As a writer I have always loved words, finding just the right one to best express an idea or describe a scene. I wanted my children to develop a love for words too. Our family’s Word of The Week game was the answer. It was fun, easy and the children loved it. Here’s how it worked:
Every Monday morning I posted on the refrigerator door a 3×5 card with a word and it’s definition on it. Throughout the week we all used that word as often as possible -at the dinner table, in the car, going to and from school, anywhere we were together. By putting the word into sentences and using it in everyday conversation the children learned to express themselves and expanded their vocabulary without just memorizing. Since the kitchen and especially the refrigerator door was always a family focal point, nobody was likely to miss Monday morning’s new word of the week! And at week’s end to celebrate our favorite word we took a family trip to the ice cream parlor – double scoops for all! As the children grew so did the scope of the game. Soon it expanded to include synonyms, antonyms and homonyms just to keep it interesting!