When reading to young children, sometimes you encounter a word you think they might not understand (like “scrumdiddlyumptious” or “antidisestablishmentarianism”). Rather than replace the word with something you think they might know (like “yummy” or, um… something meaning the same as antidisestablishmentarianism but with fewer syllables), read the sentence as written, and then ask the children if they know what that word means. If they don’t, you can explain it (in words they DO understand), and the exciting result is: a NEW WORD IN THEIR VOCABULARY! Whoo hoo!
That’s how I got these two new definitions of the word “naughty” (courtesy of the preschoolers):
“It means you go to the principal’s office” (the kid obviously has older siblings, because there are no principals in preschool).
“You go to time out”. Yes indeed, naughty = time out.
I think their definitions are far better than mine, which was: “being bad.”
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