The Time I Gained To Read In High School

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 interest in reading started at an early age, before kindergarten. I have my mom to thank for reading a book or two to me at night before bed. My mom has told me that because she was a stay at home mom before I started school, it was her main goal to teach me as much as she could by herself, before any teachers had the chance to, and that included reading a couple children’s books to me every night. My grandpa had a hand in this too; he bought me a Dick and Jane storybook and before long, I had the entire book read by myself.

When we were required to read books for school, other classmates complained about it, but it was one of my favorite parts of class. Even though I didn’t always like the books, I liked to read books that I wouldn’t have picked out to read. I liked being surprised when I enjoyed a book that I didn’t think I would like.

The first book I remember reading was Go Dogs Go by P.D. Eastman. I would read that book once a day with my mother, and never get tired of it. Then other books like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, and many other Dr. Seuss books came next. I couldn’t read enough of them growing up through kindergarten and first grade. Then all of a sudden I moved to Chelan and forced to read to meet my AR goal. Now, I am not trying to blame Accelerated Reader for my lack of motivation to read today, but I do believe it played a role in how I began to hate reading in elementary school.

Every night my mom would read me a chapter or two of a “Junie B Jones” book. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to read by myself. I enjoyed reading when I first learned how. The first series I really liked was “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. I’ve read every single book in the series. Whenever a new book from the series would come out, i’d get it first thing the next day. I never really read that often after I finished the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. Those books really entertained me and anything else I read from the point didn't sway me. In fourth grade, I had a really awesome teacher that was really hard on me, but I really believe she helped me the most. I don't remember everything we did, I really don’t remember most of the stuff we did. I just remember getting to 5th grade and writing was so easy for me. So was math, science, etc.

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.

When I first started to read, it was the usual Bif and Chip books, which read “Bif had a key” or “Chip likes blue ”. Then, a few weeks into year 1, I found the Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, which ultimately shaped my reading personality. They inspired me to read more challenging books. It was only through an hour or two of looking through the school library that I found the Harry Potter series, almost half way through year 4.

When I was in middle school, I wanted to be considered “well-read,” so I started with classic novels, the books everyone includes

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

My first memory of ever being exposed to reading was when i was six years old and my mom started introducing books before bed. She came home one day with a bag full of books and a smile on her face, she had just received some of the books and stories dad would read to her when she was a kid. She told me that she would get tucked into bed and her dad would let her pick a different book every night until there were no new ones to choose from. They would then makeup tales and "write" their own stories that was a fond childhood memory she had and she wanted me to have as well. This tradition is something i really admire and look forward to sharing with my children one day. That is the first memory i have of ever being exposed to reading and i am

But like Italo Calvino says, a work read at a young age and forgotten still “leaves its seed in us,” and I believe that's true. An experience that I do remember, however, is being at my old house with a board book about a litter of puppies. I distinctly remember being in my room, on the floor, and hearing my sister’s voice from across the room. The book was only about five or so pages, but I remember reading and going through that book and the rest of the series multiple times. I even remember reading to and helping my sister with those books when she got older. Middle school was also a place I was able to explore books I was interested in, especially Andrew Clement’s books, until I was introduced to young adult novels in 8th grade. My English teacher, Mrs. Corey, told us to pick out and read a book so we could do an assignment on it later on. Since I had read all of the books the library offered by Clement’s, I went to ask her what she recommended. She asked me a numerous amount questions about what I liked or what I was interested in, and

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

As for me, I discovered the wonderful world of reading when I was 8 years old, when I dramatically changed my attitude to books. Then was the first time when I realized how pleasurable reading books can be. From that time I definitely can say that I`m a bookworm. I carry books wherever I go and read them every time I have a possibility.

If there’s one thing my family and I all have in common is our love to read. I wasn’t as avid of a reader as my two older sisters who reread Harry Potter too many times to count, it took me longer to settle into the idea of it. My attention span grew and I started picking up all sorts of books. In 7th grade I had a streak of books that were all tragedies. The well- known Fault in Our Stars tore me to pieces, but

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.