Customer Reviews

English from the Roots Up, Vol. 1: Help for Reading, Writing, Spelling, and S.A.T. Scores

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

English From The Roots Up is an excellent vocabulary and spelling tool for any age student--including the child who is learning to read, especially with phonics, and can write or the high school student trying to prepare for college entrance exams. It develops words from Latin and Greek roots using simple nemonic devices--index cards outlined in red for Latin or green for Greek, which you make yourself. Students learn one root at a time, and from that root are given examples where it's used. Recognizing Greek or Latin roots in English words enables the student to determine the definition and spelling of unknown words. The exercise is consistent for each root--learn the definition of the root, learn words that have that root and the definitions of those words as well. The lessons build on one another. Elementary children think it's fun, believe it or not, because they find themselves discovering big words that don't intimidate them anymore. They also have fun making up new words based on the roots they've learned. I have my 1st grader working through the lessons along with my 4th grader. We learn one root and the words associated with that root, master it and move on to the next at their pace. The book calls for making the cards on 3x5 index cards, but 4x6 or even 5x7 would be better in my opinion. I can't even write small enough to get the words with the root and their definitions on a single 3x5, much less a 5 or 9 y/o child.

I purchased both the book and the flash cards. After reviewing both I kept the flash cards and returned the book.

The flash cards have everything you need, and they are ready to use. The flash cards include all forms of the greek or latin word on the front, and on the back they list many common English words based on the root.

The book requires that you make flash cards. The book also includes a few pages of background material, but not enough to make it worth the money. While the book has a lot of useful material, it is not as easy to use as the flash cards. The book would have just sat on the shelf -- the flash cards were put to use the day they arrived.

The flash cards are great and they are really the most helpful. Purchase the flash cards.

This book truly does help reading, writing, spelling and S. A. T. scores! And, you have fun in the process! I have homeschooled for 6 years. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the origins of our English language. The author is very knowledgeable and convinces you that you can be successful with this program! My daughter especially liked making the flash cards to go along with the curriculum.

Several months ago I purchased Volumes 1 and 2 of Joegil Lundquist's English from the Roots Up. Since then my son and I have been studying Volume 1 at home. In using this book, we find that learning word roots greatly increases the number of new vocabulary words we can learn in a given period of time. In the book, roots are presented individually along with many example words and a wealth of information about them. This makes for a fascinating study, bringing the words to life as we learn how they were used in the past. There are notes for the teacher on every page. These are written a personable style allowing us to imagine that Mrs. Lundquist, herself, is right with us, sharing her vast knowledge of history and the roots of the English language. You get the feeling she really cares about her readers and how they look at things as they learn. In a week's time we are able to cover two or three new roots and find it satisfying to note how rapidly our ability to decipher new words multiplies with every page we turn. Volume 2 is a continuation of Volume 1, packed with additional, interesting tidbits of information and suggested related activities. I wholeheartedly recommend this series for young and old alike. For us it has been money and time well spent.

this book has 100 greek and latin words(together) Each root has a list of words that us kids will know, for example, the word video visum( means see) has the word television (machine for seeing things that are far away) and other words that we under stand, it will stick because whenever they hear the word television, they will probally remember the words video visum. it's easy and fun. just write the words on index cards and you kid could learn greek and latin in no time(oh and it's supposed to help for reading, writing, spelling and SAT scores)

My daughter's school used this book to teach Latin and Greek roots to third graders. On a comprehensive exam at the end of the school year, my daughter correctly matched all 100 Latin and Greek roots to their English meanings, and was able to provide English words derived from 70 of these roots. She seemed to enjoy learning Latin and Greek during the year, and even looked forward to taking the weekly tests. She has even used this knowledge to figure out the meanings of new words outside of class. I have never looked through the book itself, but my daughter enjoyed the program and the results were successful. What more can you ask for?

At the end of each of our homeschool opening times we would learn one word. I used this with my tenth, sixth, and third grader. I used no cards but would simply "flash" the word at them with my hand covering the answer. After we discussed each new word we'd go back to previous ones to review, everyone shouting out the answer if they knew it. Sometimes I'd let them be the teacher and I'd "play" along. My tenth grader claims she learned more valuable information from doing this for about seven minutes per day than she did from her Latin course. Ouch! Then there was the constant reinforcement almost daily as we would encounter these words in other subjects and life.

Learning latin and greek roots can really expand your knowledge of the English languge and this book makes it easy. My husband uses it with his students(college), as well as for himself.

I was disconcerted by the "dressing" of this simple book, but if you do these elementary school exercizes yourself (or if you're a teacher of any age group and adapt these for your use) you will find that this book has easily and systematiclly assembled everything you need to know to learn Greek and Latin roots. It's pricy, but there's a wealth of information in there--VERY useful for parents and teachers.

I have purchased both volumes 1 and 2 and love them. We create word games for our children to help them learn Greek and Latin roots. The information these books have about the different roots is helpful and my children find it interesting. A must-have for homeschoolers!