<p>Rachacha-
My son loves cartoon books! I'm looking for those vocab cartoons asap!!!!</p>
<p>I also came from a family that loved words/argument (mom--words, dad--argument). It does influence your own interests/abilities, I think.</p>
<p>I started consciously 'talking up' and playing casual verbal word games w/son this summer after seeing how he didn't know some (what I saw as basic) SAT vocab. Although, he's a big reader.</p>
<p>On the talking/reading way of learning--I think it depends on the learner. I read so much as a child I had a huge understanding of vocabulary. I was quiet, too, though, and sometimes didn't know how to pronounce a lot of the words I 'knew'! lol</p>
<p>The background information about vocab-emphasis within the household is a real eye-opener for me! It all makes sense now. I'm sort of embarassed to admit it, but we didn't really emphasize using big words, parsing language over the dinner table, or looking up words in the dictionary for leisure. My H is an engineer, and talks/writes in a very precise, straightforward manner. Doesn't use a lot of adjectives or superflous ten dollar words to say the least. Nor do I. If I had to do it all over again, however, I would probably try to incorporate some of the techniques I've read on these boards into my childrearing strategy.</p>
<p>Basically, a student who has grown up all his life in a household of "word junkies" (I mean that in a positive way) HAS had vocab prep- all his life! Which is great. It goes back to an example on another thread running concurrently about SAT prep- students who have not had that kind of background can definitely benefit from studying a vocab list, if only just to "memorize" the words for the test. At least it will get him through the SAT, hopefully get him a higher score so he can achieve his college admissions goals.</p>
<p>It's a good reason not to talk baby talk to your kid, too. If you talk down to your young children, how do you expect them to learn? I saw these two young kids once, about 2 and 4, who were amazingly independent, smart, vocal, and everything else. The two year old would take out her stuff to color, draw for a while, put the crayons back in the case, and put all of the coloring supplies away without prompting. When getting ready to go outside, they would get their own coats, sit down and put their shoes on. The two year old would eventually need some help tying her shoes, but she did the rest by herself. The young one had an amazing vocabulary. She spoke the same way a school aged child would. Their parents were very modest, fun, down to earth people and said that they just never talked down to the kids. They always gave their kids the chance to try to do something on their own before helping. Obviously the little girl was developmentally advanced to begin with (I wasn't talking at all when I was two), but this has always stuck with me.</p>
<p>I remember asking S to tell us what he was reading when he was in 3rd or 4th grade, and he was reading real books. He'd summarize, using the words he'd encountered in his reading. Some of it was fiction and some of it was non-fiction. And we'd ask him to define words. You'd be surprised how many people read without actually understanding the words they read, even ordinary words. Nowadays, his math has become too specialized to form the basis of a dinner conversation, but we can still discuss current events, history, philosophy, fiction. These discussions are based on readings, so the vocabulary is pretty much the same.</p>
<p>One thing one miight do with Latin words would be to draw up lists of cognates. For example: jubilant, jubilation, jubilee. Another is to provide examples of how a particular word is used in a sentence. It's much better than memorizing long lists of words without context.</p>
<p>"Conversation the best way to built vocabulary? I doubt it, though good verbal skills may be an important key to a sucessful life, in a variety of spheres. In language learning yes, if the goal is a speaking knowledge of a language. But many of us, if not most, learn more esoteric words through reading, and then introduce them into speech if around people who will understand a more highly educated vocabulary."</p>
<p>There are almost NO esoteric words on the SAT, nor any technical ones. There are just many Latinate ones, more complex ways of expressing simple ideas. They are virtually all words used in highly educated (and high-income) speech.</p>
<p>Pick up "Crime and Punishment" and you will see most SAT-type words within the first chapter.</p>
<p>The problem with telling kids to learn all these "hit parade" lists and so forth is that they are usually not very fruitful. Memorizing words without any use or context rarely pays off. The minute the word is morphed into a different part of speech (as the SAT loves to do...turning adjectives into nouns, or vice versa), many students are stymied. </p>
<p>Expanding vocabulary has to be done from a point of meaningful reference, which means words that are seen in reading (meanings of which can often be determined by context), or by usage in language (yes, the family dinner table is an excellent place for this) will be more easily remembered (and used again), than those that have merely been stared at on a page.</p>
<p>The cognates list is great advice. If a student learns a word, and can use that word to figure out a related word with different prefix, suffix, etc., or uses the root of that word to figure out another, he'll have it knocked. Anything that he can use to go from point A to point B is useful. In essence, anything he can "hang his hat on".</p>
<p>If a student can get only 3 or 4 more questions correct on the CR test, based on a study of vocab, it could mean a lot, especially if he's trying to break through a minimum requirement for scholarships or admissions to an honors program.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, most students aren't trying to go from a 500 to an 800. Most students are ecstatic if they can just bump up their score 30 points or so per section (90 points total is a lot!).</p>
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It became readily apparent that most of the questions had nothing to do with logic or reasoning; he missed them because he didn't know what the words meant.
