I suppose the first question to address is
how I learned to read. However, this question of “how” is much harder to answer
than “when”. I do not remember many particulars about learning how to read,
although I do know that it is different than most people’s experiences. I was
homeschooled from first grade through eighth grade. My kindergarten year, I
attended my town’s local elementary school. I am sure that the teacher worked
with us on literacy and reading, however, I feel like I already knew how to
read in kindergarten as I do not remember any type of instruction in the
classroom geared towards reading. Perhaps, however, I do not remember simply
because it was a long time ago. In first grade, I remember reading many “Dick
and Jane” books. They were simple and I could read them pretty quickly by
myself. I have a younger sister and an older (both of whom were homeschooled
all the way through high school). I remember having “reading time” when I was
homeschooled and reading these “Dick and Jane” books to my younger sister.
As far as reading history outside of school,
I know that each summer we participated in our local library’s book contest.
The contest was to see which child in the library’s reading program could read
the most books in a eight- or ten-week span. I remember my older sister winning
the contest three times. Since we were homeschooled, and the library was our
main “hub” for learning, we went to the library to gorge ourselves on books at
least one or two times a week. We had cloth tote bags and my mom’s rule was
that we could only check out as many books that would fit in each of our
reading bags. I think mine held about 25 picture books. As time progressed, I
liked to read, but wasn’t crazy about it. It wasn’t until my seventh birthday
that I fell in love with reading books. I am a horse lover and someone gave me
the first book of a series called Pony Pals by Jean Bentacourt. There are 38
books in the series, and over the course of the next two or three years, I read
every one of her books. I was obsessed with Pony Pals. This was my first
introduction to falling in love with books and from Pony Pals, I began to
branch out to other horse books. I loved (and still do) books in a series and
cannot tell you how many different horse-book series I have on my bookshelves
at home!
In eight grade, I took a “class” (that was
more like a honours seminar) specifically for homeschooled students on
Classical Literature. We were required to read the unabridged versions of The Iliad, The Odyssey, and several
other Greek plays/poems. I remember reading the first couple pages of The Iliad and not comprehending a word
or what I was reading! My mom read the entire book aloud to me over the course
of a month or so (bless her heart!). I distinctly remember thinking that I had
“made it to the big leagues” and could read anything if I could finish The Iliad and understand it enough to
have class discussions on it. I remember going to Barnes and Nobles with my mom
on a special trip to pick out which book I would read next. I chose Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. If you
are not familiar with the book, the abridged version (which is the copy that I
own) is 896 pages long. In all honesty, I am probably on about page 500 and it’s
been over eight years since I first started that book! It is a challenge for me
and I pick it up every summer and Christmas vacation. (My curiosity got the
better of me after about two years of reading it and I have familiarized myself
with the story via the soundtrack to the Broadway musical, seeing several
different movie adaptations, and talking with many people who have been in
local-level theatrical productions of the play. Hence, I am less motivated to
finish the book, but I know someday I will!)
To this day, I still love to read classical
literature and am currently reading A
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. My early years spent browsing my
local library’s shelves have greatly contributed
to my love of reading. Additionally, I think that my mother’s positive view,
and also practical encouragement of pushing us to read, also helped me see
reading as an adventure that can take you anywhere around the world. I love to
talk to people and see life from their perspectives. Reading
I know that my love of reading has influenced
me in my decision to become an English teacher for Deaf and hard of hearing
kids. Most deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) children are language delayed and
therefore do not have good language skills. The average literacy rate for a
deaf adult is said to be between fourth and seventh grade level. It is
extremely hard to teach deaf/HoH children how to read and even more so how to
fall in love with reading. I will definitely have my work cut out for me! I
feel ready and capable to meet this challenge, however, since I have such a
passion for others to be able to discover the magic of books and enjoy reading
as much as I do!
No comments:
Post a Comment