Open-and-go vocabulary development from Ready to Teach ~ A TOS review
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Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Another Friday is upon us friends! Many of you have already started school or will be starting in the next week or so. We fall into the latter category and will be starting on Monday. I am looking forward to getting back into our daily routine and learning right alongside my three remaining children at home.
One of our focus areas for each of my children this year is in vocabulary. Learning Greek morphemes is a fantastic way to increase vocabulary so I was excited to receive It's NOT Greek to Me! from Ready to Teach to use with Montana, my 9th grader. We are no strangers to this program as we used it when Madison was in 8th grade.
This vocabulary program is the brainchild of Alene H. Harris, Ph.D. who taught secondary vocabulary and life science in the schools of Nashville, TN for over 16 years. After a friend asked for her to make her materials available to homeschoolers she published the first edition. Now, we have been offered the 4th edition to review. Let me tell you a little more about it.
If you find teaching vocabulary to your middle or high schooler hard or you are searching for the right program that will help improve your students vocabulary while also helping to develop high order thinking skills, then this is the vocabulary development program you should look into. It's NOT Greek to Me! studies Greek roots, suffixes, and prefixes in 12 lessons with a major review and test after Lessons 6 and 12. Ideally the course can be completed in just 14-16 weeks if you complete a lesson a week. Our package arrived with two softcover instructional books.
Instructors manual ~ Softcover book with 126 pages that includes:
• lesson plans
• keys to all student activities
• lesson test answer keys • pre-made flash cards for all morphemes
• a student-involvement bulletin board idea and graphic
Student book ~ Consumable, 124 page softcover book that includes:
• lesson assignments broken down by task
• designated writing space for all lesson activities, including:
~ analyzing words
~ synthesizing words
~ creating words
~ developing context clues reading skills
• a 12 part mystery story incorporating the morpheme-based words in context
• a set of 12 color pages for making study cards
• A flash drive containing the 12 self-paced PowerPoint lessons.
We also received a hand-held one hole punch and storage ring for the flashcards found in the back of the book. 
It's NOT Greek to Me! studies Greek roots, suffixes, and prefixes in 12 lessons with a major review and test after Lessons 6 and 12. Ideally the course can be completed in just 14-16 weeks if you complete a lesson a week.
I love that a detailed daily lesson plan, with estimated time allotments is included inside the instructor’s manual. It’s laid out so you know exactly what to do and when. Answers are included for each lesson too. At the end of each week there is a lesson test which includes 25 to 30 morphemes.
A set of color – coordinated study cards for the words to be learned is also included, which is perfect for helping you the parent review and learn to words along with your student. The study cards are printed on white cardstock and I plan to laminate them so they last for future usage with McKenzie and Micah. If you have wall space there are also bulletin board ideas to display the words being learned. This vocabulary program can be used three different ways:
~ independently, with the student fully in charge of the flash drive and working through the lessons
~ with the parent as the teacher working right along with the student and guiding the student through the lessons
~ in a co-op setting
Montana and I have been working through this open-and-go vocabulary development program for the last few weeks. Since we went over expectations right at the beginning I was able to not have to sit directly with her. Rather, I was in the next room if she needed help. I also would quiz her frequently and challenge her to use the words and morphemes she was learning in her everyday life. She just finished lesson 3 before I left to take the girls back to University last week. She still needs to take the test for lesson 3 but I think we will wait until our first week of school to do so.
Overall, I think this is an excellent vocabulary development program and highly recommend it! Montana will finish this book and then move on to the next book in the series with the goal of expanding her vocabulary knowledge. If you looking for an open-and-go program for vocabulary development, then check out It's NOT Greek to Me! from Ready to Teach. Don’t just take my word for it, see what 15 of my CrewMates think of this vocabulary program by clicking the banner below. 
Product ~ It's NOT Greek to Me!
Format ~ softcover books with flash drive for PowerPoint lessons
Price ~ $86.95
Ages ~ middle schoolers and up
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