Say them aloud, roll them around your mouth, and have a giggle over how they sound. You might need to prime the pump: Let your child watch you discover some of these gems. These are secret gems which make English sparkle, but you won’t find them in an online reference unless you know to go looking for them. We’ve all looked up a word and then idly scanned the page, only to find some hidden delight: the historically accurate ridiculousness of “gardyloo” (“used in Edinburgh as a warning cry when it was customary to throw slops from the windows into the streets”) the pointed, clinical aptness of “dispraise” (“to comment on with disapproval”) the smirking chewiness of “codswallop” (“nonsense”). Homework is drudgery, but a print dictionary offers the opportunity for busy-looking procrastination and some serendipitous joy along the way. When I had homework to do, I’d bleat, “Mom, what does ‘ineffable’ mean?” and she’d just point at the drawer. My parents had a bargain-basement paperback dictionary stuffed into a drawer of the credenza, and it was only unearthed from beneath a pile of scrap paper for crosswords and Scrabble games. But there is a case to be made for the meandering through the alphabet that a print dictionary requires of its user. Sometimes you need to get from point A (vocab homework) to point B (the answer) quickly. There’s no denying that online references make homework easier and faster, and I’d be a fool to suggest that we ignore how handy they are. Indeed, all you need to do today to look up a word is Google it, and voila: a definition. The car is making a weird noise? There’s an app for that. Want to tile your backsplash with pennies? Pinterest. The Internet, they assure me, has an answer for everything.Īnd it certainly seems like that’s true. Besides, my kids chirp, there’s the Internet. Dictionaries are unwieldy books, written in an esoteric academic language that’s as alien as Klingon you have to know how to spell the word you’re looking up to find it they take up time and space, two things that are at a premium in today’s modern household. When I consider their perspective, I can hardly blame them. If you want a copy of the lesson "Fasting for Kids" or more info about the cups, click HERE to get this resource from my store.Though I write dictionaries for a living, I have a secret shame: My children don’t particularly like dictionaries. The fasting cups were just one simple tool to help kids connect with God at home and live out their faith. I love hearing stories of kids living out their faith at home. I had parents tell me that even when THEY started to "cheat" on their fast, their kids would remind them about fasting and the importance of it! The kids inspired me with their hearts for God. It was really cool to see the kids involved in the church-wide fast, and see their dedication. They would do a drawing a few times a week one drawing would tell them what they would give up for one day (TV, cell phone, sweets/junk food, etc.) and one cup would be something they could do to allow God to fill them up (Read a certain Scripture, memorize a verse, write a prayer, etc.). Kids would get two cups: one that says "GIVE UP" and one that says "FILL UP." Each cup had slips of paper in them. We didn't encourage kids to fast from meals, because their growing bodies need nutrients. We don't just want kids to focus on what they are GIVING UP, but on what God can do to FILL them up. The lesson was fun for the kids, but my favorite part was getting to give the kids their own Fasting Cups to take home. He fills us with His love, His strength and grace, and His Spirit. I came up with a lesson, based on the object lesson of an empty cup- which represents us as we empty ourselves from the distractions that keep us from focusing on God, and the way God fills us up. This was a fantastic way for kids to learn in a hands-on way that they can understand. then God put this idea on my heart as a fun and engaging way to teach kids about fasting. The only thing I found was a fasting calendar. I spent hours looking online, and not finding much AT ALL for teaching kids about fasting. I wanted to get kids involved and find a good way to teach them about fasting. Earlier this month, we did a church-wide fast.
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