Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Choosing Our Words Wisely

Today's Language Arts Focus

This beautiful Tuesday's topic is Spelling and Vocabulary.  Read on to find out the one tool we can't write without!


The Master Objective

We want our children to have the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately their ideas and beliefs through any venue be it spoken, written,  or visual.

This comes from our education philosophy-one of the end results we desire from our education experience.  

It's a big one.  It involves writing and grammar, foreign languages, oral presentation, and visual arts. 

Breaking it Down

The basic unit of our objective is words.  This is where Spelling and Vocabulary comes in.

Dictionary Doldrums

We as adults and educators know the importance of using a dictionary.  Forming the habit of referring to the dictionary often and realizing it's useful attributes can be hard to instill in kids.

Making the dictionary come alive and using it in creative activities is imperative to ensuring it becomes a necessary tool for young writers. 


Making the Connection

Here's how the dictionary is part of our daily life:
  • We own different levels from a picture dictionary up to a collegiate version.  
  • We make our dictionaries readily available and in multiple locations throughout our home.
  • We have a periodic Dictionary Day, and practice using it through games.
  • We found old dictionaries and we use them.  We see how the meanings and usage of words change, and bring unused words back to life.
  • The children get vocab lists to study that I have designed around the topics that interest them.
  • I read aloud and encourage the kids to read books that are challenging and that they will need to refer to the dictionary for while reading.
  • We use new and challenging vocabulary in conversations as much as possible.  We refer them to the dictionary when they ask for the meaning.
  • The kids keep lists of words that appeal to them and new words they learn outside of their vocab lists.


Class Discussion

How do you use the dictionary in your home?



Happy Homeschooling!
Mrs. Redd

More Language Arts Links:











No comments :

Post a Comment

The Ultimate Homeschool Blogroll