Lone Star Learning is a Texas-based company that offers educational products for Reading, Math, and Science for grades K-8. For this review, I received the Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1, which retails for $29.99.
The cards come in sets of 40, and they are 5.5″ x 8.5,” full color, and are coated. I love the size of the cards. They’re not too large, not too small. They are almost like cardstock, in that they’re not bendy like, say, printer paper would be. They will still tear, though, so be sure to keep an eye on any little ones who handle them! Each card shows a vocabulary word, and has pictures within the word to show its meaning. The card sets are NOT arranged by grade level, so you do need to look over the word lists to see what will work for your child(ren). There are 5 word lists to choose from!
As a side note, initially I was sent Target Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 by mistake, however, Lone Star Learning allowed me to keep this set, too. They also retail for $29.99 What great customer service! I received the smaller cards, which are 5.5″ x 4.25,″ still a great size and easy to see. We used these mainly to work on learning shape names for Math.
With both sets of cards, there was also a sheet that includes different ways to utilize the cards, such as Word of the Day, writing poetry, and categorizing. There is also a card in each set that lists the actual definition to each word. I really love this because, even though I may know the meaning of a word, it’s sometimes difficult for me to word the definition clearly myself.
I used these cards mostly with Rachelle and Issac, who are in 6th and 4th grade, respectively. I also tried them out with Ethan, who is in 2nd grade, but since he is a struggling reader, they didn’t works as well for him. Most of the words are fairly “big” words. Rach and Issac mostly read the words and discussed the definitions. In addition, we did also work on the category aspect, and writing/copywork practice as well. My only complaint is, the pictures on the card could be a little confusing, and we had some difficulty trying to figure out which letter the picture was supposed to represent. Rachelle and Issac definitely had an easier time grasping the picture concept than Ethan did. I like that these cards can be used for both Reading AND Science. You could even use these words for spelling tests if you wanted, without having to make up your own list!
Overall, I do like these cards. The quality is nice, they are very clear and easy to see. For us, they seem betters suited for mid-elementary children, or those who are more confident in their reading. Lone Star Learning offers lots of other educational products as well. Head on over and check them out!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.
