Hot Lava Mama Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I have been teaching my kids how to use an "old fashioned" dictionary. They resist, of course, but can do it. I was wondering what most of you do when it comes time for them to use the dictionary on their own (such as during a writing assignment). Do you let them use an electronic dictionary? Both my older kids have electronic dictionaries, but they are for a younger age, so they don't have many of the words they need to look up for their vocabulary work. I am thinking of getting them a better "big person" kind of one because we could avoid the frustration they feel when they are trying to work on a writing assignment and want to look up a word. They will usually either not do it, or rely on "Word" to catch the mistake for them. They find it frustrating because they are not quick at it. I'm not sure if I would be hindering or helping them if I got rid of the frustration part so they could focus on the "product" of their paper and not get hung up on the spelling of a word. What do you think? Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Can anyone hear me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi, I am not sure of your kids ages, but this is what I do: For my 8 year old, she is doing Writing Tales which has her look up 3 words as part of an assignment, write down their definition and one in a sentence. She doesn't seem bothered by this at all. I started doing a casual "word of the day/week". Not even every day. For example, one day it was really windy so I taught them the word "wind chill" and showed my 6 year old how to look it up. I explain this is one of my blog posts. I just started the blog so I don't know how to link to that one post, sorry. But if you scroll down you'll see what I am talking about, etc. I figure it is a nice, easy to start getting them into the dictionary. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I have been teaching my kids how to use an "old fashioned" dictionary. They resist, of course, but can do it. I was wondering what most of you do when it comes time for them to use the dictionary on their own (such as during a writing assignment). Do you let them use an electronic dictionary? Both my older kids have electronic dictionaries, but they are for a younger age, so they don't have many of the words they need to look up for their vocabulary work. I am thinking of getting them a better "big person" kind of one because we could avoid the frustration they feel when they are trying to work on a writing assignment and want to look up a word. They will usually either not do it, or rely on "Word" to catch the mistake for them. They find it frustrating because they are not quick at it. I'm not sure if I would be hindering or helping them if I got rid of the frustration part so they could focus on the "product" of their paper and not get hung up on the spelling of a word. What do you think? Hot Lava Mama Mine doesn't use an electronic dictionary. But also doesn't stop in the midst of writing to look things up. Spelling is a separate step, and at this stage, I am still the main dictionary, and most often am still the one to model looking things up (usually for meaning, not spelling) in our real bound type dictionary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I let dd6 use the electronic dictionary on the iPad while reading or if we're talking and she asks what a word means. If looking up a definition is part of a lesson we use an actual paper dictionary. I think the one we have is the Webster Student or College version (it's at my office where we do lessons so I can't check right now). For example, almost every Latin lesson includes looking up the definitions of at least two derivatives. I don't make her look up words for correct spelling. She is a good natural speller so doesn't spell much wrong but when she does I just correct her and have her fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I collect dictionaries as well as other reference books. I use the tool that works best. Different dictionaries have different strengths. Some have better pronunciation charts, some have better definitions, some have better word histories, some have better sample sentences. I'll often look the same word up, in up to five dictionaries. I believe that a child that grows up with a home reference library, is a truly blessed child. When they start writing papers with references, most online resources are frowned on. If they have learned which hardcopy resources are best for what, they will be way ahead of many of their peers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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