Tag Archives: vocabulary

Multitasking: Good For House, Good For Baby

My daughter has an insatiable curiosity these days. She wants to know what everyone is saying, doing, eating, and holding. She wants to touch and taste anything and everything she can get her drool-covered hands on. Gone are the days when I would hold her on my lap and expect whatever food or drink was in my hand to remain untouched. These days I constantly have to be on a guard. I’ve always made a point to talk to her and explain everything I am doing, such as “Now Mommy is pouring the hot water into the mug for her … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Word of the Day: Anarchy

Onenewsnow.com just reported that an amicus brief in the argument to outlaw homeschooling in California has labeled homeschooling as educational anarchy. The result, of course is the ire lawyers working on the case and of many in he homeschooling community. Lawyer Brad Dacus states that the argument ‘discounts reality” and argues that the anarchy is in fact in the public schools. I would like to stop for a moment and discuss the word anarchy. Anarchy is “a state of lawlessness and disorder, usually resulting from a failure in government.” (wordnet.princeton.com) Anarchy is further described as a situation in which human … Continue reading →

Teaching Vocabulary

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In several of my last articles I have focused on different aspects of reading. The topics have gone from phonics to comprehension to fluency and now to vocabulary. My latest article talked about the importance of increasing the vocabulary of your students. In this article I continue to discuss vocabulary. However I begin to examine the methods of teaching vocabulary to students. As most of you recall, the typical method of teaching vocabulary consisted of copying bold words and their definitions from a body of text or from the glossary of a book. These definitions were then to be memorized … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Word of the Day: Research

Research means to “inquire into”. It is a “systematic investigation to establish facts”, and a “search for knowledge”. (worldnet.princeton.edu) Research is a very important part of homeschooling for many reasons. To learn how to homeschool your child, you must research and discover the right approach for yourself. Likewise, to truly teach a child, you must also teach them to find information for themselves. As homeschoolers on a mission, we tend to forget to do our due diligence and jump to conclusions based on the reports of others. I especially am guilty of this error. When talking about the very recent … Continue reading →

Podictionary – Podcast Review

Word lovers, history lovers, and those wishing to increase their vocabulary will want to give Podictionary a listen. This short and often humorous daily podcast is hosted by Charles Hodgson, author of Carnal Knowledge: A Navel Gazer’s Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia. Each podcast covers one word. In the cast Hodgson talks about the words origins, meanings and history. The words aren’t obscure things you’ve never heard of, but are often common words we use all the time. Recent casts have covered words like exotic, meter, chopsticks, siren, ginger, and icon. The podcasts are more like small short stories … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Word of the Day: Body Clock

Body Clock means an internal mechanism of the body that is thought to regulate physical and mental functions in rhythm with normal daily activities. (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary) To a homeschooler, body clock means sleeping when you need to sleep and leaning when you are most alert. “A survey of sleep-deprived teens (presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Sunday, May 20) finds they think that a later start time for school and tests given later in the school day would result in better grades.” The survey said what parents already know. Students are sleep deprived … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Word of the day: Sacrifice (Sack-reh-fice)

Dictionary.com describes sacrifice as “the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.”. Many homeschooling mothers sacrifice career aspirations in order to answer to the higher calling of homeschooling. I am not saying that homeschooling is a higher calling than a career by any means. I am saying that for homeschooling mothers, homeschooling has a greater pull on them than a career. When I started homeschooling I was running a mural painting service. I only worked about 20 hours a month, but brought home approximately $1000.00 … Continue reading →

Vocabulary word of the day: Resilient (Re-zil-yent)

The American Heritage Dictionary describes resilient as “Marked by the ability to recover readily, as from misfortune”. An example of a resilient person would be someone who functioned well in the midst of tragedy. Homeschoolers have to be resilient. When homeschooling is a part of one’s life, it is hard to ignore that fact that sometimes life gets in the way. Kids have to be taught that learning is a part of everyday life so that every opportunity to learn something is seized. Learning continues both in the midst of tragedy and in the midst of unadulterated fun. Today we … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Word of the day: Presumptuous (pre-zump-chu-us)

The American Heritage Dictionary describes presumptuous as “going beyond the limits of courtesy or appropriateness”. An example of a presumptuous act would be for me to attempt to teach a reading adult to read. Homeschooling is a lot like being pregnant. It seems like everyone has an opinion about homeschooling your children and wants to share it with you. Whether they agree or disagree, many people are so presumptuous as to believe their input is not only valuable but also valued in their homeschool experience. They want to examine your program. They want to quiz your children. Your once isolated … Continue reading →