Here are all the kids with their 100 English From the Roots Up cards. Do they look happy to be done???
We began English from the Roots Up in the fall of 2007. Technically, this class should only take one year to complete. We managed to stretch it out over two full years. However, we had fun doing it and we learned a lot, too. Maybe "slow and steady" really does win the race!
The kids' favorite things about the class: playing Rummy Roots and Root Word Bingo, of course. We all love games.
Their least favorite thing: when I was too lazy to think up an interesting assignment and just assigned them to find 10 words for each rootword studied that day. I can see how that would be boring. I didn't do that all the time, but it was often enough to make the class drag out over two years!
That was the one challenge I had with this program. Creativity. Some days I had it, some days I just didn't. Resources were a bit limited online, too. Apparently I'm not the only one who draws a blank when it comes to creative assignments for every day. If I had more time and faster internet, I would create a blog for Greek and Latin root word activities. That's a big IF. Don't hold your breath waiting for that blog.
Don't get me wrong, there were some really fun assignments which the kids really enjoyed.
- Lithos: stone -- use a bar of soap as your stone and make a lithograph
- Zoon: animal -- search for a famous zoo online. Did you know that the San Diego Zoo has webcams where you can watch the elephants live? Very cool.
- Write a story using demos, urbis, polis, and populus (people and city) as many times as possible.
- Make up words using the Greek and Latin root cards. Get creative!
Their final assignment, which is actually due at the beginning of next month, is to write a story using one Greek or Latin root word as many times as possible. I'll post them when I get them. I'm looking forward to grading this assignment!
3 comments:
Wow! Great job, Rebecca! I have this book but haven't used it yet. I'll probably use it next year for my younger ones since their sister is doing a formal Latin course. I love your creative ideas. If you have time to post more, I'd certainly welcome the ideas! :)
I'll work on that. I'd love to be able to help other moms/teachers by sharing some of the preparation I did and the ideas which worked...or didn't work! The kids actually came up with some great lesson ideas, so I may assign them a couple of blog posts about their favorite EFTRU lessons.
I think you'll find English from the Roots Up a great companion program for the younger kids. Then they'll feel "included", too!
Sounds like some great assignments! I plan on homeschooling all my kiddos and these will be quite useful!
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