Quindlen: If I See My Parent's Read

Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better, you do better.” And that’s what I’m doing now. When I was a young girl, my mother never really read to me. She would sing instead, and tell me stories about her childhood. She would tell me nursery rhymes and stories like The Three Little Pigs or Alice in Wonderland. I enjoyed every moment my mom would spend with me, and when she would act out some of the scenes and I would really be into the story with her, but reading wasn’t something that I would focus on.

Literacy memories and events began at a young age for me, and while teachers and family members all impacted my opinions and preferences for reading, every book I read and writing assignment given to me helped me form my literacy story and come to enjoy reading. Many literacy moments came from when I was young, like my mom or dad reading to me before bed or teachers reading to me at school their favorite books. All of these memories were accompanied by everyone saying how great reading was, and for a while I didn’t believe them. I had so many forced experiences with reading that it was almost painful for me to pick up a book. But as time went on and the reading I was still forced to do intensified, a better relationship with reading and writing

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.

English is not my first language, I grew up speaking Spanish. My parents did not read to me as a child because of the limited books found in their native language. As a child, my parents bought me movies instead of books because for them it was easier for someone else to tell me the fairy tale so they would not have to read me. Also, my parents worked a lot, so they did not have time to pick up a book and read to me. I have older sisters but they also did not read to me because they were always doing their homework or doing their own things as teenagers. I wish my parents had read to me every night before going to sleep as other parents did to their kids. When I have my own kids of course that I am going to read to them. I want my kids to be successful in life and reading to them is going to really help them improve their vocabulary, become a better reader, and have a great imagination. I am going to read to my kids every night before they go to bed, and not do what my parent did to me that if I do not go to sleep the monsters were coming for me and eat me. I want my futures kids to have memories of their mom spending time with them reading. I do not have a memory of my parents reading to me as a child. Small action made a big differences. I am going to try to spend more time my kids and not just by reading to them but also play with them.

Most of what I can remember from my childhood is being read to by my mom and her teaching me how to read, alongside my older sister. During the day all that I wanted to do was have my mom read to me, so she would. And every night before I went to bed she would let me pick one book for her to read to me. It was my favorite part of everyday. It wasn’t just at home that people would read to me, my grandma would too whenever we went to her house. She had this book full of short stories that always had a good lesson at the end. I loved hearing my grandma’s soothing voice right before I fell asleep. My favorite book was “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” by Dr. Seuss. Since my mom read it to me at least once everyday, I began to memorize it. I wasn’t actually reading the words on the page, I just knew the story so well that I could recite it.

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,

Even if I refused to read on my own, my dad still read to me every single night right when I would go to bed. That was something I loved, and would never turn down as a young child. He read many

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.

My mother, Kelly Perkins, has been the most influential part in my life of reading with the way she made me when I didn’t exactly want too and taking me to visit libraries and famous authors houses.. This might have to do with the fact that she is an english teacher and has discovered that children who read more typically do better in school. Since reading is her area of expertise she influenced me from a young age to appreciate reading, although that may not have always been the easiest with a stubborn child like myself she still managed to never give up no matter how difficult I was. Suffering through we managed to come out with many stories to tell.

How many of you had the opportunity to look up to your parents for them to help you read or write? Did your parents read a book to you before bed every night? Studies say that children who get read to before bed have a better chance at becoming a better reader. Only one in three parents of children ages eight and under reads stories to their kids each night, according to a new survey by the literacy organization Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s. Having the parent(s) by your side is an amazing feeling to have whether you think it is or not. Growing up with a complicated life like mine would take anything to have just one parent by your side helping you learn to read or write.

My mother always read at least one story to me every night before I drifted off to sleep. Her doing so influenced many aspects of my life. I enjoyed every book that was construed to me, and the way she read the books made me feel as if I was inserted into the story myself. Every emotion that the characters felt somehow transferred to me. Each and every book that I have read taught me a different lesson or brought a different emotion. e

What influenced me to become the reader I am today is how when my parents read to me and how it made me feel. Growing up as a middle child was always the worst compared to my sisters. My little sister was the baby and got away with everything, along with all of my parents attention. My older sister was the “responsible” one so she got to do more and communicated a lot more with my parents. As the middle child to me the only time I got alone with my parents is when they would read to me.

I do not recall my parents ever reading to me while growing up. Reading has not been important for my family, so it was not important to me. I remember learning how to read in elementary school mainly, just because my teacher taught me how to read and write. Although I liked school, I did not like to read, because it was not something I was used to doing. Neither of my parents finished elementary school, so they do not know how to read and barely knew to write. Factors such as being an English Language Learner, moving to a new school, and having trouble with reading has affected, and shaped, me into the reader I am today.

From an early age I loved to read. At just two years old I would beg my mother to enroll me into school. I watched as my older sister meticulously picked out her outfit each night in preparation for the next school day. At such a young age I somehow knew that this thing called “school” was the answer to something spectacular. My home was chaotic and reading became an escape and helped distract me from the unpleasant family dynamic.