Today Is Dictionary Day

So today is Dictionary Day in honor of Noah Webster's birthday.  He was born October 16, 1758 and is considered the Father of the American Dictionary.  We happen to have the Noah Webster 1828 dictionary in our home for our homeschool.  I love this dictionary.  It has a beautiful cover.  I love words and love to read them in books.  I want my children to develop a love of words.

Words have a tremendous amount of power and can be such wonderful ways to communicate both ideas and beauty.  In our homeschool, I try to develop a genuine love and appreciation for learning.  Words play a big part in that for our family.  The bigger and richer someone's vocabulary is, the better they will be able to communicate.  I know regardless of what my children choose to do in the future, they will need to use and understand words.  I love to see them learn more words and use them in their vocabulary.

Several years ago, we were attending a special Christmas church service at the Jeanette Assembly of God Church in Jeanette, PA.  As part of the service, the pastor handed out verses to various members of the congregation to read.  My older two were given verses.  My second son came to me because he was unsure of a word.  The word was "zealous".  So we had a discussion about what the word meant.  He then owned the word and he used it with great enthusiasm.  The following year when the pastor passed out the verses, you can believe my second son made sure he got the verse with zealous in it.

He can be quite zealous about things that interest him.  He puts his whole heart into things that fascinate him.  But like all of us, when it is something he does not care for or want to do, there is no zeal to be found.  

Each one of my children are unique.  Each one of them has gifts and talents that God gave them.  I expect them to use our dictionary to enrich their vocabulary, which in turn enriches their speech and their writing.  So happy dictionary day to you all!