children.

Basic Strategies

Make a Note of Unknown Words

Recently, my son was reading The Scarlet Letter. This book contains A LOT of words that were unfamiliar to him.

(Fun fact: In the 87,000-plus words that make up The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne used “ignominy” 16 times, “ignominious” seven times, and “ignominiously” once.) . source

I challenged him to highlight each word that he did not know. As we would discuss the book I would pull out some of the highlighted words and we would define them - put them back into the context of the story - and then discuss.

I tried my very best to use a few of these words in conversation after that. This requires some work on my part (usually I record the words in the Notes on my phone).

It usually became a game to see who could use words from the book in the course of conversation. Nothing formalized - just wanting to make words FUN.

Use Read Aloud Time to Focus on Vocabulary

I am a firm believer in reading aloud to improve vocabulary.

As we read aloud each morning we ask Alexa to tell us words we don’t know.

No matter your feelings about Alexa, I love that I can ask her to look up words we don’t know.

Sometime I will also just stop on a word I think might be unfamiliar, ask my son to spell it and define it as well. He loves spelling, so this challenge is a lot of fun.

We have recently encountered a couple of authors that use a beautiful, wide selection of words. Neal Bascomb and Steve Sheinkin write historical fiction and nonfiction books that have broadened our vocabulary.

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Flash Cards and Curriculum

SAT/ACT Practice Words

Because we will be taking the PSAT, SAT and ACT in the next couple of years I’m trying to offer my son ways to broaden his vocabulary.

The Barron’s SAT Flash Cards have been very helpful. My son takes these words and adds them to a Quizlet set, which allows him to practice the words with games and other fun tools.

Wordly Wise

Do you know about Wordly Wise? This is a spectacular vocabulary curriculum that we’ve used in the past.

While I recommend it as a full curriculum, I have also purchased it the past few years just for the word lists. Last summer I had my son enter a list each week into Quizlet. His vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds over the summer!

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Latin

This has been perhaps the BIGGEST investment that has improved my children’s vocabularies.

Studying Latin has gotten them investigating words, looking at word roots, and generally interested in words.

We currently use Henle Latin, but you can do smaller programs that will also have an impact. We know many people that use Visual Latin as well.

A gentle way to start with Latin was a book we used in Morning Time — Getting Started with Latin. This is a perfect precursor to your more formal Latin studies.

Additionally, my children used Word Up! when they were younger and learned SO much!

Games

Sometimes we forget to PLAY during our school time, don’t we?

Playing games has been one of the most effective way of learning words in our family.

Words with Friends

I am indeed advocating you spend time on your phone or iPad during school!

Playing Words with Friends is such a great way to expand your vocabulary. Just by trying new combinations of words and looking up words others play against you grows your vocabulary.

There is a tool on Words with Friends that allows you to look up the definition of a word within the app.

Other word games we enjoy:

Scrabble

Wordigo

Wordical

The most important thing is this: model for your children a fascination with words. Make learning vocabulary fun. Encourage each other and play games.

Then, improving vocabulary isn’t a task - it is a joy!

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Do you have a favorite way to improve vocabulary?

Share it with us in the comments below?

Favorite Online Homeschool Resources

A few well-placed online homeschool resources can be of such value.

Each year when my children were young I always tried to incorporate some form of online learning. Children need to be familiar with this type of learning. It is the future.

While it has never been our PRIMARY mode of learning, as my children got older it played a more important role.

Because we are in the season of choosing and purchasing curriculum, I want to share a few of our best picks with you. Some are current. Some are past. Some are for multiple ages. Some are for youngers. Some are for olders. Some are live online courses; others are recorded. Some contain resources we access with frequency online.

All, however, win the Homegrown Learners seal of approval!

There is something for EVERYONE in this list.

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Full Online Courses

The following sites offer entire online courses. Some of them are accredited, others are not.

Some offer FULL grading and are 100% hands-off for the parents, others only offer the teaching while the grading is kept track of by the parent.

Still others are more of simply presenting information for information’s sake without a grade.

I enjoyed giving my children a little bit of everything - that is the beauty of homeschooling!

Veritas Press History

The self-paced history courses from Veritas were always a HUGE hit.

From the elementary into the middle school years, my children enjoyed the engaging lessons. I enjoyed the fact that I could set them down in front of the computer for at least 45 minutes and they were getting an excellent history education.

Couple this with the suggest literature list that comes with a Veritas self paced history course and you’re set for the year.

• Note: Until August 19 at midnight receive $100 off any self paced course!

Experience Astronomy & Experience Biology

Experience Astronomy is a full year course. There are elementary, middle, and high school levels.

My son took this course as a 6th grader and learned inordinate amounts from Luke Gilkerson, the teacher and author of the course. I loved that it was taught from a Biblical point of view and my son could also be fairly independent while taking the course.

