English from the Roots Up

Yes, you can teach your kids Greek and Latin root words without having a background in classical languages. With this book (and other affordable aids), you'll introduce students to 100 key root words, helping them to improve their reading, writing, spelling, and testing skills. Includes a new Latin pronunciation guide, word definitions, and teaching notes. For elementary through high school grades. 121 pages, spiralbound softcover from Literacy Unlimited.

My copy of English from the Roots Up is almost 10 years old. I remember being much encouraged by its introduction. It assured me that even if I had never learned Greek or Latin myself, I could still teach this course. When I thumbed through the pages that followed and saw how simply the Greek and Latin root words were laid out, I said, "I can do this." (The author was right.) Each page presents one root word framed in color - green for Greek and red for Latin. Then the definition and some derivatives are listed, with explanations of the derivatives' definitions. For example, "photo" means light, and some derivatives are photograph, telephoto, photosynthesis. The 100 root words "take Latin and Greek out of the foreign language department and install them into the English department" where they will do some good. What a simple method of providing students in grades 2 to 12 with an excellent foundation on which to understand and build upon the meanings of English words! Includes Latin pronunciation guide and teaching notes.

—Karen

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Reviewed by Kathie Stone (Rosenberg, TX), October 11, 2009

I heard about this some ten years ago and my then highschool daughter used it and my second daughter,both now in college. Presently, I am going through it again with my other children in a group setting they are 16, 12, 10, & 8. They enjoy it greatly. We mixed this with the Rummy Roots game. They understand the meaning of words to a deeper degree and therefore comprehension has increased in their daily reading along with spelling in their papers.

Reviewed by Christy (Portland, OR), October 03, 2005

This program lists 100 words from Greek and Latin that are commonly used to form English words. Lesson one is "photos," which is Greek for light. The lesson lists seven English words in which "photos" is used. It also gives the Greek or Latin meaning for the other part of the words listed. For instance, on the photos page are listed the words, "photograph," "phototropic," and "photosynthesis." Graph is defined as "write or draw," and tropic as "turn." Synthesis is broken down to "syn," meaning together and "thesis" for putting. (So photosynthesis means a process of putting things together by using light.) There are a few teaching notes with each word which would enable parents of younger or mixed ages to stretch out the study of each word thus giving time to learn each one well. There are also extra words listed for the older or more inquisitive student. We have our son copy the word of the day and its various English usages in his own dictionary. Then he makes a flashcard with the root on one side and the meaning on the other. He reviews all of his flashcards daily. The best part of the program: our 11 year old son is thoroughly enjoying it. He is easily retaining each word and is enjoying encountering words in his everyday life that he can break down and make educated guesses as to their meanings. It also seems to be beneficial to his spelling. He is only a quarter into it and already looking forward to tackling the next volume. The only reason I rated it less than five stars: it seems slightly overpriced. But it is non-consumable so that does help justify the cost. I recommend this highly and plan to use it with all six of my children.

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