"I am not your dictionary"

"Mom, what does this word mean?"

"Mom, I don't understand what this is."

"Mom, how do you spell this word?"

"Son, you have a book right next to you with everything you're looking for in it.  It's got crisp, brand new pages that are just yearning to be leafed through.  Do you know what that book is?"

Although it warms my heart my son thinks I'm smarter than anyone else in the world and I'm pleased as punch he comes to me with all his problems and questions, but I'm not his dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, etc.

I paid a pretty good amount of money over the past several years for my son to have the resources he needs to find out whatever he wants, but he refuses to use them.

At this age it's not uncommon for the laundry basket to sit empty with a pile of dirty clothes next to it, clean socks left in a heap on top of the dresser, and the strange brush next to his toilet looks as pristine as the day it came home from the store.   But it's the perfect age to teach once and for all where, when, and how to use all the resources available to my Middle School child.

Now you might have a child who reads an encyclopedia for pleasure, but I don't.  When he was younger I would sit next to my son and read from wonderful books.  We learned so much and his curiosity always had us searching Google or Wikipedia for more information about a subject or a person.  It would seem some of this activity would rub off on him and he would know where to go for information.

But, NOT MY SON!  Maybe it's rebellion, or maybe it's just laziness.  I don't really know, but common sense tells me this is something that can be taught.  Logic would also have me thinking this is so since his underwear is neatly placed in the drawer, or is that just because he's too embarrassed to have it laying around?

Excuse me a moment...

"Mom, why do they call it the Rock of Gibraltar, and who is Ollie North?"

"Well son, let's go find the resource that will give you the information you're looking for."

Until next time, Happy Homeschooling!

 

photo credit: crdotx