With recorded lectures from Mr. Gilkerson, as well as supplemental activities and quizzes, this will satisfy a science requirement - and more importantly satisfy a curiosity in Astronomy.

• Note: Registration closes on August 31, so if you’re interested do not delay!

Homeschool Spanish Academy

What a wonderful surprise Homeschool Spanish Academy has been this year!

Basically, my son is taking a 1 credit Spanish class this year online. He receives 60 sessions over the course of a year. These lesson are PRIVATE, and you wouldn’t believe how much learning can be accomplished in this way!

Using Google Hangouts, Grant logs on with his Spanish teacher twice a week (we can schedule the classes at our convenience, which is very nice) and is working through the Spanish I curriculum.

If you are looking for a wonderful Spanish provider, I suggest you look into Homeschool Spanish Academy!

Compass Classroom

Compass Classroom has long been a trusted resource for our family.

We have used Word Up! vocabulary program and Visual Latin.

This year we are using Dave Raymond’s American History video curriculum.

Raymond’s lessons are based on STORY are the entire curriculum is authored with a Biblical worldview.

• Compass Classroom offers a monthly membership - which is an excellent value - it even includes a FREE MONTH TRIAL!

Mr. D Math

Mr. D Math was my daughter’s math curriculum for high school.

She had a lot of success with Mr. D - not only is his curriculum sound and engaging, Mr. D is a wonderful person who is the biggest champion of homeschoolers you will ever meet.

Many people ask me about Saxon, Mr. D Math and Shormann.

Every child is different. In my house Saxon worked well until high school. Then, for my non-math child Mr. D Math worked well. For my highly math child, we are going with Shormann. I encourage you to investigate each one thoroughly for yourself.

Shormann Math

My son is on his second year of Shormann Math. (Eight out of the eleven students in his Challenge 1 group are using Shormann, so we’re all sold!)

We chose this for Grant because of the strong SAT/ACT test prep built in as well as the Biblical worldview. It has considerably LESS spiraling than Saxon Math, which is what seems to bog down most children.

This curriculum is recorded video - self paced. Everything is graded for you, so it could (in theory) be 100% hands off for the homeschool parent.

Students learn how to take notes, see math through a Biblical lens, and work independently. While not technically a “classroom” environment, I like that it is math from an expert and I am hands off.

Memoria Press Academy

Memoria Press has been a great choice for three full online courses for my daughter. She took AP European History and Henle Latin I and II.

A fully accredited school, Memoria’s Press’ academy is rigorous, organized, and of the highest quality.

If you are looking to 100% outsource a subject (s) - I highly recommend Memoria Press Online Academy!

HSLDA Online Academy

Many people don’t realize HSLDA has an academy.

They do (for grades 7-12), and it’s wonderful! My daughter had an exceptional experience taking AP Exposition and Composition - she will tell you it was the BEST class she took in high school. It prepared her for essay writing for college and just honed her writing skills in general.

Her teacher was encouraging, easy to contact, and provided a college letter of recommendation. I got the impression that her teacher truly CARED about each individual student and helping them succeed.

HSLDA is accredited and offers a full range of courses.

Again - this is an excellent place to outsource your high school classes!

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Homeschool Printables/Resources/Recorded Lessons

Productive Homeschool (formerly Notebooking Pages)

Notebooking Pages were an INTEGRAL part of our homeschool in the elementary and middle grade years. The site is still basically the same - simply with a new name. Check out Productive Homeschooling.

SQUILT LIVE! Music Appreciation

SQUILT Music Appreciation (my baby) brings live music appreciation lessons to children ages preschool - middle school.

A membership to SQUILT LIVE! includes two live lessons each month, a curated monthly listening calendar, and access to the ENTIRE ARCHIVES of recorded lessons and lesson packets - this is FIFTY additional lessons at your disposal.

Children need beautiful music - and the byproduct of a solid music appreciation education is a child who has developed the habit of attention and the ability to listen for intricacies in any piece of music.

You Are An Artist! Clubhouse and Video Lessons

I’m sure you know about Chalk Pastels, right?

One of my children’s most fond memories was when we had an Angry Birds day in our homeschool. The highlight of that day was our Angry Birds chalk pastel tutorial.

Chalk Pastels are just such a wonderful art medium for children. And, at You ARE An Artist there is so much to choose from. My personal favorite is the American Landmarks lessons.

Your Morning Basket/Homeschool Solutions

Another “good thing” in our homeschool has been (and continues to be) Morning Time.

At Homeschool Solutions, Pam Barnhill has ready made morning time plans, along with a lot of other tools to help you plan your school year effectively.

I love the subscription Pam has that includes 37 different sets of Morning Time plans!

That rounds out my online homeschool resource recommendation list! Do you have a favorite online resource for homeschooling?

Tell me about it in the comments below.