to charm an unenthused and skeptical student into learning his least favorite subject — vocabulary.
At our big Thanksgiving get-together, Prairie was running outside with her cousins after the big meal. She paused beside Sid, clutching her side and commented, “Daddy, I wish cramps were not so ubiquitous.“
While writing this post, I hear the sounds of industry in the kitchen. Sid and the kids are cleaning up, making popcorn and hot chocolate in preparation for watching Elf. I also hear Rachel mock-scolding one of her brothers. “You are treating me like an insolent bully, and here I am making you popcorn!”
I am especially thrilled because those two vocabulary words — ubiquitous and insolent — were not part of this week’s list. We studied those words weeks ago, so they are retaining their new words long term. An added bonus — when one child uses a vocabulary word within hearing of another child, it reinforces the learning for the hearing child as well.
Another added benefit to studying vocabulary as a family, with varying ages —– the older, non-enthusiastic student thinks his little sisters using their big words are so darn cute that vocabulary study seems less onerous, and the memory of their cuteness reinforces HIS learning.
I label our vocabulary studies a success!
Prairie Sings 