Cardword
Westwind Games

Developed out of a desire to create a game that was simple to learn for virtually all ages yet adaptable and open structured for infinitely customizable variations, Cardword combines word and sentence creation as its core elements. The game is the brainchild of inventor Steve Walsh of Westwind Games. With professional input from educators and gaming experts, the game details were fine tuned utilizing play-testing by kids and adults to assure that the "Fun" element was captured. Although extremely simple to learn, Cardword requires strategy and trading skills that challenge each player's level of abilities and encourage creative thinking.

Consisting of an extensive playing deck of 200 cards, Cardword incorporates a card deck of individual letters, an extra letters deck and a word deck. This innovative, multi-tiered combination allows playing options for both word creation games as well as sentence forming games.

Starting off with simple three letter word games perfect for younger children, Cardword can easily expand into four, five and six letter word games. Alternatively, games can focus on the creation of specialty words like nouns, verbs and prepositions or categories like animals, states or items of clothing. Using the unique Cardword Word-Cards, players can create grammatically correct but funny nonsense sentences that keep kids laughing and entertained for hours.

"Kids usually shy away from "educational" toys and games because they are usually perceived as "boring", but Cardword incorporates fun as its major element so effectively that kids don't even think of the game as a "learning or educational" game," explains Mr. Walsh. "After one play session they become hooked."

"One of the unique aspects of Cardword is that young children can
immediately grasp the concept and start playing and enjoying games. They soon learn however, that endless variations of games are possible by using their creativity and imagination," continues Mr. Walsh. The instructions clearly state that the only truly important rule of Cardword is to "Have Fun!"

"We wanted to develop a game that appealed to a wide audience and was so versatile that parents could sit down with their children and both could have fun playing together. That is part of the magic of Cardword. The game is not locked into any age group but will grow with any child's learning skills. At the same time it can be just as entertaining for adults who may opt for such games as "Pokerchip" Cardword for competitive and mentally engrossing evenings of fun," continues Walsh.

Teachers and educators are particularly excited about the creative
educational elements incorporated into Cardword. Home schooling expert Jane Boswell of Home Education and Family Services in Gray Maine notes that "Cardword is a great educational tool that encompasses many uses. It is quick, easy and fast which is perfect for younger children but also can be used with older children for competitive team play and exercises in collaboration building."

"Cardword is a versatile game that can easily be integrated into any language arts program," continues Ms. Boswell. "Because it is so simple to learn and fun to play, I find that Cardword helps reluctant readers gain confidence and become engaged in word and sentence formation, improving their English sentence skills and helping to strengthen their reading skills. As an educator I like learning tools that are simple but effective. The cards of Cardword, have no distracting colors or pictures, which is perfect as it allows the child to focus directly on the letters and words. In addition to being such an effective and versatile game the pricing at $9.95 is "perfect" which makes the game accessible to all."

"In an age of fast paced, highly graphic, sensory-numbing computer and video games it is refreshing and also a testament to simple fun that an innovative card game with letters and words can engage such a variety of people in captivating ways," shares Mr. Walsh. This game is powered by imagination.Cardword is not available in stores. You may purchase it ($9.95 plus $3.00 S&H) directly from Westwind Games by calling their 24/7 toll-free number at 800-713-7976 or by visiting: http://www.Cardword.com.


Resource Reviews

Rosetta Stone Foreign Language Programs
Reviewed by Jillian and Jeff Goodwin

My husband and I were on a quest to find a good foreign language program to add to our homeschool curriculum. After reviewing many of the top name programs, we were introduced to Rosetta Stone. Languages have always been an interest to my husband and me, so we wanted to find an entertaining and interactive program that would catch our children’s imagination, something different than the run of the mill audio tape and book set. The Rosetta Stone computer software is easy to use and is far better than the books we have reviewed.

Using interactive lessons that build upon previous steps already mastered, Rosetta manages to keep your children learning because they are really having fun. The program is set up so a student can begin at any point and progress at their own pace. Level 1 is for beginners who have never studied the language before and levels 2 and 3 progress through more advanced lessons to increase fluency. By logging in to the program, you can bookmark your place as well as track performance.

There is also a good degree of flexibility to this program. While many people like to begin with listening skills in order to gain fluency in speaking, this approach does not work for everyone. Rosetta makes allowance for learning differences by providing the option of choosing the skill you want to focus on for each lesson. The choices: listening, reading, speaking and writing. This helps avoid frustration with a new language if your student is feeling "stuck" temporarily on one skill. The student can still continue to move forward in their language acquisition and return to other skills when they are comfortable.

