My son checked out a dictionary

Only my son----he chose to check out a dictionary as one of his 2 library books for the week.

Dr. C taught them about the dictionary today and he wasn't finished looking at "all the new words" and "their definitions" so he asked if he could bring it home.

He was so excited he stopped a teacher in the hall and showed it to her.

Ironically.....I read a blog post this morning by one of my favorite Kindergarten on teaching kinders big words. www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com

She said other teachers complained that in her units she sells on TPT some of the vocabulary words were not appropriate for Kinders. Specifically that she shouldn't use metamorphosis in her butterfly unit. REALLY?!?!

And then today....I was reading Duck For President to my kiddos. We talked about the words governor and autobiography because they were in the text. Some got it and some gave me that blank look like "what is she talking about...can't we just hurry up and get to centers".

Did I expect them to go check out a dictionary and look up the definitions? NO!!

But I believe that exposing my kiddos to a variety of BIG WORDS will only benefit them as they grow and learn.

MAYBE....that is why my 7 year old checked out a dictionary today. MAYBE....that is why he knew that a meat eating dinosaur was known as a carnivore at age 4. MAYBE....that is why he talks like an adult and is reading on a 4th grade level. MAYBE....that is why he can tell you the technical names of football positions and how they work in a spread offense or a 4-3 defense. MAYBE...that is why he can read books like Tim Tebow's autobiography and understand it.

Jackson loves BIG WORDS!!! I love that he loves BIG WORDS!!!

METAMORPHOSIS, CARNIVORE, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, GOVERNOR, SCHEMA......who says they aren't age appropriate words for my 7 year old son and the 23 five and six year olds in my class? Maybe their future will be brighter because I exposed them to BIG WORDS and smiled when my son checked out a dictionary.

PS---I should probably teach him how to use the computer and internet to look up words because that bookbag was heavy today and before long dictionaries will be door stops :)