Spelling and Vocabulary Lists

I spent months - nearly an entire year - looking for a non-consumable spelling/vocab book for my kids, and kept coming up empty-handed. I remember the spelling books I used in elementary school, but they're no longer in print, and the local school district doesn't have them anymore. So I looked into workbooks, but quickly decided they cost much more than I was willing to spend. For a while I came up with lists of words on my own, but I felt like I was quickly running out of ideas. I began scouring the internet for lists of words that would be appropriately challenging for my kids. There was so much available, but I noticed that many were only accessible via subscription, and others were only for a specific grade level - there was no option to move to another grade level within the site. Then I found AAA Spell (link is to the second grade lists, but you can easily navigate to other levels as needed). It had lists of words for first thru eighth grades! This is my current favorite site for my kids' spelling and vocab. My oldest uses it as a vocabulary builder by finding definitions for each word, and when he's quizzed each week, I give him the definition, and he has to figure out the correct word, as well as the correct spelling.

So many vocabulary resources now give one or two words daily, but there's no time to review and practice the words in order to integrate them into your life - they're just words on a page. I want to give my children a broad vocabulary of words they'll actually use and understand so they can describe the nuances of life and their experiences vividly. In order to do this, they need to learn not just that the words exist, but what they mean and how to use them in a sentence. They need to incorporate them into themselves, and they need more than just one day to do that. So we talk about the words, look up definitions in the dictionary, use them in sentences, quiz on meanings, talk about synonyms and antonyms, and point them out in our reading. They also gain valuable study skills in using the dictionary, learning to alphabetize, and preparing for the weekly quizzes.

My kindergartener does things a little differently for now. We're still working on writing letters and learning the phonics of each. So every Monday, we make a list of words that use the letter of the week. When the letter has multiple phonics, we make sure to explore all of them - long and short vowel sounds, hard and soft consonants, and letters whose phonics change when combines with others (ch-, ph-, sh-, th-, etc.). Once we finish the alphabet, we'll move on to words that rhyme (-at words, for example: bat, cat, fat, etc.). Once he's got a handle on how phonics work and is more confident in his reading and writing abilities, we'll gradually switch to the method I'm using with my oldest.

Of course, you can do whatever you want with these lists. Whatever method works best for you and your student(s) can be made to work with these lists of words. My purpose in writing this particular post is just to give a resource. If you have spelling/vocab resources that are great, please feel free to share them in the comments! I'm always looking for new things, and I know most other homeschooling families are as well.