Curriculum Roundup: Wordly Wise 3000

I have to say I am pretty impressed with myself (polishes fingernails) with the curriculum that I chose this year.  Of course, I have had most of it nailed down, but I couldn't quite find a really good literature that I liked.  As I was plotting out my week, I thought I would share some of what I have pieced together.

 I was specifically looking for a really good vocabulary program because I remember from my own experience about the testing that will be coming our way very soon (PSAT and SAT).

I remember way back when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth  when I was in high school, my tenth grade English teacher told us all if we made a certain score (above his own score) on the English portion of the SATs, then he would automatically give us an A in his class.  He proceeded to gruelingly test our vocabulary skills every week.

Wordly Wise 3000, while certainly not as snazzy a dresser as Mr. Scott, it does churn out a good word list!  I can really tell that it is building on my child's vocabulary because in conversation on numerous occasions, she will point out that I used one of her vocabulary words.  

It comes with only 20 lessons, so doing one lesson a week, does not quite stretch out to an entire year. I realized a little late (but I guess that's better than never, huh?) that I could marry her vocabulary with cursive writing practice.

As most homeschoolers are aware, cursive writing has become almost non-existent in public schools. Charlotte had a cursory introduction to it while she was still in public schools, and I have not worked it in as much as I would have liked.  In addition, there was one thing one of my college professors taught me that stuck with me:  when you write something down, you remember!  That particular professor actually taught me how to study for a test, and it involved rewriting my notes. Every time I have tried to pass this along to Charlotte, she sees it as some form of archaic punishment.

However, cursive practice doesn't count as punishment, I guess.  (so I can sneak it in, shhh!)

There is this awesome website where you can type in what you want them to practice, and print out an example of the text in cursive along with lined paper to practice.  

It is awesome!  I have used this time and again.  At first, I printed off Bible verses, but I have also used this for my four year old.  You can turn the paper landscape and do print writing practice.  You can also just print out blank lined pages which I did for a while when I could not find a Kindergarten writing tablet in stores.

(She's still a little iffy on the lines,and on Ws for that matter.)

I know, I know, you are all waiting to see if I got that easy A!  While Mr. Scott was really impressed with the score I got prior to even entering his class, I had to earn my A the hard way by acing most of those grueling tests!

This post contains affiliate links.