Word Girl

Word Girl is a children's television show about a young girl who lives a double life as a superhero, fighting crime and teaching everyone new words. When I first heard of this show, my initial judgement was that it would be another boring attempt at educational programming. While vocabulary can be fascinating, it's not what immediately comes to your mind when you think of engaging, entertaining children's programming, but after watching a few episodes, I'm happy to report that the show is quite effective for its target audience.

Word girl is from the planet of Lexicon and when she cane to earth she was adopted by human parents who gave her the name Becky, but they don't know her true identity. The only one who seems to know about her double life is her pet monkey Bob. She tries to balance living a normal life with fighting crime in the city, brought on by various cooky villains, and she usually defeats them by somehow incorporating one of the words of the day. There are usually two new words that are defined in the show and they are explained and demonstrated throughout the length of the episode.

In an age when high school kids have trouble spelling basic words and the use of 'big words' are a source of uneasiness and even scorn, shows like this are really encouraging to see. We are in the information age, and yet our society grows increasingly more stupid. We should empower future generations with knowledge, not perpetuate ignorance and fear. Vocabulary is not indicative of a person's intelligence, but it becomes how one presents them self to the world. Lets have our kids 'dress' for success.