Customer Reviews

Words on the Vine, Grades 5 - 8: 36 Vocabulary Units on Root Words (The 100+ Series)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We use this marvelous book as a supplement to our formal Latin program for our 4 homeschooled kids. It's wonderful, I can't rave about it enough. It is a good introduction to roots in our language, and it's amusing, also, a fact that has kept our kids hooked for about a year.

Each root (mal, mano, gen, etc) has about 5 pages of activities to help seal both the root and its English derivatives into a kid's head. These are often VERY funny. They're short...each page is covered easily in about 1/2 hour. They're reproducable. The skill-level is variable. The humor makes it suitable for a wide range of kids...4th-5th grade through High School. I know that sounds ambitious, but it's really true! Each page has the root and its origin printed at the top. By the end of the book, a kid should know 35 roots and hundreds of new English vocabulary words. Magic!

I've searched in vain for a sequel to this gem. Sadly, so far there isn't one. But whenever Latin gets unbearably dull for my kids, I pull out "Words From The Vine", and we have some fun.

A friend and I are using this workbook (along with English from the Roots Up) with our children, ages 8, 10, and 12. The kids are working on the pages together, one root word per session. Each root has three workbook-style pages (each covering the same 10 words) of varied and fun (and often funny) questions. The workbook pages approach the words from a good variety of angles, taking advantage of different strengths and learning styles. The kids really enjoy it and it has succeeded in making them fascinated with this subject, which is just what I hoped it would do. The only drawback is that there are only 36 roots (350 words) covered. I know we will all be sorry when we finish this fascinating book.

Added summer 2006. I wrote this review 4 years ago, and I still haven't come across another way to learn word roots that is this fun. I wish the author had written a series and not just one book.

I just started using Words on the Vine with my homeschooled 9-year-old a few months ago. I stumbled across it one day while browsing Amazon and thought it looked like it would be fun as well as educational (it is). I also thought I had found a secular text, I was wrong. We were several roots into the book before I noticed the first one - a question that asks, "Name a holiday that a Gentile does not celebrate. Why?" Uh-oh, so I start flipping through the book. Sure enough there's more - like "name two Archangels", a modern day Jonah & the Wale tale, along with a few others. On the other side of the coin, to be totally fair, there are also questions about what astrologers are, a writing assignment about what it would be like to be reincarnated as a bird, and mentioning of T-rex ruling during the late Mesozoic Era. If ANY of these things seriously bother you, you're probably better off looking elsewhere.

That said this is still a really great book and I would certainly buy it again! You'll definitely do a lot more that just learn some Latin/Greek roots and improve your vocabulary. Many of the questions are related to history, geography, and science so unless you're a walking encyclopedia you'll probably need to do some research to answer them. For example: In what South American country have hydrolyte geodes been found? How did the ancient Egyptians use geometry? Who developed ideas that contradicted Ptolemy's geocentric model of the universe? What famous subterranean tourist site is located in New Mexico? Where is John F. Kennedy interred? Name three Mediterranean countries.... Etc. You'll definitely want to have a dictionary and an encyclopedia handy (or at least access to the Internet).

First I want to make clear that I believe one of the best tools for homeschooling moms trying to make curriculum decisions are the reviews on amazon. I bought this book based on the great reviews, but for once that was a mistake. A little over half of this book is truly a wonderful resource and to some, still worth the price. But for my children many of the pages were frustrating and when I could not make sense of the reasoning used to come up with the answers; I stopped and went through the book, crossing out pages that I felt were not worth the effort. Some seemed to be all over the place while others were very close in meaning.

Here are a couple of newspaper headlines for you to interpret..."Poisoned Pork Patties Paralyze Pushy Patrician" (possible ans. A bossy man of high birth found himself unable to move after eating a sausage bisquit at a resturant), "Peppy Painter Puts Panda Pattern in Paper Panties" (poss. ans. A new product idea has hit the market with a splash. Now kids can copy art right off their underwear). In a crossword puzzle (which my children love) they were to find the answers without knowing the order or number that they were answering; this would not have been so bad except for the fact that some had the same amount of letters so they spent much of their time erasing-very frustrating. On pg. 71 there is a cartoon of the back view of a voluptuous woman in a string bikini with a man's eyes coming out of his head while looking at her-the word that goes with this picture is "spectacle." This may not offend some, but I thought they could have used a more appropriate picture for a children's book.

I realize from the reviews that others actually loved it. I am simply giving you the experience I had with my children. I hope it will help you to make a better choice that will suit your family's needs. "English From the Roots Up" is a wonderful alternative to this book. It is very thorough and gives suggestions for teaching this subject along with a pronunciation guide. I also recommend the card game "Rummy Roots" a fun way to remember the root meanings.

My homeschooled daughter began this book in the 5th grade, and we were able to drag it out through the 6th grade. We are now at the end of the book and both sad that there isn't a 2nd one. I don't know of any other workbook, textbook, anything that my daughter was so sad to finish (and before this language arts was her least favorite subject). I highly recommend it for any child as a latin primer and/or vocabulary builder. Great book!!!

This book really prepares a young student for high level mastery of vocabulary and is a necessary tool especially regarding today's high stakes testing (i.e. STAR). The lessons are challenging, yet fun and imaginative. A must have book for students who need to understand how roots are critical to expanding one's vocabulary. Two thumbs up!

I really like this book, and this publisher in general, as a review for students. My students have a fairly limited vocabulary and this series has been great for increasing vocabulary and recognition of Greek and Latin roots.

I do agree that there are a few activities that aren't as appropriate for public school... once in a while I'll run across something religious or outdated, but by looking ahead I can either ignore those questions or pre-fill in the answers before I make the copies. For the most part it's good though.

Some of the words may be a little too advanced for younger kids -- like "anthropomorphize". Some of the activities may feel a bit too juvinile for older kids. I teach at an alternative high school and some students aren't particularly challenged, but most of them like the weekly lists as a review or an expansion of existing vocabulary.

All in all, I love this series. I recommend it to most other teachers that teach the middle years and even into high school. Enjoy!

I used this as a supplement when I taught a Classical Languages class to 5th - 8th graders and I loved it! We did a sorting activity first with selected roots, etc. and then I used the worksheets as a reinforcer for their homework. They were very into each lesson and really liked using the sheets from this book. I have yet to find another curriculum piece that beats this one.

I love this book! I have used it with 3 of my children so far and plan next year to use it wth my youngest. Each of the 36 lessons has 3 activity sheets plus suggestions for further activities. There are a couple of levels of activities, so you could easily return to the book later and do the harder ones as review. In addition, each lesson has other words listed that also share the root, so it would allow for additional work if you wanted to spread out the book over 2 years or use later again. My only complaint, which another reviewer mentioned, is that there is not a Words on the Vine 2-that is a real cirme!

My kids and I worked this book over the summer. What a great introduction to Latin!