Rosetta began using a new way to learn languages in the form of video additions. Beginning in level 3, your child will begin using this very effective method by either listening to the audio, or choosing to read the script and listen at the same time. This method will not only help learn proper pronunciation, but improve their overall retention of the material.

The program works for non-readers and readers alike. It starts with simple words and phrases and builds on them as your child goes through each lesson. It does not focus on grammar and word definitions, but instead uses real life situations to allow the learner to associate the vivid imagery with the meanings of each new phrase or word allowing children to identify with the situations and make a cognitive connection. This is the same method that infants use to acquire language skills. This method is superb especially for younger children because grammar can be the killing zone for a young child’s love of language. While grammar is not overtly emphasized, it will come through the natural use of the new language; again much in the same way a child learns

English grammar skills through the proper use of words.
The software moves the learner away from their native language and forces them to actually "think" in the target language focusing on listening and understanding and, notably, the pronunciation which is of excellent quality. Rosetta Stone uses male and female voices that aid in tuning the ear to the language.

Rosetta Stone provides exceptional practice for listening, speaking, reading and writing. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency. A typical lesson is presented in a truly innovative format. Each section involves lessons that collectively introduce a small set of words/ideas or phrases such as, "girl", "boy", "cat", "dog", or "The girls are not going to jump. The boy is going to jump." "The girls are not jumping. The boy is jumping." These are presented in: (a) a written form, (b) a spoken form and (c) a visual form. The lessons are organized to build on preceding ones so that you are able to progress from "a girl", to "The girls have not jumped. The boy has jumped." And so on. By having the freedom to choose between these three forms, for instance, listening to the spoken form and choosing the response from a photo, a student can navigate through the material at their own pace, using their own natural learning styles.

Students could go through an entire program using only spoken prompts if that was their preferred way of learning. Additionally, since this has the benefit of offering written, spoken and pictorial "modalities", one is engaging in an actual "experience in the language" - the ideal way to learn.

An area in which this system stands head and shoulders above the competition is in how it aids the student in mastering the skill of speaking the new language. Did you every wonder if you were actually pronouncing the words and phrases correctly? With Rosetta Stone, you record your voice and compare it to how a native speaker pronounces the language. This is great fun for all ages! The innovative speech recognition software actually gives a voiceprint and graded meter to indicate how well the student matches the native pronunciation.

Another favorite option (of ours) allows you to modify the "native speaker’s voice". (This is very difficult to do if you are actually conversing with a Spaniard, German or Italian! We have experienced, first hand, the frustration of asking a Spanish-speaking friend to please slow down or repeat his last phrase.) You can play the "native speaker’s voice" at normal speed (the default), or you can slow the speaker’s pronunciation to distinguish words, syllables and sounds. I found this to be particularly helpful, especially in the beginning stages of learning to process the new sounds.

Grammar and vocabulary is included but never drilled. The student will learn it through the natural processes of using the language. This method of teaching helps children remember their lessons because they understand and experience the language as it is used in a practical way. If you are serious about learning another language, this is the way!

Rosetta Stone offers a free trial CD without obligation. Visit their web site: http://rosettastone.com

Field Mate Guides for
Baseball and Soccer
by Jane Boswell
You don’t have to spend valuable time reading a sports manual. You don’t have to watch that same twenty dollar text bounce, wind-tossed, across the open field after carefully propping it open to the the chapter, ?Teach Johnny to Catch?, and securing it to the ground with a large rock.

Let’s face it, the important terms in teaching kids how to play a game are ?play? and ?game?. Nobody wants to transform into a whistle bound, sweats-clad, high school gym teacher lugging a ten pound rules manual around under one arm, and slinging a bag of baseballs over the other. If the aim is to get outside, throw a ball around with our offspring while avoiding a trip to the emergency room, then Jim Angarone, author of the Field-Mate Guides, has come to the rescue.
For those of us who had a less than perfect experience with sports during our tender youth (about 90 per cent of the population) and still suffer from a degree of sports-phobia, Field-Mate Guides are perfect. Here we have just the right amount of information to teach our kids (and ourselves) the proper techniques of throwing, pitching, hitting and catching a baseball OR passing, receiving, goalkeeping, dribbling and heading a soccer ball. And much more.

Each Guide is a goldmine of information designed to give anyone the confidence and edge needed to teach the fundamentals AND have fun! And better yet, it’s all neatly arranged on three double sided, heavily laminated, (and very nifty) pages, AND spiral-bound-to-lay-flat-on-almost-any-surface. You can take them anywhere and spill anything on them - no problem. Field-Mate is a winner at $7.95! Thanks Jim!