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Visual Vocabulary - any users?


OrganicMom
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I found this review, and it mentions the company gives 10% DISCOUNT if you email them first and mention this review (read down to the bottom of the review for details)-- dated may 2012 so pretty recent.

 

http://www.blueskiesacademy.com/2012/05/visual-vocabulary-giveaway/

 

Also, there are pictures of what you get, which, surprisingly, the company doesn't have on the website. Guess they're not a very visual business!

 

I am thinking of buying this expensive program-- but the words in the samples seem quite advanced for my 8 year olds and I find it unlikely that they would use these words on their own.

 

That also makes me wonder about long term retention.

 

I do see however some definite potential for kids seeing how words are built from roots-- the principle of it-- which I think will make them realize later that big words are just little words, with some extra assembly. I think even without retention this program would make the whole experience of big words less intimidating when kids get to the point where they begin to encounter them often, around 8-9 I think.

 

Also, if you have a kid who just loves to learn and use new words, big girl and big boy words or grown up words-- I suppose there are such kids-- then this would be a sure bet.

 

Can anyone who has used the program provide some specific description of their experiences?

 

That would be so awesome!!

 

thanks so much,

 

Alan

Edited by Writerdaddy
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Thanks so much for the discount info!

 

Very excited.

 

I plan to use these in a charlotte mason memory box fashion with both of my children. they won't have to memorize them word for word, but a few minutes everyday i want them to know what they mean or describe them to me before we move on. this is a far better resource for us than adding more workbook pages to them while they are still so young.

 

and $12.50 off will be nice. it seems that they are a small company and they may not respond fast/they may not have automated responses set up, too. :) but it seems thorough and high quality and perfect for my visual learner(s)

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I heard back from them. They sent me an invoice through Paypal with the discount. I ordered it.

 

I asked about the second volume and this was the response:

 

Also, it is our hope to have Volume 2 out in a digital format by September, with the Talking Points being delivered as a subscription throughout the 2012-2013 school year.

 

If that means no printed version, I will not be buying it again. I needs hands on for my dd and I am NOT printing those cards out. The cards are what sold me.

 

you should TELL THEM THAT! Please :) for me and the others that agree with you! :D

 

I MUCH prefer hard-copy MUCH!

 

BUT excited that there will be more :)

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I was thinking of getting a product with a similar concept - Marie's Words. It costs a lot less but I have not seen either product so can't directly compare them.

 

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Marie_s_Words_p/828-828.htm

 

uh oh, you recommended a timberdoodle product! :) i love them. how did i miss this one? thanks for the recommendation!

 

dang it, now to evaluate them both :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
This looked great to me at first BUT I don't see the root word addressed. I love that aspect of VV. Also, I looked at Marie's Words at Amazon and look how the word altercation is pronounced

 

http://www.amazon.com/Maries-Words-Vocabulary-Flash-Cards/dp/B006THMJCU?tag=duckduckgo-d-20

 

What is up with that? The price is fabulous for that many cards.

 

for me it is a difficult decision btwn the two, eventually I will probably just get them both b/c I am thinking that my daughter my prefer this way of vocabulary... and it will all help. BUT it may be that the cheaper one will win out this year.

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Marie's words seems great and at a great price-- but also seems it is a bit advanced for little ones? Looks like SAT prep, or am I missing something?

 

I did go ahead and order VV with the discount, but haven't been home yet to see it.

 

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Marie_s_Words_p/828-828.htm - here they say for all ages in the title and then it says 5+ in the age range for marie's words.

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Well I was thinking if there was only a digital product it would not be too much trouble to print out cards on cardstock, and then you would definitely have to laminate them-- you'd wind up with a similar result I guess.

 

As for Marie's Words-- the sample cards definitely seem a bit much for 5+, but if I was the seller, hey, why not target the biggest age range...

 

Also, an important distinction with VV (maybe someone said this already, dont remember) is that Marie's Words seem to be just about making visual puns that stick in the mind-- for singular words individually, while VV is about chains of association between words and their sources and derivatives.

 

MW does not seem as valuable to me for young children because recalling the meaning of a word brings up an association with an almost random, unrelated visual pun from the card, whereas in VV as far as I can tell, the associations have to do with the way our language patterns meaning, and the visual component refers directly to those meaning-associations, thus the meaningful structures are accessed and trained, which should be a deeper learning that lays a foundation for acquisition of further abilities to grok associations in the future. This seems certainly more appropriate for young learners.

 

However, there's nothing wrong with puns, pictures, and words in the other case-- that takes intelligence too, to decode them like puzzles.... so it's all good.

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You would need to fit your printer with external ink cartridges to by-pass the manufacturer's inflated ink monopoly. Then, just pour in inexpensive ink as needed. Every homeschooler should probably have such a printer outfitted.

 

Not sure about how much the card stock would cost though.

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I just received and started using my full Visual Vocabulary set, which I purchased at 10% discount (see above posts).

 

But I am not overly thrilled about it, and can guess why at least one other poster above was also underwhelmed. Never heard back about why, but I made a long post and review on the subject and I thought I would let you all know, since you may be subscribed to this thread.

 

I would really appreciate your help and comments. Here is the post:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?p=4199162#post4199162

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  • 3 months later...
Guest nickbradvica

Visual vocabulary has proven to be one of the most effective and fun learning methods. There is a relatively new product called Marie's Words with many reviews available on google. It contains 550 visual flash cards and costs only $30 with free shipping from the website www.marieswords.com

 

There are examples on the website and videos on YouTube.

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Guest nickbradvica

There is a relatively new product called Marie's Words. You can check out the website www.marieswords.com, or you can see its reviews on google. There is also a video on YouTube explaining how they work.

 

550 visual vocabulary flash cards come in a box, and they can be played as fun word games. The cards include a full-color, hand drawn illustration and mnemonic, proper spelling, part of speech, definition, contextual sentence, and synonyms and antonyms. They are hole-punched for a carry ring, and they are playing card size format with rounded edges for comfortable feel. Additionally, the striated color scheme eliminates distracting, white backgrounds.

 

The cards are endorsed for Kindergarten through College, and for learners with ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, Irlen syndrome, Alzheimers, Asperger's, and gifted learners, not to mention multi-sensory, visual, and context-based learners.

 

The box is only $30, and there is free shipping available on the website.

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