Writing Signs

One of my first memories as a child was my mom reading to me. There was a tornado warning, so we all rushed to the basement and crammed ourselves into the back bedroom. To calm my hysteria from wailing sirens and howling winds, my mom pulled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone off the shelf and began to read. The storm faded away and I was absorbed in a magical universe. Over the next year, she read the whole series to me, and ever since then, the power of words and the English language fascinated me.

Some of the oldest and fondest memories I have from my childhood are those of my mother reading to me. Before I even began Kindergarten, I remember my mom reading stories to me from children’s books, or making up stories as she went along. I enjoyed listening to the stories and still remember some to this day. She also taught me how to write my name, count, and recite the alphabet. I loved the time I spent reading with my mom because she made it fun, so much so that I didn’t realize I was learning.

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

It was not until I reached kindergarten where I first learned how to write. Having parents that were not fluent in English and worked almost all day, I found school being the gateway to my academic success. Learning how to trace letters were the first steps to my literacy journey. Every morning, I would sit in my assigned seat where I had my very own box that contained my crayons. My first task was to trace my name on the paper with crayons, something that every kindergartner is anticipated to fulfill. I remember having so most trouble, everyone has trouble from time to time, but in my case it was all the time. Once the bell rang for recess, all the kids ran right past me to go play outside once they finished writing their name successfully. I was always the last one to go and my teacher, Mrs. Ross, would have to slowly spend more time with me, holding my hand and tracing my name so I could get the hang of it. I did not have the same help at home as I did in school. Unfortunately, my parents could not help me with any of my school work; I either had to be self taught or I had to turn to my teacher for assistance. “The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me.” (Hellen Keller) I can relate to this quote because my kindergarten teacher was someone who inspired and motivated me to go past all odds. Like Hellen Keller, meeting Mrs.

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.

If I could describe my relationship with reading and writing it would most likely have to be, improving. Of course I would assume the same happens to all students that their reading and writing skills improve as they continue with their education. For me reading has been a passion, so my reading skills are pretty advanced and I can say I am able to read well. In my case, being a child of two Hispanic parents, I do have a slight accent that can get in the way and make my reading a bit rough. Usually it is not so bad, only on certain words that either I do not know how to properly pronounce or certain letters that my accent acts as a physical barrier where I have to sound it out more carefully or work around my accent. While that is the #1 major setback I have during reading. Even with that setback I can still say that I am confident in my reading skills, reading at a well speed, improving, reading various books all that combined allows to be able to read almost anything. What I do enjoy about reading is that I see it being able to bring myself into that world that the author is writing about or to envision the story they’re telling as a movie. I like the idea of just sitting back or laying down with a good book for hours and getting deep into whatever I am reading. Personally once I pick up a good book it is usually hard for me to put it down without the paranoia of not knowing how it ends will eat me up and I usually finish a book within a few days.

My granny instilled my love of books and reading. Every night she would read me the same story before bed. A book that I still cherish, the little golden book version of Heidi. I believed I could be Heidi and my granny encourage my imagination, sewing me clothes like Heidi wore in the pages of my book. My imagination and love of reading grew and she encouraged it always. In her home, there were bookshelves and boxes filled with books and as soon as I learned how I began to read to her.

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.

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.

When I was a kid, I learned how to read and write from my mother. My mother was really patient to teach me how to read and write. I was so excited to learn that from my mother. At first, I learned how to read and write, a, b, c, etc. Then I learned to spell alphabetic with a for apple, b for banana, c for crayon, etc. My mother never gave up to teach me and I tried my best to know what she said to me.

I have many memories related to reading and writing. Throughout my life I have always been involved in the written word, and it was almost always a positive experience for me. The only exception to this is when I was actually trying to learn how to read and write.

For many people reading and writing are the most fundamental skills a person can learn, it can also greatly influence a persons cognitive thinking capacity and the sharing of information with others. However, in some parts of the world, people still do not have access to education or the ability to learn to read and write. Lacking the skill to read and write can make things tough for some one in todays society, however with the right resources and mentors to support, one can find a hidden passion for reading and writing. For me, reading and writing has never been one of my greatest skills, I had always struggled throughout my younger years of schooling to keep an interest. As of today, reading and writing has made a great impact on my life, especially in the last few years since I began college.

My first memory of reading or writing was being taught the alphabet at the daycare I attended in my childhood. I was in the “butterfly room” which was for children going into kindergarten the following year. I have a similar memory of my mother teaching me to write my name when I was around that same age. At some point in the years following I learned to read on my own and became more proficient in writing.

I have been writing since I have been in Middle School. I have realized that by college it was easier for me to write down my thoughts in order for me to remember what I have said or done. Writing out my thoughts gives me a sense of recollection, knowledge, and pacification that gets me through my day. I pictured writing to be as simple as jotting down a few sentences, but as I got farther in school I realized that there is more to it than just writing sentences. English has been my most difficult subject I have ever endured, but I have somehow been managing to make excellent grades and achieving all requirements. First in the essay, I will discuss my experiences in the English life that I’ve taken so far up until college. The second part will list my struggles in creating a thesis, a work cited, and properly citing my sources used in the papers.

Reading and writing are two of the most important tools in my life, because without them I would not have an education. They form the basis of a class; for example, completing a lab in chemistry would not be possible without following a written lab procedure. These two skills are taught at such a young age, and as education advances students must continue to strive to reach a higher level. I can remember in elementary school, we were always pushed to reach the next reading level once we had successfully mastered the one we were on. It was always a competition for my sister and I to be at a higher level, I usually won. Even though I was excelling in reading it was the complete opposite for writing. It is something that has never come easy