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<p>Parenttrap, congrtulations for recognizing that your son might need a bit of help and parental guidance as he approaches the college admission process. This already places him in an enviable position when compared to the overwhelming majority of the students who are left to fight the SAT demons by themselves or with the help of an ill-prepared corps of teachers. </p>
<p>You are doing the right thing by buying a few books and seemed to have picked up the usual suspects. Fortunately, as you continue your adventure down the abyss of learning how to best prepare the SAT, you will recognize how terrible the books you started with truly are and how WORTHLESS the list of vocabulary is. </p>
<p>In time, you will also learn that contrary to popular belief, improving Critical Reading has little to do with learning vocabulary --and especially not asinine lists like the BArrons 3500-- and everything to do with increasing comprehension, concentration, and logic through specific exercises. Most of the problems with deficient CR scores can be rooted to a deficit in the attention span and nervousness. </p>
<p>Here's a cheap tip: rather than spend time reading boring and unhelpful lists of words, check Ebay or another source for older books published by the COLLEGE BOARD and have your son read the past Reading sections and plug the answers in. Yes, read the sections WITH the answers in front of him. Reading 10-12 complete tests will do a LOT more than spending time on a list that is mostly a compilation of the words that appeared in the past but are taken out of context. </p>
<p>SAT preparation is practice. With practice, one can get better ... taking the SAT. This should not be confused with getting better in English or improving his or her vocabulary outside the narrow confines of this sterile test. Actually, when it comes to the college essays, your son better forget every one of those "esoteric" words he just picked up on his torturous periple down the SAT underworld.</p>
<p>My sister's family is a family of readers. In her house, every family member always has a pile of books that he or she is currently reading and or plans to read lying around. Her husband (attorney) majored in Classics and she majored in English. She works in a library and her older daughter (now graduated from college as an English major) worked in a bookstore in high school. Her three kids, while good students, are not the type who put tremendous effort into earning straight A's or fanatically studying for their SATs. However, one kid scored 780 and the other one 800 in the Verbal section with litltle preparation. Their math scores were quite a bit lower, in both cases. (The final kid has not taken her SATs yet.) I am sure that all of the reading they have done all of their lives was the key to these high scores.</p>
<p>The cognates advice is excellent. Will have to use that with DS2 (a soph). He is taking Spanish IV this year and I am surprised at how often he doesn't get a Spanish word even though the English or Latin cognate is quite apparent. I'd started trying to point these out when he is doing his Spanish homework, but I can see how this would be VERY useful to him in other contexts as well.</p>
<p>We are also an extremely verbal household -- DH, DS1 and I are all huge readers. DS1 never cracked a vocab list -- he has wide and eclectic tastes and it was never an issue. Did quite well on the CR/W sections, too. DS2 is not a big reader, but is an excellent speaker. He tends to pick things up aurally rather than visually. Will have to see if oral vocab helps him.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had "Wordly Wise" for vocab/spelling in late elementary school. The teachers used the books at about three grades above level. They are available online. One liked the series a lot; one thought it was kind of dry; both found it useful.</p>
<p>Mo2: I can totally relate to the "piles of books" next to the bed. DS1 cleaned his room before school started and the stack of books was quite impressive. I took pictures because the pile was so quirky. He always has several books going at once. I feel a college essay topic coming on...what is hiding under your bed, and what does it say about you?</p>
<p>My favorite gift to give new parents are a pile of books---all the ones that were our kids' favorites in the early years. I echo what others have said that including learning new words and meanings has always been a part (sometimes annoying part) of my 2 Ds life. Word games in the car, over the dinner table....heck, I even used french fries at Mickey D's to help them learn their letters! (I'm sure THAT will win me the mother-of-the-year-award!!!)</p>
<p>In terms of what you can do to get your son some help now, knowing word roots is a huge boost when getting ready for SATs (and AP English tests), and being able to figure out a word from its context is probably the most important part. D2 has really enjoyed the SAT novels, but I really had to search to find them...she found one at a used book store, and I think I got the others either on ebay or used on Amazon.com. I think these methods are much more important than memorizing flash cards of SAT word lists.</p>
