The Etiquette Factory Review

Disclosure:  As a member of Mosaic Reviews I was provided a kit from The Etiquette Factory for review.  Any and all opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced. My children are in love with Mary Manners (or at least it seems they are to me).  They have started to ditch their regular Disney and Nick Jr. DVD to spend time watching and re-watching their favorite lessons in the Etiquette Factory kit we are reviewing.  I can’t believe that they find manners fun and they are eager and excited to learn more about the subject.  I have to say we’ve been highly impressed with this program from the first day I opened up the kit.  We are currently reviewing the Etiquette for Beginners kit. Our kit included: * 2 – Two Hour Instructional DVDs * Teacher’s Manual * Etiquette Jukebox CD * 4 Etiquette “Set Right” Placemats The beginners kit is geared towards children preschool to fourth grade.  This was perfect for our children and that means they get started at the right time.  As parents my husband and I already try our best to instill good manners into our children.  Teaching them how to greet people, responding with “Yes Sir or Yes Maam”, shaking hands, proper table manners, and things of that nature but the lessons in this kit breaks it all down so it’s so simple and easy for the kids to understand.  Like the Etiquette “Set Right” Placemats, they have fostered so many conversations with our children about the the utensils to use when having a formal dinner.  First they start by asking about the photos they recognize on the mat and then ask about the one they didn’t.  I then talked to them about each item and what they use it for during dinner.  We are planning a formal dinner for Mother’s Day weekend and we will be using the mats to set the table for the kids. My kids really enjoyed the DVD part of the kit.  Each week has four days of lessons with the fifth day being used for activity time from the teacher’s manual.  On the first day Mary Manners introduces herself and discusses the importance of having manners.  She always tells a story that usually sets up the lesson of the week.  The program is set up as a twelve week program and at the end you can have you kids go online (with your help) and answer a few questions to get a certificate of completion.  The first week talks about “What is Etiquette?”  Then Saying Hello, Kindness, Sharing, Magic Words, Cleaning Up, Table Manners, Good Hygiene, The “No” Word, Sincere Apologies, Being a Guest and A Clean Mouth is a Cherished Gift.   The hits in our house so far are Kindness and Cleaning  Up.  The kids really loved the song connected to those weeks.  Since the lesson has the song repeated for a few days they kids really get a good feel for it.  They always want to listen to those two songs over and over again.  I’ve even heard them singing the songs when we were not watching the video and also in every day situations.  When one of them is not being nice the other would say “You are not being kind” or “That’s not kindness.”  They use the cleaning up song to get them cleaning and helping around the house.  It’s fun for them.  As we progress through the lesson I am sure they’ll find more songs to love just like your kids will. The Teacher’s Manual has all you need to further continue the messages in the videos.  Each story that Mary Manners shares is in the book so you can read them to your children over and over again.  There are discussion questions and activities for the end of the week.  The book is small and won’t pick up a lot of space.  The Etiquette Jukebox CD is another way to take the learning on the road with you and the keep the kids busy on long car trips.

 

Check out this short video clip of some of the songs in the Beginners kit.

Overall it’s a great kit and the best part is that the learning doesn’t stop at fourth grade.  They Etiquette Factory also features an Intermediate and for fourth grade and up and a Masters for teens.  The Intermediate has 125 lessons and it’s created for your children to teach the lessons to themselves and other family members. You can view a sample lesson here.  The Masters covers so many areas from dating to college roommates.  It is sure to also be a valuable asset for your teen.

Buy Online

You can purchase all the tools online.  Check out the online store here.

• Beginner’s Kit – $69.95 for the whole kit that I received.  You can purchase them individually as well.
• Intermediate Book – $29.95
• Masters Book – $9.95
• Set Right Placemats – $16.00 (set 4)

You can also connect with them on Facebook they sometimes post giveaways and other offers on their page.