Encyclopedia for Preparing's Research section

[playschool]

We just started Preparing today and I was wondering if there is any all-in-one Encyclopedia for this section that I could purchase. Wikipedia was a bit difficult for my children to gather info. from. Thanks!

[my3sons]

We used Wikipedia, but I know some other ladies used encyclopedias. I really liked using Wikipedia because it forced me to sit down with my ds and teach him some basic Internet research skills. We bookmarked it so he could easily find it. We read through it together, and I showed him how to skim by looking for colored words. We also talked about how to click on pictures to enlarge them, how to go back to a previous page, how to click on colored words to do a more specific search, etc. After a few sessions of this, he was pretty adept at it, and the majority of the rest of the year, he just called me over when he was ready to orally give me the answers to the research questions. I let him look at the screen and paraphrase his answers to my questions. His learning these basic Internet skills really has become such a blessing to me. For example, he asked me a question about baseball rules I didn't know. I told him to look it up on Wikipedia, and he was so proud to have found the answer on his own. He's also enjoyed researching about different animals, events, etc.

This was a good time to have a talk about the Internet being a type of media - and just like other types of media like T.V., movies, radio, books, etc. - there are good and bad materials out there. As Christians, we need to determine which things aren't good to read or look at and be strong enough to choose the better materials. We had a talk about being tempted to look at or read bad things, and how keeping the computer in a central location in the house where everyone can see what we're doing is a good way to cut down on temptations. We made the rule that the dc can only be on the computer in the kitchen or living room (where we all are most of the time), and that they will never have a computer in their rooms or take a laptop to their rooms. Anyway, it was a good talk that we needed to have. So, whether you use Wikipedia or an encyclopedia, Internet research skills are a good thing to learn in a guided way that includes moral parameters.

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

I am really anti internet for the kids and was struggling with this one myself with dh. Just looking at how Carrie has the exact words to search on Wikipedia and knowing how she is with checking content we decided to go with Wikipedia. I know having an encyclopedia would be nice but just looking at it there are just as many things for me to keep an eye on there evolutionary wise etc. And given that it is only one day a week that this is required we decided that it would be a good time to show them how to search and be careful of that search as well. I am glad to hear Julie went that way because it confirms it for me. I do not think you can go wrong either way just sharing what our decision is before we actually start the year with Preparing. Oh other thing is I think we will have some books on our shelf that will help as well and I want my kids to have the experience of hunting for the answer a bit as well in different sources.

[mariaw]

Personally, we have trouble with wikipedia. We've done 6 weeks of research with Preparing (using it), and dd has trouble with the reading level on wikipedia. I also am hesitant to use it as an "authoritative source" since it is not always entirely accurate. I know that there is not much that can be wrong with a "shepherd's crook" entry , but I don't want dd to get used to using it for everything. I would love something along the lines of the World Book encyclopedia's I had as a kid, even online. But so far, everything has been subscription-based.

[Tmisek]

I believe World Book also has a DVD-ROM that has the content of the printed versions, plus extra maps, videos, etc. I saw it in a brochure somewhere. It was around $40.00.

[playschool]

Thanks ladies! I just wish we had a book in hand instead of using the internet. Wikipedia's wording was a little difficult for my dc and I would've liked something more geared for them. We will probably just continue with Wikipedia for now. This was the first day maybe the children will get more used to it.

[my3sons]

We also wanted to save money and could do that by using Wikipedia. HOD always tries to offer an economical option, and I too am thankful for Carrie taking the time to provide the exact words to look up on the computer, as well as her trying to screen the information. If you have the funds, a nice encyclopedia would be wonderful and an excellent resource to have on hand!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

playschool,

Here's a couple of links that may be of help to you as well: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4346

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3027

Blessings,
Carrie

[StillJulie]

We are using a 1960 something edition of World Book encylcopedias that I grew up using...

[Carrie]

We've found a Bible dictionary to be really helpful for some of the research questions too. I think there's one listed in the posts I linked above if that helps.

Blessings,
Carrie

[eazbnsmom]

We've found a Bible dictionary to be really helpful for some of the research questions too. I think there's one listed in the posts I linked above if that helps.

Blessings,
Carrie

My mom gave us a "Student's Bible Dictionary" last year for Christmas. It has been perfect so far for using with CTC!