I grew up in a household where knowledge is everything . I received a solid foundation in the reading and writing basics from the time I was three years old. The biggest motivator I had during my reading experience was my mother. My mom played a humongous role in teaching me the necessary materials to use along my reading journey. Her main goal was making sure that I was exposed to the concepts of reading and writing before I entered school. Although reading and writing was taught in my early school years, my knowledge base in these areas come from my mother. Therefore I credit my mother with teaching me to read and write. My mom has always been an ardent reader. She loves any and everything about words. Growing up, she instilled the value of the power behind knowledge into my siblings and I early on. While I was still in the womb she read to me daily. Later, as a small child, she read me bedtime stories and taught me how to read them back to her. I struggled heavily with pacing and volume when I began learning how to read. Consequently my mother made me read more to improve this problem. The more I read the more I began to fall in love with the way a book sounds rather than how it is composed. Through this new found passion I began to approach reading like a challenge; the bigger the book, the better. My house was stocked with classics like Jane Eyre, Pretty Women, and Dracula. My love for reading developed from these stories which later shaped my favorite
Thanks to hours and hours of bedtime stories, I was able to read from the age of 3. In kindergarten I read to my classmates, and by second grade I was reading series like The Boxcar Children and Trixie Belden. Books allowed me to get lost in other worlds full of adventure and excitement. My love for what words can do has extended through high school. I pride myself on my book collection, anything from Hunger Games to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I’ve continued to read all the way through high school, some books four or five times because I love them so much.
My love of reading blossomed when I was a child, because my parents showed me how wonderful reading is. There were countless nights when I remember myself as a little girl refusing to go to sleep before ‘tucking dad into bed’ by reading him a picture book. Not only did I uphold that tradition though, but my mother is a preschool teacher, so she gets really into reading out loud, and she would help me read books such as The Boxcar Children set, The Secret of NIMH and The Chronicles of Narnia weekly until I didn’t need help anymore.
My mother taught me how to read at a young age. She read to me before I could read which helped me learn new words and develop a basic understanding of literature at an early age. When it came time for me to attend elementary school, I remember heading to the library quite often. Books were organized based on what was thought to be the appropriate reading material for that grade level. I often found myself wandering down the isles with the older kids. I’m so grateful my mother encouraged reading as much as she did. If she hadn’t, it’s very possible I could have struggled with reading. If this were true, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did, or had the desire to read, which is very important in order to become as advanced in literature as possible.
Last week we wrote a blog and one of the questions was “How did you learn to read and write?” I found this question interesting because I never had really thought about the moment when I actually learned how to read and write. My mom was the first person to expose me to reading and writing. A popular tactic she did to make sure I was staying engaged was to read aloud stories and make me follow along with her. My mom would read me many different stories like Tarzan, Bambi, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Hercules. whatever I wanted to listen and follow along with, she would read with me. This really helped with my want to read. The books contained a lot of adventure, which made it easy as a kid to follow along with. I became to gain an imagination and then all of a sudden reading was easier.
As a reader and writer I always faced given assignments with the intent of doing exceptional jobs and take a sense of pride in my work to complete my tasks. As a reader, I will bore myself through out an entire book and realize I didn 't understand a single thing. Although as a writer, I can go on for so long losing myself on a topic because it feels more interactive. Reflecting on my experiences as a reader and writer have been very bold, I never really found a joy or an interest to become the exceptional student who stands out amongst others because, I always felt ok with myself and my results with the way I did things.
I have my journey in learning how to read and write never stops. Understanding the importance of literacy came to me at the high school, when I faced real challenges and understanding how important that is to learn, to create, to dream and to help others.
Growing up, both of my grandmothers was school teachers who enjoyed reading to me and my cousins whenever the opportunity arose. Many of my favorite memories as a child learning to read lead back to my favorite book my nana would always read to me, The Napping House by Audrey Wood. I would quote the book cover to cover, before actually learning to read, pretending that I was reading in the meantime. My mother also played an important role in my learning to read and write, she and my nana were always encouraging me to read book series like Junie B. Jones, The Little House on the Prairie, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew,
Some of my earliest memories of reading and writing took place in preschool. My former teacher, Mrs. Williams always made reading a fun and new experience which helped encourage us to read. I remember always being excited to read a new book as if I were embarking on a new adventure. My mother also encouraged me to read by reading to my brother and I at bedtime. She also gave us plenty of genres to choose from. Even though my dad did not reach much, my mom was very much interested in books about British crime mysteries. My brother, on the other hand, read anime’ comics and video game instruction pamphlets. Although reading has not been my strongest subject, the subject has always been part of my life.
Growing up, I was not a child who had interest in sitting down to read a book, like my mom. I am very grateful for my mom because she has pushed me to my limits with reading and writing. As a four year old child, the last thing on my mind was learning how to read. Every night, my mom would sit down with me and read for 15 minutes. She bought me a zebra finger pointer that I put on my index finger that guided me to follow along so, I would not lose my spot. Having my zebra helped my get through those dreadful 15 minutes.
When I was little, I loved to have my parents read to me all the time. At first, I didn’t learn to read because I didn’t want to read the “Learn to Read” books and preferred for my parents to read to me. I remember sitting with my Dad and following along while he read Harry Potter aloud to me and traced the words with his finger. Then we started to take turns reading aloud. I started to read more and more by myself after I was able to read the first chapter of Harry Potter (with a little bit of help). Then I worked my way through the rest of the book. I loved how reading let you explore new worlds and different points of view.
I haven't always been keen on reading as I am today. I can’t really remember the reason for my distaste in literature, but I think it mostly came from me just thinking that reading was too difficult or I was just me being a stubborn six year old not wanting to do it, but none the less I was like this for a lot of my earlier years. I was able to read a small amount of text because my parents teaching me, using Doctor Seuss books like Cat and the Hat and One FIsh Two Fish Red Fish Blue FIsh as learning tools to help me become more fluent. I never really understood reading until my stepmom moved in with us. Since my sister and I were still very young
Let me tell you how I became the reader and writer I am today. The early memories I have of reading are back in preschool and early elementary. I used to love to read and especially with my mom at home! Every night, we would end our day with a couple chapters in a book. She would read some to me then I would read some to her. She would usually end up reading most of it. At the end of every book I would ask her if I could read the last paragraph. There was just something I loved about getting the last words in. I had to read it absolutely perfectly and wouldn’t be satisfied if I messed up. If I did I would reread it until I nailed it. Every year that MOE had the book fair it always got me excited. It was one of my favorite days by far. I remember
Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales
At this point in my life, reading would definitely not make a list of my favorite things to do, but this wasn’t always the case. Some of my youngest memories involve reading, and many of these memories are enjoyable. Every night before bed my mom would read to me, and I remember begging to read just one more before she tucked me in almost every night. This is when my love for reading sparked. Throughout grade school, I continued to read frequently and never found it to be a chore; however, once middle school hit I no longer included reading as a past time or found it pleasurable. Looking back now I realize this was when English class included more forced literature, and school consisted of reading extensive pages in textbooks. Reading
Through the years of elementary school, I excelled in reading because of the comprehension I had and my love for books. We were always required to read a book, because we needed a certain amount of accelerated reading points each month. My favorite books were Junie B. Jones and Captain Underpants. I enjoyed reading during these years because it came natural to me and I admired the fictional aspects of books and the way they could make my mind run wild. The teachers I had I credit some of my success to because they helped me succeed in reading during elementary school.