For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 18, 2017

Like anything, you have to find a way to appeal to the kids. Kids like new words if they can use them in a fun fashion. I still remember when I was growing up and a kid would say, “Hey! Your epidermis is showing. You better cover it up.” That joke relied on the idea that other kids did not know what the word “epidermis” meant. And that was how I learned a new word.

yeah, ’tis a start

I never felt a need to degrade others to bolster myself. That is an ego nurturing thing to insult others. Never could understand that until then.

Words, on the other hand, have fascinated me since I was very young. If you are a reader and want to be a writer you need to know them.

Elly is right. If the kids learn to love words, any words, they’ll be doing well.

She could have improved their vocabulary long ago by simply using a wider range of words herself. That’s what my parents did.

A local group was panned for teaching convicts to read with comic books. I guess people thought that convicts would be more interested in Voltaire. Words are words no matter where they are.

It’s the same old story; programs with the best of intentions lead to less desirable unintended consequences.

Yeah. If you learn to use words to degrade others you become TV writers or Twitter posters.

Maybe she should had given them their spelling books to help learn new words. That way they could boost their vocabulary and spelling grades at the same time.

It’s a bad start

I’m still partial to “Rancid heap of parrot droppings.”

I remember in maybe 4th grade, back in the ’50’s, I told a bully he was acting like a Neanderthal and he left me alone after that.

Vocabulary builder. Rather than having kids write out a repetitive list of a sentence, have them write a list of words from the dictionary. Starting with “A”. They might just read as they go.

I started learning to read, like every one else, in the first grade; reading Dick and Jane. I found it boring. When I discovered comic books, I really began to enjoy reading. When I got to high school, I started to study Latin and it gave me a great foundation for learning new words for the rest of my life. I don’t know why schools don’t offer Latin anymore.

Latin killed the Romans, now i t’s killing me!

My mother taught me to read when I was 3 and continued until I went to school at 5. She taught me using the Dr. Seuss books like “The Cat in the Hat.” It was fun to learn it that way since it’s written poetically and the words would rhyme. I’ve loved to read my whole life. As for the kids learning new words, I think I’d encourage them to learn complimentary words they can say to others to make them feel good about themselves. How much better to put a smile on someone’s face than looks of anger. Speaking of which, I’m surprised Michael made it home without a black eye or swollen lip.

And be sure to pronounce “Seuss” as (soice) which would be correct. (Soos) is incorrect pronunciation.

Back in 1968 in Basic Training we had a guy from PR who only spoke Spanish. In the 6 weeks of Basic Training he learned a lot of English, granted, the majority were curse words, but during the following year he picked up both reading and speaking english like a native. Very smart kid