Hey Siri, Call Webster

The American Scholar ^ | January 18, 2024 | Kelly McMasters

[kawhill]

Not long ago, my son asked me about the meaning of a word in a novel he was reading for his fifth-grade book club.

“Look it up,” I responded, my automatic rejoinder when my children ask me the meaning of a word, which is often.

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TOPICS: Books/Literature; Computers/Internet; Science
KEYWORDS: learning; new; words

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Why are people assuming there is no husband?

Because she wrote a book about her divorce?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

When my kids asked me the meaning of a word I told them. Why be so antagonistic?

Because someday they will be adults and you will not be there to carry them. They need to know what to do when you are not there.

One of the cubs school mates has parents who do everything for him with the consequence that the poor boy does not know how to "grab a sandwich". To him that means calling his parent to call for a delivery.

Assembling a BLT is beyond him.

On the other side our cubs can all feed themselves by taking raw ingredients and turning them into a meal.

Let them come to you for knowledge and interaction. You are their parent.

The job of a parent is to rise the child into a functional, brave, self sufficient, kind hearted adult.

[Persevero]

Yes there are lots of times when I am not there. I can also as a parent let them know what a dictionary is. If I don’t know the meaning, we can look together. Nowadays it’s all screen, screen, screen. . . do I want to train them to go to the computer for all their questions? I do not!

It’s not coddling to answer a question. They should come to you with questions! Part of the answer may be to teach them how to solve something, but, “look it up” is a brusque brushoff that shows you don’t care enough to answer.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Part of the answer may be to teach them how to solve something, but, “look it up” is a brusque brushoff that shows you don't care enough to answer.

I am going to disagree with you. The beginning when you are teaching them to read is "let's look it up". You also wants to do this because, especially as they get older and the words more complex, you maybe wrong. The word excise can mean to cut something out when you are using it at a verb but it can mean a tax when used as a noun.

The next step is "what did it say when you looked it up?" If they are reading books that are from other countries the word may mean something entirely different there.

In this case by telling him to look something up she found that he really did not know how. It she had just answered she would have blithely kept sailing along not knowing that a crucial part of his education was neglected.

[Persevero]

Perhaps we agree. The key word is “let’s.”

Too often I see parents dismiss frequent questions and conversation from children. The kids learn that they can’t be bothered. They go elsewhere for information and basic communication and that is not ideal.