Ali in OR Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I've been having my 8 yo dd use my collegiate dictionary but she has trouble finding words in it. I think the type is too small and with all of the word derivation information, it can be hard to find the definition. Is there a good children's dictionary that has larger type and lots of words? I don't want it to be limited to fairly simple vocabulary. That will be more frustrating if she needs to find a word and it's not in the dictionary! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Ah, the eternal dictionary conundrum. Dictionaries that are abridged virtually never have words that I need to look up - and the kids' dictionaries are so abridged that they never even have the words my kids want to look up! And dictionaries that have more challenging words are so big that they're unwieldy. I think the answer is that someone should come out with a dictionary that has only the hard words. Does anyone really need to look up cat and house? Why when they abridge them do they take out the uncommon words, not the common ones? Who needs a dictionary for common words (and if there is a demand, it has been more than met!) In the meantime, there's always dictionary.com - though that certainly doesn't teach dictionary skills... sigh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Dictionaries that are abridged virtually never have words that I need to look up - and the kids' dictionaries are so abridged that they never even have the words my kids want to look up!This is our problem. We use a digital version of The Shorter Oxford, and we also occasionally look up words in the print version for the practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I just ordered the high-school level of Merriam Webster's for my ds. We had the same problem with the Elementary version. We have a giant old unabridged dictionary that is wonderful. It's hardcover and probably weighs 10 pounds. However, we needed something a little more portable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hose Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I like the American Heritage Student Dictionary (not the children's dictionary). This is the one Sonlight recommends and I can see why. The font size is very good, syllabification is included, and there are some pictures (usually one per page). It's very age appropriate for upper elementary, though my middle schooler also uses it to good measure. This is a student dictionary that will grow with your child. I bought mine used through Abe Books. I love Abe Books! :) HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtolgd Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 We have the American Heritage Children's Dictionary, and just started using it with 8yo ds. So far it is working great for us and he says it is his favorite part of school now! I have read here that the American Heritage Student Dictionary is really good, better than the Children's one. We found the Children's one for a great price, though, so I bought it for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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