Marie’s Words review

We received a free product for the purpose of writing this review. Our family only reviews items that we actually find valuable and are able to be 100% honest about regarding our experience. We received no monetary compensation for our opinion. Links contained in this post may direct to affiliate sites.

Once, quite a few years ago, I had a child who decided to try out cussing. You may have guessed we’re not really big fans of cursing around here, but when it comes to words in general, we are a family that has no shortage. Imagine my surprise as we sat at the table and my sweet little dumpling of an offspring rolled out one doozy of an exclamation. Yes, it was a quality moment– especially since the bulk of the small people at the table had absolutely no clue what the word meant and immediately set about pestering to find out what it was. By repeating it, of course.

In that moment, as I sputtered to find more than “we don’t use words like that!” to say, I realized it might be a good idea to formally set forth a manifesto, of sorts. Something that sums up the power of words, their value, and how we should carefully measure them before setting them free to bless or curse those around us.

What we came up with has worked for our family, and also gave shape to a purposeful push to give all of us– even our younger members— more words. Descriptive, rich words that make the trashy ones so often flung about in society show up as the poor imitations that they are. Essentially, I have set about trying to give my children golden chalice words, so they don’t have to stop in the street and pick up a discarded aluminum can when they want a drink.

Now, I could make this a boring worksheet endeavor. But, come on. Language is a living, breathing beast. There are so many fun ways to add vocabulary to your life. Marie’s Words is one of them.

Marie's Words

Part of Timberdoodle’s 4th grade Curriculum Kit, Marie’s Words is also an excellent stand-alone tool for families of all ages. The illustrations make even big words approachable for young kids (and are self-explanatory for older ones), and are an education tool in and of themselves. Playing games, plucking a few to have a teenager work into a story, pulling a card at meals, even just randomly walking by, snagging a card and talking about it… the ways to use these cards are only limited by your imagination.

Card fronts pair the word with a memorable image, and trust me, the device works. The backs offer pronunciation, definition, synonyms and antonyms, and a sentence. Basically, everything you’d find on a boring, black and white word list… in color, and actually engaging.

For test prep, for challenging elementary learners, for just having around the house to consult in a dull moment of down time, for helping to make sure that you’re never caught at a loss at the dinner table with a four-letter bomb hanging in the air and nothing on hand to counteract it– we love Marie’s Words.

Marie's Words Review

 

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