<p>Another word thing our family enjoys is listening to WGBH's "Says You!" <a href="http://www.saysyou.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.saysyou.org/</a> Most of the show is pretty silly, but they often have a segment entitled "What's the difference". Such as what's the difference between "ability" and "capability". (We listen on line, it's on at various times in different parts of the country, but is no longer on the radio in the NY area.</p>
<p>by Keith Denning, Brett Kessler, and William R. Leben. There are many other books like these. You can probably find a few similar books at a local library. </p>
<p>A lot of the posts in this thread other than Xiggi's review to Brand X practice tests and cram books, which may not simulate the genuine SAT accurately. There is no substitute for genuine released SAT exams. Practice those under realistic time limits--including practicing bubbling in answers--and then check answers after each practice. These days a lot of the SAT questions are designed specifically to defeat memorizing word lists from cram books, as the questions will take the form of "IN THIS PASSAGE, the meaning of the word "euphoric" is ______," based on a passage in which the author used the word in an unusual way. Contextual reading skills are king; the student must develop the habit of reading widely in publications personally interesting to that student.</p>
<p>There are two different issues being discussed in this thread: increasing vocabulary and improving critical reading skills. The two are often connected but are still separate. Xiggi's tips are great for improving critical reading skills without necessarily expanding vocabulary. Some people with large vocabularies are careless readers and make mistakes or are tripped up by slightly convoluted sentence structures. Eg, making sense of double negatives won't be made easier by learning polysyllabic words.
The old analogies section depended more on knowing the meaning of individual words; the critical reading section depends more on knowledge of grammar and syntax and careful reading.</p>
<p>My D had perfect verbal score on each of her two PSAT and SAT tests (the old and the new). She never went to a vocabulary list. In fact, to my annoyance, I rarely saw her looking up words in a dictionary (we have the OED). She did read a lot, but only fiction. I agree with Xiggi, scoring well has more to do with reading skills.</p>
<p>In our house English is not spoken - unless we have company of course, but other than that, spoken English is left at the doorway. There are books, magazines and TV, but we do not speak English to each other.
My two kids have a decent vocabulary. When they speak, their English is not as sophisticated as some of their friends, but they score way ahead of these friends on tests.</p>
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Practice those under realistic time limits--including practicing bubbling in answers--and then check answers after each practice.
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<p>With all due respect to Tokenadult, may I address this precise point? While I believe that practicing SHOULD include taking several tests under realistic time limits, I don't think this yields many dividends in the early stages of one's preparation, especially in the pre PSAT days. IMHO, there is a period of time when ones accumulates the building blocks necessary to do well on the PSAT and SAT. Those are the blocks necessary for building one's confidence through a process that fills any holes left from different learning methods used in school. This is a time when ones might learn some formulas or ... refresh them since they might be forgotten. The SAT is eminently predictable and repetitive, and that is why some say it has become very coachable. </p>
<p>A long term preparation that develops over several months (or years) is always better than a short cramming period. That is why I recommend to work through old test at a leisurely slow pace and spend as much time understanding the correct answers as the mistakes. </p>
<p>When it comes to time management, while it is a CRUCIAL part of the SAT, it is best to leave it for the end of one's preparation. Finding ways to speed up the answering is best learned when all the concepts are mastered. It's hard to develop positive shorcuts when the basic knowledge is still lacking! </p>
<p>Lastly, it is important that there is a high degree of individuality in a standardized tests as candidate approache the test armed with VERY different backgrounds and academic preparation. There are students who will ace the SAT without much more than a cursory review of one past test; others will need a lot of time. That is why universal "tips" have such limitations!</p>