My Favorite Memory Of Reading

When I entered kindergarten my reading journey began. I was introduced to the alphabet and three-letter sight words. Then in first grade my teacher would sit down with a

High school, however, changed everything for me. I started having experiences and opportunities that helped me realize that I had more possibilities and potential than my younger self could have ever realized. I threw myself into everything that came my way so that I could learn what I

One of the most eye opening experiences of my life occurred in the second grade. I would have never thought that doing one simple assignment in elementary school could change my whole perspective on literacy. My understanding of literacy was sparked when I had read my first real book. I remember sitting down on the vividly colorful carpet day dreaming about playing Mario Cart on my Nintendo 64 while everyone was obediently listening to the teacher read a book out loud. It wasn’t that I did not know how to read or listen, I just didn’t care. Reading to me used to be tedious because I did not understand the purpose of it. I did not grow up with the luxury of my parents reading to me because they weren’t literate in English, so I had to figure out for myself why literacy is vital in everyday life. My ongoing learning experience with literacy can be traced back to one simple visit to library.

As a six-month-old baby books had opened up a whole entire new world of experience for me. My inspiration to learn how to read and write was encouraged by my Mother and Grandmother. This is because they read out loud to me before bed occasionally and gave me the best time of my life by introducing me to a library. By two years of age I developed speech and other communication skills. This helped me understand and develop a favorite book, “PJ Funny Bunny,” and I would stare at the pages pretending I was reading them. I would continually pretend to read with other Dr. Seuss books, Smurf pop-up books (I imagined I was a part of these for hours), sniff & scratches, and sensory books. I had just begun

Sitting on a colorful blanket and listening to my mom read books from Disney was my first memory of learning how to read. She could read word by word, making those face expressions that used to make me feel excited and of course she would show off the pictures. She finished reading and then she gave me a little purple notebook, where I used to practice how to spell my name and practicing the alphabet. Those are the first memories I have about learning how to read and write.

As a child, my ability to read developed around the house. I was a sickly child, so an early experience I recall is being able to read different medications. Of course the first book I remember reading is the classic Cat in the Hat. I find it amazing how quickly I became obsessed with reading. In preschool, I was always in the "library", a little corner of the room. I loved playing and interacting with others, but at a certain point in the day, I just wanted to be left alone to read. I even remember trying to learn how to read Spanish (my teacher and a majority of my classmates were Hispanic and spoke Spanish in class). I felt out of place, as any kid would be when everyone else seemed to be speaking a different language. However, preschool is where I gained a certain

First grade, after a long day of school and learning what the deal was with shapes, I come home and get to watch TV, no homework or worries (first graders with homework? Yeah right) then I eat dinner, and get ready for bed. My parents tuck me in and begin to read me a story from my favorite author at the time. Dr. Seuss. The rhyming and the pictures and the one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. How does he come up with this stuff? Pure genius. Even after my parents turn off my room light, I sneak some light from my game boy and read more because I just can’t wait for the next night to read again. These were my first memories of reading and ever since then I try and recapture the feeling of pure bliss I had when I first heard my parents read to me just before bedtime.

As a little girl my understanding of literacy began with the alphabet soup. I vaguely remember that my mom would place the soup in front of me and I move the letters with my finger attempting to form words. My mom sat with me and spelled my name out I was so excited because I was learning. From that moment on my curiosity for literacy began. When my mom took me to the store I would ask for books even though I couldn't read but the letters fascinated me. The pictures weren't bad either. My adventure with literacy continued as I began kindergarten.

In every kids life they get to do one thing in school and that is go to junior high. Coming from a small elementary school to a big kid school can take a while to get used to. Metting the teachers were some of the scariest times about starting junior high.

I learned how to read at a very early age. My parents taught me my ABC’s when I was two years old. They would read Dr. Seuss books to me such as “The Cat in the Hat” in which they would have me to repeat the words as the read to me. They also would read “See Spot Run” which became one of my favorites. As well as, “Dick and Jane: Jump and Run.”

I didn't learn how to read until the third grade. One day i picked up a book with beautiful pictures and i so badly wanted to understand what it said. And so I did. It just clicked in my head all of a sudden and I was able to understand. Before too long I was reading everything in the school library. I would get lost in the different worlds and I learned the meaning of words I didn't know by reading the sentence/ paragraph it was in. Finally i felt like I had something that I was good at. I could outread my peers before too long and by the time I was 9 years old I was reading college level books with ease. I would be spending at least 4 hours a day just reading, finishing 400 page book in a matter of days. In reading I was able to gain confidence in myself at school, and when things got hard I could just slip into another story and forget about my

When I was little, I would enjoy reading books such as, Henry and Mudge, and also Captain Underpants. These were some books that I was able to understand because of them being less rigorous. As a grade school student, I was never the strongest reader. It was hard for me to understand and comprehend the material I was learning. In class, we would read short chapter books together as a class and take brief quizzes on the chapter then after. I believe the turning point to becoming a substantial reader happened when my family and I moved. I attended a different school in a different school district going entering fourth grade. Switching schools I think has benefitted me, and I think it was good I was still little because I felt as if the new school district I was in, District 303 in Illinois, give students more assistance and one-on-one to help us become stronger readers. When my class would start reading in class, I would step out of class and meet a

My very own literacy experience starts at the age of five when my grandparents bought my parents, a cabin for their tenth wedding anniversary. It was a dark cabin somewhere near Island Park, I vividly remember the drive up there, the outside environment, and the inside smell of the cabin. The drive up there was long and cold, when arriving at the cabin. I thought to myself that it looked old. When we went through the dark maroon colored door frame to see the walls filled with color; my parents told me when I was older that the previous owner built bookcases into the wall. The books were perfectly aligned cover to cover and organized by author’s name; they were grouped into the walls by genre. The

As I reached high school my life started turning towards becoming an adult. School was your work. After school was sports, then you went home for dinner and finally went up to your room to do

I remember every morning my grandparents would read the LA Times newspaper and my grandmother would read the sales pages for the local grocery stores out loud to my grandfather. I would watch her and look at the paper as she read it off to him. I started preschool a year before everyone else my age. I started when I was 3 years old. My Mom would read to me every night. She made reading fun, she ordered personalized books where I was included as a main character. The books were from Disney and Sesame Street. Like Fredrick Douglass I also carried a book wherever I went. I would finish reading books sometimes in a day depending on the size of the