FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

The Old Schoolhouse® Product & Curriculum Reviews

With so many products available we often need a little help in making our curriculum choices. The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine family understands because we are in the same boat! Do you need more information on a product before you buy? With over 5,500 products listed in 52 easy-to-use categories, much of the information you need to know is only a click away! Let our reviewer-families help yours.
Do you want to get the word out about your product or service to the homeschool community? Email Jenny Higgins and share a little about what you´d like showcased, and we can help with that!

Wordly Wise 3000, Book 12 (Second Edition) Teacher's Resource Book and Student Book Review by Carissa Ruiz

Kenneth Hodkinson and Sandra Adams
Educators Publishing Service
PO Box 9031
Cambridge, MA 02139-9031
800-435-7728
http://www.epsbooks.com/

Wordly Wise 3000, Book 12, Second Edition, is a language arts curriculum to help build a child's vocabulary. The purpose of the Wordly Wise 3000 series is to build a child's vocabulary skill to a standard found on many standardized tests, such as the PSAT, SAT, ACT and junior college entry exams. There are 13 levels (K-12), with each level using a Teacher Resource Book and a Student Workbook (plus there is an optional audio CD). The teacher's guide shows how to use the program. It has the answers to all the student book questions. It also has tests and the test answers. The student workbook has 20 lessons. Each lesson starts with a list of 15 words, their definitions, and a sentence to go with each definition. Then there are five short sections to aid further learning and understanding of the vocabulary. After every five lessons there is a review. The optional audio CD allows the student to hear the vocabulary words, definitions, word usage, and the reading passages.

This is an easy program to implement. It has simple instructions, and the activities are not intimidating or long. Many of the words for Book 12 are words that I found in the SAT practice exams. The majority of the words I did not recognize or use in a sentence, neither could my student. So I estimate that the words are about 12th-grade level or higher. A child who knows Latin may be able to decode the meaning of many words--more than a child who doesn't know Latin. Some examples of the words are abnegate, badinage, cacophony, denizen, encomium, fecund, imbibe, lachrymose, miscreant, purvey, rectitude, sanguine, vitiate, etc. The activities are similar to what you will find on the SAT (e.g., find the meaning, find the antonym, find the synonym, choose the best word, etc).

Each lesson has a reading passage with the words from that lesson. Since this level is meant for the 12th grader, I found the reading passages tolerable. But if you plan on using this series with a younger child, I recommend you pre-read the passages and address some of the issues that come up (e.g., "Epicurus...taught that pleasure . . . was the highest, indeed, the only good" or "Sharks first appeared . . . three hundred million years ago"). This is not a Christian curriculum.

In conclusion, I like this for older students to help prepare them for the SAT. It can be self taught--especially using the audio CD. If your child is heading towards the ACT, PSAT, or SAT, this is a good preparation for them.

Product review by Carissa Ruiz, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May 2009

TOP