Smrt Lernins

We’re talking about dictionaries today. Dictionaries: Handy tools, not sources of controversy, right? We can discuss dictionary options without someone being horribly offended, right? Right?

Now, behave y’all’s selves, ok? Dictionaries.

I assume most of you own a dictionary. We own several actual* dictionaries, but I usually use Dictionary.com and long for the days when I was enrolled in college and could access the Oxford English Dictionary online for free ($295 a year is too expensive for a subscription to a “book” I can’t fondle, no matter how sexy etymology might be…and etymology is exceptionally sexy, if you were wondering). One of my fondest literary fantasies is to have an actual copy of the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary. I thought I was something of a freak for wanting this, until the day Captain Science said to me, with longing in his voice, “I wish we had that giant dictionary with all the words in it.” Oh, my son! You really are my son, aren’t you?

Our actual dictionaries are all of the youth variety, and can I just be the first to say that the people who edit youth dictionaries must think that children are either a) really stupid or b) only reading Captain Underpants, because half the words Captain Science needs aren’t in there and the other half have such simplified or limited definitions that it’s rarely the specific meaning of the word that he needs. I end up looking the word up on Dictionary.com and having him choose the definition that seems to fit the context. Yes, I know we should just buy a grown-up dictionary, but refer to the above “I want the unabridged OED” and you’ll understand why nothing else will do.

On the Well-Trained Mind forums, a discussion arose over whether or not there is a method** to finding a word in the dictionary when you don’t know how to spell it. In that same thread, one homeschooling parent says she solved this problem by purchasing an Allographs dictionary, which, according to the product description is:

is a unique sound-based dictionary in which words containing a particular sound are listed under each of the spelling alternatives for that sound. It contains over 3,000 words. Words are set out in alphabetical order down and across the page. Students can see at a glance which sound is easy or difficult to spell. [...] With practice, students can easily “look up sounds to spell.” This is in contrast to a conventional dictionary where you have to know the spelling before you can look up a word. This means the Dictionary not only links to a useful set of exercises, but allows students to be able to check their own spelling during creative writing.

Captain Science is a fairly natural speller. With the notable exception of continuing to spell “because” as “beacuse” in his writing (if you ask him to spell it aloud, he spells it correctly), he can spell just about any word that he’s heard used in context and most that he hasn’t. He doesn’t have a difficult time figuring out the spelling of a word (using the method I describe below) to find the definition. I can’t imagine buying the Allographs Dictionary as an alternative to a standard dictionary, but I imagine it could be an exceptionally helpful tool for a child for whom spelling doesn’t come as easily and I also think it could help a child without spelling difficulties find different ways to look at language and how others perceive it. As someone who absolutely loves language, I’m inclined to say that whatever it takes to guide a child towards the correct and passionate usage of language is a positive thing, so I think that the Allographs Dictionary might find a home on my shelf at some point.

What are your thoughts on this? Does it make the dictionary more accessible for children who have spelling difficulty? Is it a shortcut (and if so, a helpful or hurtful one?) or just an alternative way of looking at language?

*I’m using this word to mean “as opposed to virtual.”
**My answer was that I think there is a method and that “both phonics and an understanding of vocabulary roots play a role in that method. When my son doesn’t know how to spell a word he’s looking up, he identifies possibly spellings and then likely spellings. For instance, “f” sound could be spelled “f” or “ph,” but if he knows the word he’s looking up was in a conversation about sound/music, the likely spelling is “ph” (root “phon”) so he’ll start there. He knows a word starting with an “s” sound is most likely to start with an actual s, but if he doesn’t find it there, he nows c is the next likely place.”

Mention homeschooling in the wrong company and you’re bound to get an earfull about all the potential damage your irresponsible choice is doing to your children, particularly their “socialization” and their ability to ever, ever get into a college that isn’t named after a guy called Bob. Some will share cautionary tales of a homeschooler that their cousin once knew who wasn’t able to do 8th grade math upon graduation or who wept copiously when spoken to by strange children on the playground. Some will be rude enough to make negative statements about homeschooling in front of your homeschooled children.

