"Word Roots" review for The Critical Thinking Skills Company

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     Words, words, words!  We don't understand all of them even though most of us have been speaking English since toddlerhood.  I believe the most challenging aspect of knowing the English language is the wide range of vocabulary that has been carried into our language from Greek, Latin, French, German, and other languages.  With over 500,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary, it's no wonder that there is so much to learn!

     Our family was asked to use and review Word Roots (Level B2) by Critical Thinking Skills Company.  Kelsi looked at all of the online samples, and she chose this product, Word Roots (Level B2). 

     Kelsi (7th grade) has always enjoyed words:  saying, writing, reading, and spelling words.  She has done some work with roots, prefixes, and suffixes, from learning Latin for almost two years now, but she hasn't done anything that was extremely concentrated in the area of learning roots of words.

     Word Roots, in Kelsi's words, helped her to take apart words and figure out their meanings based on the roots that she was learning with this product.  She liked it so well that she would often take it to bed with her to use during her free reading time in the evening just before lights out!  I don't know that every child would like it as well as she did, but she does really enjoy learning more about words and languages.  She also wanted to study these roots on her own to help her with the upcoming homeschooling spelling bee in our community.  I would often find her on the couch, after her schoolwork had been completed, studying and working in this book.  Wow! 

     Kelsi's only concern with using Word Roots was that occasionally, two roots and their definitions would be so similar that it was sometimes difficult for her to distinguish the correct answer.  However, most of the time, she found the assignments to be at her level, albeit a bit challenging.  Kelsi completed half of this workbook during the month in which we were able to review this product. 

     Word Roots is a product designed more for the independent learner, rather than something used in whole group instruction.  This book focuses on Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes which are frequently found in the English language.

     Word Roots contains a pre-test, a post-test, the answers to the lessons and assignments, and a glossary in the back of the book. 

     An especially nice feature of this book is that it may be reproduced, so the entire family can use it to help prepare for state assessment tests, the CAT, the SAT, and more, as well as simply learning more about our complex English language. 

     There are 72 written activities in Word Roots.  This book has been designed for students ages 12 and up, or in grades 7 and up.  There are four separate levels of Word Roots:  Levels A1 and A2, and Levels B1 and B2. 

     Click below to view a sample of Word Roots:

     Have you used any of the Word Roots books before?  If you have, what did you think of them?

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