<p>Second coureur on 19th century novels.
My daughter read Dickens as page turners, which they of course were meant to be.
Free at the public library!</p>
<p>Speaking of British authors...Beatrix Potter, the Rev. W. Awdry (of Thomas the Tank Engine fame), Roald Dahl -- these were all favorites when my kids were young. We'd read these to them, then they would read to us. Fabulous language and vocabulary -- these authors did not talk down to young readers. Both kids picked it up like sponges.</p>
<p>DS2 liked more fact-based stuff -- from the get-go, he was more into science and history books. He and DH spent many bedtimes in first/second grade reading The History of US.</p>
<p>RE: Wordly Wise -- both my kids started in Wordly Wise Book 3 in fourth grade. It's at a sixth grade level and if you click on the sample pages on the right side of the webpage, you can get to a vocab list for each level.</p>
<p>This also reminded me that DS1 once ordered what was essentially a PSAT practice vocab book from Scholastic when he was in 4th or 5th grade. (paid for it with his allowance -- I had no idea!) It basically used a bunch of PSAT vocab in a series of stories so kids could learn the words through context. He read it about a zillion times -- he liked the author's adolescent sense of humor. It's probably in the pile of books under his bed -- I think he still takes it out and reads it every once in a while.</p>
<p>Kids are like sponges--they will absorb whatever you put in front of them. I remember my firstborn and the little girl next door, when they were both about 3. Her mother noted that "she already knows what those Golden Arches mean." I thought to myself, if she can identify that, she ought to be told it's an M. My daughter knew the alphabet, because I taught her, starting with the letters in her own name. It didn't occur to this mother to teach her child anything important. I remember they were big on identifying Disney characters also.</p>
<p>I remember when DD was a HS freshman, her class assignment every week was to find x number of words that she didn't know, from any reading source. Not so easy! and being an honest soul, she didn't want to just hand in random "difficult" words. So we would search the NY Times for words. William F. Buckley's column generally paid off. ;)</p>
<p>I'll third that idea on 19th century novels. I have found they are my favorites (for reasons that have nothing to do with vocab) and I make sure that I'm always reading one! I do this by reading only part of a chapter each night, so I drag out every book to be at least a month long so I can become friendly with all the characters. Maybe this did as much for me as my parents reading to me did, or maybe I wouldn't like these novels if I hadn't been read to.</p>
<p>I'll add my voice to the chorus for 19th c. novels. When I was a student I often took the train home from school (and back.) I would get immersed in a Thomas Hardy novel and the time would pass most pleasantly.</p>
<p>Another vote for 19th century novels - the Bronte sisters, George Elliot and Henry James are among my personal favorites. But, please don't forget the short story - Henry James' "The Real Thing" is a great read. Many of these works, and, of course, novels like "The Portrait of a Young Lady" (first written for publication in serial form in the "Atlantic Monthly") can be easily found online.</p>
<p>I just remembered my S#1 when in Jr Hi was famous for using big words in conversation that he had read but never heard pronounced because they rarely come up in general conversation. Much amusement all around. :D</p>
<p>It is true that conversation is extremely important in the language development of small children. Sadly, some parents never bother to talk to their kids other than a steady diet of "Shut up, go play, stop that, leave me alone..." laced with a generous portion of profanity. Not only do these kids not learn English, they also learn not to ask questions.</p>
<p>I'd extend the time period for word filled literature to the early part of this century. Just looked at the dates on my beloved collection of Somerset Maugham short stories. 1920s.</p>
<p>Wealth in previous generations? Not here, though I was going to put in a plug for those with a Scottish background, where education was traditionally valued for itself alone, as well as a means to a better life. My family background of never ending intellectual curiosity, whatever the physical circumstances, sometimes in spite of circumstances, has led to an interesting life for me, my sibs and kids. </p>
<p>mommusic, I too cringe at kids being told to stop asking questions. When discussing education of Spanish speaking kids this summer, someone was talking about the hardworking, double shift lives of immigrants, and that there isn't sufficient exposure to Spanish in large quantities for young children in those busy families. So making the transition to an advanced verbal level in English becomes even more problematic.</p>
<p>What a fun discussion! I'll just add a practical suggestion. My kids both use an excellent series of vocab books at their school: the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop, by Jerome Shostak. It has lists and exercises, plus lessons on strategies for determining meaning from context, word structure, etc. It hadn't occurred to me before, but this could be excellent for a concentrated dose of test preparation. Level E is the one my son used in his junior year English course, and he did just fine on the SAT and PSAT.</p>
<p>Try the Scripps Spelling Bee site, look up study aids and try Carolyn's Corner.
