Picture this: a four-year-old frizzy haired child waiting for when the clock would read 3:30, a burst of excitement running through her as she knew that in just a few minutes the front door would open and she would see her older siblings walk through. Expecting them to be ready to play, every day she was disappointed when they would put their backpacks on the dining table and take out their books freshly signed out from the school library. She would watch them read and write for what seemed like years until her mother allowed them to get changed and ready for snacks. Well, you are probably aware that the four-year-old frizzy haired child is me, and yes my mom made my siblings and I read every day after school for an hour. At the time I didn’t know that this simple event was shaping my literacy in any way. Now it comes through full circle as I realized that growing up in a household where everybody read frequently, instilled in me the value of reading and writing from an early age. My family provided me with what seemed like unlimited access to books and articles, as well as constantly enforcing the importance of reading and writing. As I grew my extracurricular reading expanded into an appreciation for literature and articles of all types, both in and out of academic settings. As I mentioned previously, throughout my toddler years I observed my siblings, and parents, taking time out of their day to read the newspaper, an article, or a novel, but I could never actively
Ever since I was younger I have always tried staying away from reading. The only person in my family that likes to read is my mom; however, she does not read often. Once she picks up a book, she cannot put it down. My dad on the other hand, never picks up a book. He and I are one in the same; we do not like reading because we have a hard time comprehending what we read. My brother also does not like to read. He does not like reading because he has a learning disability. My mom always had an extremely tough time getting him to read. Overall, my literacy experiences at home are few and far between.
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
I have acquired many literacy opportunities throughout my literacy life my parents, grandparents, and teachers ,I hold them very close to my heart because if it wasn’t for them pushing and encouraging me to read and write I wouldn’t be the literate person I am today. I bear a huge family so there are always many voices going through my head so it wasn’t long until I started speaking, as well as comprehending what all these strange words meant recognizing the words was very difficult before I started practicing them. My parents always encouraged me to read and write in a way no child can resist with toys and candy who could say no to that. Every chance they got to help me read they would read with me. I wasn’t forced to read on my own because I didn’t know how.
Can you remember what your teacher taught you back in kindergarten? Chances are she was introducing you to the basics of reading and writing. Literacy is the ability to read and write, and because I did not think I was very good at either of the two, it had never been my favorite thing to do. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I had an English class that I actually enjoyed. My teacher was Ms. Holly Eubanks. The past classes had boasted about how good of a teacher Ms. Eubanks was and how, even though she may take a while to grade your papers, she was always trying to help you improve in every possible way she could. On the first day
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.
My childhood was filled with literacy and I didn’t even know it. When I was 6 years old I read books like The Cat in The Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? All of which were good books while I was growing up. These books taught me a lot when I was younger and I didn’t even realize it. I would enjoy reading them many times,as I grew older I got into heavier books. My literacy improved a lot throughout my childhood.
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.
I never understood the point of reading. My parents first introduced my siblings and I to its world at the early age of two. We were familiarized with letters, taught to link sound the visual and formed words with a stuttering start. We became accustomed to the quiet of Tuesday nights when my father would sit huddled on the sofa – my mother curled up in bed – his long nose buried in a novel, a black curtain cascading from her head to the pages, morphing into one with their respective books. As the night drew close the browns of their eyes would light up, while my mother’s red lips would quiver with excitement and my father would flash a lopsided smile. “Reading is an adventure,” they’d
Literacy comes in all different shapes and sizes, and is not always something as simple as a book or literary element. In my case, I consider my high school, Council Rock High School South, to be a very large literacy sponsor for me. I was lucky to have grown up in a middle-to-high class area with a great education system in place. Although Council Rock had great funding and personnel, I did not consider the level of education that I received to be the staple of my literacy. When it came to literacy, there were different types of students who revolved around me during my four years of high school: the overachievers, the underachievers, and the average achievers. The crowd which I associated myself with were the average students and the overachieving students. To myself these groups of people, agreement with a mentor named Malcolm X is very pertinent: “Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day” (X 116). Because of the harshness of some courses, my fellow students and I sometimes felt trapped in the building until the end of the school day.
Recently I’ve learned that reading is a crucial part of life. Reading allows you to go on unbelievable adventures that you could only dream about. Bryce Shoemaker, author of “The Not So Lonely Good Company of Books” and Richard Rodriguez, author of “The Lonely, Good Company of Books” write about their experience with reading and writing the way they’ve surpassed their struggles. I personally can relate to both of their experiences with having a difficult time reading at a young age. Despite the fact that both of the authors had the opportunity to have a special teacher help him during school and I did not, we still had other common similarities. Having the resources such plenty of books at home and someone to encourage you to read on your own time such as a parent does not
Before I began elementary school, I enjoyed reading picture books, the touch and feel books and pop-up books. I loved the author Dr. Suess, because he was funny and because I loved the rhyming he did in his writing. I can remember before bed, my mom or dad would read to me until I got old enough to read myself. My mom has always enjoyed reading, if she is not reading a book, then she is reading a recipe or a magazine. My dad on the other hand, I have only seen him read one book, besides reading manuals for his tools. Reading was not a big deal in my house, all of us kids were told that we needed to read, but they did not force us to read. This brings me to Richard Rodriguez’s essay, in his household reading was not as important, but once he got to school, he realized that reading is one of the main activities. I can relate to Rodriguez because in either one of our households we weren’t told that we had to read before we did something else. Once I got to elementary school is when I realized that reading was not for me. Before school, I enjoyed reading, then once I began elementary school, I was forced to read, take tests over books, and read out loud in front of the class which made reading a chore.
Families are often encouraged to provide a variety of reading material for their children, especially at an early age, to give children plenty of options when learning how to read. When children are provided with a variety of reading material at home, they see that a high value is placed on reading. If parents value reading at home, children tend to value it also, and the more a child is encouraged to read at home, the more they will want to engage in reading in general. By being involved in their child’s reading development, parents can give their children a firm foundation to reading prior to entering grade school which will lead to a lifetime of reading enjoyment and
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
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.
Learning to read and write, or getting an education in general, is something that is easily handed to us in the world today. Imagine living in a world where you were expected to be uneducated, illiterate, and stupid. In the texts “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, these young boys grew up in different worlds where they were looked down upon and were expected to fail due to the standards they grew accustomed to. Although Douglass and Alexie underwent contrasting hardships on their educational journey, they both shared the realization that learning to read and write was both a curse and a blessing. With those shared