Well, yeah, that is my valid question! You see, on my most recent trip to Goodwill to drop off some winter stuff that we couldn’t use anymore but are still in great condition, I stopped by the Books’ section (my fave section of the store) to check out some cool reading materials that will interest me and my little reader. I did find three chapter books for Triz, and the fourth book I got was the large Mirriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary which was still very new and I only paid $4.99 + tax for it! I thought it was such a cool buy!
But… all things readable are now going digital, right? Why the need to purchase it? Aren’t dictionary.com, online Thesaurus, and even Mirriam-Webster’s accessible online?
Well, when it comes to my 7-year-old daughter’s academic journey, I prefer for her to go back to the basics when it involves finding the meaning of a particular word. Yes, she has (limited) access to the internet and she could use the iPad or her Kindle if she wants to, but anytime she asks for a meaning of a particular word that she has just encountered, I always tell her to look for it in the dictionary and have her explain to me the meaning that she has discovered.
One of our conversations went like this:
Triz: Mom, what is ‘animosity’?
Me: Did you understand the context of the sentence with that word in it?
Triz: Not really.
Me: Go find it in your dictionary!
Triz: But Mom, I don’t want to lose the page where I am in. Can’t you just use your dictionary right there in your screen?
Me: Go find it yourself. It is more fun to scan the pages and look for the word in the dictionary rather than just typing it.
Triz: Okay, okay!
And every time she succeeds in finding the word and its meaning, there is always a thrill in her as she exclaims “Found it!!!” Yes, that’s the kind of excitement that I want her to experience!
For me, printed books, especially dictionaries, are still relevant today. Very much so! For me, you can never go wrong with learning via informative books! When I was growing up, I hungered for dictionaries as large as this and I can only see them in bookstores. I thirsted for more books to read, but I only had access to free mini-books or magazines I got from church and from the newspapers or comic pages used in wrapping the grocery goodies that my parents bought from the market. Now that everything can be accessible online, I still prefer for my learners to learn how to use the dictionary and let her experience the thrill in finally finding the word on the pages of the books
I purchased the small-size of this same Mirriam-Webster’s earlier this year for $11.99 brand new. This large one at a much cheaper cost is an absolute treat! And yes, time and again, I say hard-copy books and dictionaries are still relevant today and the library is still a wonderful place to stay despite everything going digital!
What do you think?
353/365 BPC