I will ignore the stunning fact that no one even asked these people, who are clearly ignorant about what homeschooling actually entails, for their input, advice, or predictions for the (clearly hopeless) future of our children, and instead ponder what it is, exactly, about homeschooling that makes it so offensive. I’ve come up with a few possible reasons why someone might feel threatened by homeschooling:

1. Assumptions about religious motivation — Some homeschool detractors seem to think all homeschoolers are doing it for (extreme and/or fundamentalist) religious reasons and assume that our choice to homeschool means that we don’t want to teach our children about evolution, sex education, or extra-Biblical literature. With this assumption often comes comments on our family’s size and dynamics, since we’re probably also Quiverfullers who beat our kids with flexible PVC pipes. People with these assumptions view homeschoolers as religious nuts who are afraid that the government is trying to brainwash children into believing in global warming and pre-marital dating. They may or may not have opinions on secular homeschooling, or even know it exists, so (if you don’t have the time or energy to explain that many religiously-motivated homeschoolers also have a very rigorous, classical curriculum that may include those supposedly verboten subjects) you may be able to quickly quiet the naysayer by explaining that your homeschooling curricula is secular.

2. Assumptions about parenting (ie. “Special Snowflake Syndrome”) — Some homeschool detractors believe that non-religious parents who choose to homeschool do so because they believe their children are too “special” (imagine a snide tone on that word) to follow the rules/policies of the public school classroom. With this assumption comes comments about how we think our children can never do any wrong, how we blame every problem on an allergy or other condition, or that “every homeschooler thinks her kid is gifted.” People with these assumptions view homeschoolers as having babied, out of control children who think everything must always be tailored to suit their “special” whims and can’t handle even simple tasks without parental help or oversight. There isn’t any real way to clear up this misconception in a stranger, especially if your kids are flipping out in a particularly slow checkout line, but someone who spends any length of time around you and your children will probably start reassessing these assumptions’ validity.

3. Assumptions about socialization — Some homeschool detractors are concerned that homeschooled children are not offered enough (or the “right”) opportunities for socialization and will therefor be unable to adequately function in an environment outside of their own family. With this assumption comes a tendency to blame any shyness or social awkwardness on the homeschooling, rather than the personality of the child, and to make dire proclamations about the child’s potential for handling college or the “real world.” People with these assumptions view homeschoolers as insular and isolated. This concern is easily addresses by explaining the many social (and legal) support networks, co-ops, and resources available to homeschooling families to ensure myriad opportunities for socialization.

4. Assumptions about rigors of homeschool curricula — Some homeschool detractors believe that not being held to the identical grade standards of the public schools results in homeschooling parents providing an inadequate amount of instruction and setting low standards for their children. With this assumption comes commentary on that one homeschooling family their aunt knew whose kids could barely read in the 10th grade and were never, ever able to get into college due to their poor education. You know, that family. People with these assumptions often have a misconception that secular homeschooling is synonymous with unschooling, that homeschooling parents don’t make the choice to homeschool in order give their children a more rigorous education, and that homeschooling is somehow the “easy road” (the “wow, I wish I didn’t have to get the kids up for school every morning! It must be nice to be able to sleep in every day” comments). You’ve got two options here: the catty response (“Oh, your son is only just starting long division? We did that two years ago and have moved on to algebra.”) or the civil response (“I’m glad that being allowed to set our own standards means we can set them as high as we’d like.”) I’d recommend thinking the former, but speaking the latter.

5. Assumption that by choosing to homeschool your child(ren), you are actually making commentary on their educational choices for their child(ren) — Most controversies boil down to “if you do it differently than I do, you’re saying my way is bad, so I must defensively point out that your way is bad.” Some homeschool detractors seem quite certain that your choice to homeschool your own children means you think anyone who doesn’t homeschool their children is doing it “wrong.” With this assumption comes comments about all of the above assumptions, because they’ll blame their defensiveness on anything but what it actually is, the fear of someone doing something differently from how they’re doing it. People with this assumption don’t care what studies or data show about the efficacy of homeschooling, how delightfully well-behaved and well-adjusted your children are, or how well your children perform academically — they know homeschooling is wrong, because they aren’t doing it, and the choices they make are always “right.” Don’t even try to reason with people making this assumption; just tell them you’re glad that public/private/military school is working out so well for them and move on with your day.