Is Vocabulary a Forgotten Subject in Your Homeschool?

Vocabulary is one of the most important subjects we can teach. Yet, time after time I see homeschool families forgetting about the subject of vocabulary.

Why is vocabulary so important?

Because comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, you cannot overestimate the importance of vocabulary development. BJU Press Vocab for middle school and high school is a part of the English program that we used for our homeschool. ” BJU Press Vocabulary demonstrates how languages such as Greek and Latin have contributed to modern English. Games, puzzles, and reinforcement activities keep your child’s interest while building his vocabulary.”

I have found now there are so many who do not teach vocab. Let me encourage you as you enter the middle school and high school years to  include vocabulary in your language arts instruction. Your children will learn many helpful strategies for decoding and understanding words, which is important for comprehension of important documents and information beyond high school level academics.  A child needs to have a rich vocab in order to express himself fluently. Because we believe in teaching with a biblical worldview, we embrace teaching vocab to our children in order to help them be efficient and productive communicators. The ability to communicate well allows your child to be able to share a message effectively with his neighbor.

How do you implement BJU Press Vocabulary?

BJU Press Vocabulary is not a part of the Distance Learning program or video classes. The vocab is an independent study that your student can do on his own. There are only 15 lessons. I normally begin teaching vocab along with the grammar course. Then 15 weeks in, it is done. Midway in the semester is the meat of the BJU Press Grammar book. In January, I begin to include the BJU Press Literature course while finishing up grammar. Grammar is usually finished by early February and my student is able to finish up the year with literature. There is also vocabulary within the literature book as well, so your student ultimately studies vocabulary all year.

Comprehension is the ultimate goal, so please don’t forget the words and definitions.  They will use what they learn all their lives. Please check out this short video about BJU Press Vocabulary.

Have you forgotten to teach vocab?