Are Dictionaries Still Relevant?
Craig Burton

In today’s fast moving digital age and with so much information available at the stroke of a keypad or swipe of a finger, does there still exist the need for something as old-fashioned as a dictionary?

Now, probably more so than ever, the need exists to be able to understand and assimilate large amounts of data on complex and evolving subjects. We must ensure that we are accurately informed, so as to make the best decisions regarding our kids, our jobs, our finances, our future and (gasp!) even our politics.

Perhaps there is no greater resource available to us than the dictionary in order to accomplish this task. It provides no opinion or discourse, it casts no judgment, it only serves to arm its reader with facts and knowledge and facilitates an individual’s self-determinism to go and look for themselves.

It’s interesting to consider that the power of just one word can make a person smile, cry, laugh, incite anger or even sooth. As adults, we know that words have exact meanings and that many words have multiple meanings. 

So why is it so often overlooked the importance of defining words in building literacy skills and eliminating confusion? Context clues don’t define words. Dictionaries do.

These days a dictionary is an almost universally overlooked fundamental in learning, yet its full use is priceless. Its proper utilization provides one with an invaluable tool for comprehension and the means to a powerful vocabulary; necessary components of literacy at any age.

As words are the basis of all communication, a dictionary (and the adequate skills to use one), is of vital importance to any literate and freethinking society. 

A dictionary is the smartest book you’ll ever own. When you teach a student how to use a dictionary to properly define words, it transforms how they learn. 

Want to help someone you know learn the fundamental dictionary skills they need to unlock their education? The How to Use a Dictionary book is available through Applied Scholastics.

Fundamental to Applied Scholastics programs is the premise that a successful education is far more than just being able to read with the end result of passing an examination. It includes the ability to understand and utilize the information one studies. To this end, one gains the skill to “think with” the data in order to use it to better one’s life.

Applied Scholastics Spanish Lake is a non-religious, independent, non-profit public benefit corporation and serves as the premiere training campus for Applied Scholastics International and its vast network of licensed schools and centers.

The Applied Scholastics Spanish Lake Educator Training Institute is certified to operate as a postsecondary, proprietary school by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.  The facility is also home to the Applied Scholastics Learning Center which provides tutoring and academic acceleration programs for students of all ages.

Have questions, want to know more? We would love to hear from you!

Applied Scholastics Spanish Lake

(314) 355-6355

www.ApsSpanishLake.org