Taskmaster Mommy

So this is the first year in school that Hannah has had spelling lists. Each Monday she'll be bringing home a list of 15 words that she will be tested on each Friday. I had to laugh because the list ranges from "easy" with words like if, zip, and milk to "hard" with assistant, amazement, and patient.

But because I want Hannah to grow up with a far better vocabulary than I have, I've added an extra component to her assignment. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night we take 5 words each and put them on index cards. Then she looks up the words in the dictionary and reads me the definition while I write it down. After that she's tested on how to spell the words not only by saying "spell milk" but also by saying "spell the word that means a white liquid produced by mammals as a nutrient". Thursday night is review night.

I would feel bad about it but I know she loves to learn. It's actually kind of frustrating to sit down with her and a dictionary because while she's searching for a word she'll stop and read along the way if she sees a word that intrigues her. And I actually caught her reading her dictionary in bed one night "for fun" so like I said, I don't feel too bad.