Dictionaries

I remember when I was homeschooling my older children every curriculum recommended a dictionary. That was the must have to complete any curriculum you chose. I have hung on to the dictionary that my kid’s used way back when. The other day in our reading, Selena came across a new word, she read it then asked, “Mama what does that word mean?” Not even thinking I grabbed the dictionary off the shelf and said let’s look it up. With a little assistance Selena found the word easily and we learned the definition of the word and how it is used in a sentence.

After we put our school work away, Selena now fascinated with the dictionary grabbed it and planted herself on the floor. She kept asking me to give her words. She worked very hard to think of how each word sounded and found them all in the dictionary. I did start with some easy words at first that I knew would either have a picture like bird, or words I knew she would easily recognize when she seen it. We then proceeded on to harder more difficult words. Selena looked each and every word up with little effort. She then decided the dictionary would be an interesting book to just sit and read, so she could learn all sorts of new words, according to her.

She loves her new found tool, and I am thrilled that I did indeed hang on to this little treasure. It is so easy for us today to run to the computer and with a quick search find the meaning of any word we want, but I think it is even greater when a child takes the time to learn how to find that same word in the pages of a dictionary.