It's a wonderful weekly column showing many ways to improve reading, comprehension, and yes, vocabulary. It's even better without the pressure of competing in the spelling bees. Great emphasis on suffixes/prefixes and Greek/Latin roots.</p>
<p>Countingdown mentioned Beatrix Potter. I can still remember reading Peter Rabbit to my kids, and a page where Peter had gotten stuck somehow in the farmer's garden. The other animals (maybe birds?) who saw his predicament "implored him to exert himself." I loved reading that line to my kids, and they had no problem understanding it.</p>
<p>"she already knows what those Golden Arches mean." I thought to myself, if she can identify that, she ought to be told it's an M."</p>
<p>I can identify with your impulse, but don't be too hasty there. Waldorf education, which tends to graduate exceptionally well prepared students, very pointedly avoids teaching the alphabet until first grade. Reading begins in second grade, and then only reading of main lesson books actually written by the children themselves. The point, in Waldorf philosophy, is that very young children have more important work to do -- large muscle development, balance, rhythm, listening and talking and remembering oral messages. I'm not here to defend all of Waldorf, but it certainly works for many people.</p>
<p>Uh, I never realized it was an M myself....</p>
<p>I'm not so sure it is an M so much as it is a stylized representation of the original McDonalds architecture -- when they actually had two golden arches as part of the building. As in this picture:</p>
<p>Hehe. The semiotics of McDonalds. Or, why I spend too much time on cc...</p>
<p>I prefer to refer to them as the "golden arches", myself. More descriptive and specific.</p>
<p>This is funny. I always assumed it was a big old M. Even tho I have seen the photo of the original "golden arches" building. Of course, my daughter once pointed to a giant cross on a church and said, "Look mommy! "T" :D </p>
<p>And she pointed out that the stylized wing design on a plastic bird looked like the Hebrew letter "shin." I guess she was unusually visual--went on to major in art, among other things.</p>
<p>I agree that small children have a rich life to live outside of the alphabet--which is why I always taught my kids using those plastic magnetic ones we could stick on the fridge! Manipulatives all the way.</p>
<p>And which is why I am against computer games & videos aimed at the bassinet to toddler set. Babies need the physical feedback to assess what their eyes are seeing.</p>
<p>But I could never have delayed teaching my children to read until first grade, as Waldorf advocates. They were eager to learn at age 4 and I couldn't possibly have satisfied all their desires by reading TO them. Early reading runs in our family, as late reading may run in others. Doesn't mean anything as long as they do learn to read.</p>
<p>And here's another source of word fun--A Word a Day in your email box, if you wish:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html</a></p>
<p>I'm not so sure I'd worry about the esoteric words. My D began an exercise this summer where she either circled (if she owned the book) or added to a list every word where she wasn't entirely sure of the meaning. She even did this while reading the new Harry Potter, and came up with words like: stringent, accosted, impertinent, enigmatic, crenellated, inexorably, baldly. She's a great student, but like lots of high school students, she absolutely hates to drag out the dictionary and look words up. </p>
<p>We cut a deal. She makes the lists, I add the brief definition and some connotation information (which is often left out of the smaller dictionaries) and then we review the word and its pronunciation, sometimes going back to look at the author's use. She then uses the list as a study tool, since getting the info into long term memory requires (for most of us) practice over time. </p>
<p>I was a voracious reader, and got my vocabulary through sheer volume and repetition. She's not, and it wasn't until this summer that I realized quite what a difference that has made. In the normal course of events you can comprehend most of what you're reading without knowing the specific meanings of these words, so you might be surprised to learn that your student also has some surprising gaps.</p>