Mrs Wordsmith Review

When Mrs Wordsmith got in touch with me, I did not hesitate to agree to find out more about them and give it a go, so today we will share our Mrs Wordsmith review.

It’s no secret that I am very passionate about literacy here and am always encouraging the kids with their reading, writing and storytelling, so this seemed to be absolutely perfect for us. And as I like to think of you, there is also the chance for one of you to win a Mrs Wordsmith subscription, so do read on…

Mrs Wordsmith pack

Mrs Wordsmith was created by a UK mum who wanted to help her children fall in love with words.

I can’t help but feel that she and I would get on well. Boo has been working on her story-telling and ‘wow words’ recently at school, so Mrs Wordsmith’s arrival in our home has been perfectly timed.

How​ Mrs Wordsmith ​Works

Mrs Wordsmith’s machine learning team and Cambridge University Professor Ted Briscoe have mined the English language and identified the 10,000 most important words to help children succeed at school. These are the words children will find in books, magazines, the Internet and reference materials.

These words have been brought to life through hilarious illustrations by Craig Kellman, the award-winning Hollywood artist behind kids’ movies like Madagascar and Hotel Transylvania, because according to neuroscientific theory the mind remembers humour best.

The programme includes 6 workbooks, 6 packs of word cards, and 6 packs of illustrated inserts.

It covers 6 different storytelling themes, including character, weather, taste and smell, actions, emotions, and setting.

If the subscription pack option is chosen, kids receive new materials each month (1 workbook, 1 pack of word cards, and 1 set of illustrated word inserts)

It does work with the national curriculum, is best for 7-12 year olds and is also suitable for children with dyslexia. Mrs Wordsmith is available as a six month subscription, or the full six months can be purchased as a one off gift pack.

In order to share this with you, we received the full Mrs Wordsmith programme in a one-off gift pack.  It’s a big box, jam-packed with words and illustrations, as pictured above.

Mrs Wordsmith centres around its folder which contains all of the words, broken down into the 6 storytelling themes with dividers.

Mrs Wordsmith folder

Mrs Wordsmith checklist

Mrs Wordsmith binder

As you can see, words are illustrated to help to bring them to life, and then descriptions are given along with word pairs and examples.

This isn’t a case of just learning words as spellings by rote, but aims to provide context around each word so that children can use them confidently in their work and understand them whilst they’re reading.

Reading is not enough on its own in learning these words and the self-directed learning drives more engagement.

They are words that are likely to crop up in books, so knowing them should allow children to read more fluently, which is bound to make it a more enjoyable experience.

Mrs Wordsmith literature

There are then 6 workbooks containing each word to complete.

The message that comes through with these activities is very much ‘little and often’. Boo will not be learning all of these words this month!

I can see how the subscription option works well to slow the pace in that way.

It’s recommended that just a page or two are completed each day, so children are only absorbing 1-2 new words daily.

These worksheets all come ready hole-punched so they can then be slotted into the ring-binder. Alternatively, they could be popped up on the wall or fridge to act as handy reminders.

Mrs Wordsmith books

Mrs Wordsmith workbooks

There are also corresponding cards which are designed for ease of carrying around with you, and work well as fast prompts.

I think that once Boo has worked her way through these and is comfortable with the new vocabulary, we will use these in the form of a game as story prompts.

Mrs Wordsmith cards

Mrs Wordsmith Review

Mrs Wordsmith is like nothing else that I have seen before. It’s a way of bringing vocabulary to life in a fun and achievable way.

I will hold my hands up and say that this is the type of product that is going to appeal to me as a bookworm and a blogger, reading and writing play a huge part in my life. So yes, I wanted to like Mrs Wordsmith, I wanted it to be interesting for Boo. And fortunately, it has not disappointed.

The illustrations throughout the packs are bright and colourful, and often funny, so both kids have taken to it straight away.

It’s a game to them, which is just how it should be, and Boo is enjoying working her way through it.

It needs to be used, talked about and played with to ensure it’s really engaged with.

I like to know the words that Boo is working on, as then we can chat about them, put them into sentences and look for them when we read.

It’s becoming a daily challenge to see whether we can both use the latest word in conversation that day which means that I’m having fun with it, let alone Boo!

Whilst the worksheets will obviously be completed, I can also see that we’ll be able to keep this for the time that Little Man is ready to play with it. And I do think it’s key that he does see it as something to ‘play’ with.

This is not extra homework, this is an interesting programme with perfectly manageable daily tasks.

Boo’s enjoying it and I am already seeing the improvements in her vocabulary so I’ll be interested to see whether it starts to filter into her written work at school soon. We are Mrs Wordsmith fans!

If this has tempted you to get this for your children, then I do have a discount code for you – just type ReadingResidence in the coupon code box on the website and get your first month free!

Competition Time!

Would you like to win a six month subscription to Mrs Wordsmith? Of course you would! Enter using the rafflecopter below now. The competition closes at 12 am 30th December 2017 and is open to UK entrants only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What do you like about Mrs Wordsmith?

Disclosure: I received this product FOC for the purposes of this post, though all opinions are my own

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79 thoughts on “Mrs Wordsmith Review”

  1. I love the look of this. My son is 11 and is articulate and imaginative: the illustrations and humour will really appeal to him. He is dyslectic and finds reading and writing a challenge so this resource could give him the excitement and confidence to persevere.

  2. Christina Howard

    I love the illustrations and how the words are grouped. Its a great resource to use with children to increase their vocabulary.

  3. I would so love to win this. I love that it is so visual and it looks engaging and exciting – a fabulous way to boost vocabulary and help with spelling. It would be perfect to use with my dyslexic daughter and the children I am going to start working with in the new year when I return to teaching!

  4. My children would love this. My daughter is just learning to read and my son is dyslexic so this would be a great way to encourage him!

  5. I like the fact that this takes up so little time each day. We have busy schedules and time is precious but this looks like it could make a real difference in a short space of time.

  6. This sounds great! I like the idea of having it as a subscription so that you can keep up the excitement by introducing something new every month. Great that there has been a lot of research behind the idea too.

  7. I literally love everything about Mrs Wordsmith and what this Amazing woman has created and given to the world. I WOuld have never come across this if it wasn’t for your post and i would be truely grateful to win this. My daughter struggles with her words and spellings but with this kit with it’s beautiful illustrations and workbooks would help so much. AMAZING giveaway ?

  8. Seems like a great way of encouraging children to learn, whilst aiding their understanding :- Lasting learning which may broaden their horizons, and increase their life opportunities.

  9. My 10 year old is currently being assesed by a paediatrition as he is 2 years behind at school and this would help tremendously x

  10. I like the idea of a challenge to see if the latest word can be used in a conversation. It really broadens a child’s vocabulary.

  11. Cristín Williams

    Learning with pictures, my son has recently become more interested in writing having won a competition for a poem he wrote in school. one of his traits related to his Aspergers is his short attention span so I really think the pictures and the ability to spread the learning out over time would encourage his creativity and help him enjoy writing moe.

  12. I love the bright colours and illustrations, something that will really entice and encourage the children to learn. I love it. Great Review, very helpful to understanding the product better.

  13. I would love to win this for my sons, I think it is a really educational but interactive pack for the kids. My son who is 6 would love to be a author and something like this would definitely help with his dreams of this. I have not seen anything like this on the market what a good idea. Fingers crossed 🙂

    1. I don’t know about these exact products, but there’s a link to the Mrs Wordsmith website at the top of my blog post. Hope you find what you’re looking for.

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