Building Language

by Michael Clay Thompson

Recommended for grades 3 & 4, Building Language provides an introduction to Latin stems as the bases for much of the English and Spanish languages. Using the analogy of the arch in architecture, the book explores the Roman roots of our buildings and of our language. Ten lessons introduce important Latin stems, providing an intellectual key for young students to understand that big words aren't necessarily hard. It rejects the specious confines of teaching age-graded vocabulary.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[J. Boo]

Leads up to the "Caesar's English" program for advanced elementary students (5-6?). This is more basic, with Latin roots suitable for grade 3-4 vocabulary study.

[Ardyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't give it a resounding thumbs up as too many pages felt like half of the (minimal) text was filler repetitive instructions... but it wasn't painful to do, and for beginning with Latin stem studies that's very important imo.

We won't be continuing with MCT's vocabulary books, though. I looked closely at Caesar's English 1 before we finished this one & decided it wasn't a good fit for us.