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Triple Word Score
By Christina Quick | February 28, 2008
“Zed,” my daughter announced with an air of triumph. “Triple word score!”
She has learned zed is another name for the letter z. More importantly, she’s figured out it can be worth 39 points.
I used to think I was good at Scrabble. After all, I do words for a living. I’m comfortable with a set of letters at my fingertips. When I played the game with other adults, I usually won.
It took an 8-year-old to put me in my place. That’s how old my daughter was last year when she discovered Scrabble. The third time we played together, she emerged the winner. She now outscores me on a regular basis with her clever, triple-letter maneuvers. Last Christmas, she asked for a copy of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. She has been reading it and honing her skills ever since.
She does enjoy a few accommodations I wouldn’t give adult opponents. She always gets to put the first word on the board, which guarantees her a double word score. She can freely use the dictionary throughout the game. And I point out and let her correct misspellings rather than challenging them. Other than these concessions, I try my best to compete. Yet my young lexicon master usually comes out ahead.
In the end, I figure it’s a winning proposition either way. We’re spending time together doing something we both enjoy. And she is having such a great time making me look foolish, she hardly realizes she’s learning spelling, vocabulary, critical thinking and math skills. Whatever she pursues in the years ahead, I think those lessons will come in handy for everything from A to zed.
Topics: Family fun |
February 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I know how you feel, Christina! I’ve been editing/correcting spelling for nearly 30 years, but when our middle son mastered chess and then Scrabble, suddenly I felt quite inadequate! He, too, got the official Scrabble Dictionary, and it was a slippery downhill slope for me from that point on.
But what a blessing it is to have kids who can master the English language! :o)