Who taught you to read?
When did you get excited about connecting letters to make words?
My love of reading came from my mom. She spent hours reading to me. I have several favorite memories of reading time.
Mom took me to the library as much as she could. Sometimes we had to walk because there wasn’t a second car.
One book became my favorite and I can’t remember the name. Instead of illustrations it had photos of real children. That amazed me– people could be in books! I wanted to be in books.
That may be when I segued into become the character I read about and now it is the way I write.
She helped me learn to read through Rubic books. If you aren’t familiar with those they put small pictures in place of words like house, dog, bike, and before you know it you’ve learned to read the small words because you’ve practiced them and those big words don’t scare you. At least that’s how I remember it.
Mom read tough books to us, big thick ones like The Yearling, that took all summer because she read to my brother and me while we rested in the hot (unairconditioned) house with the fan blasting on us.
We read side by side on the porch swing.
We read before bed.
We read on the couch, the floor and soon I was reading alone. But I was never alone because if I looked I could find mom reading too!
She gave me a gift that has let me travel, laugh, cry and learn.
So that’s my story. What’s your reading story?
Happy Birthday, Mom!
I struggled with reading until the 3rd grade. Sometime during that year, a lightbulb lit up and suddenly, I couldn’t stop reading. I have memoires of going to the big downtown library with Mom and Dad. It had these majestic lion statues on pillars flanking the steps into the building. I loved the smell and feel of this library. When my boys were little we’d do a family reading time. Eric read the Red Wall Series to our boys and did all the various accents of the characters – such fun!!
I’m so glad you figured out reading! It’s hard for some to catch on but once the puzzle of letters is unlocked a reader is unleashed. 🙂 I love it when parents read to there children.
Mrs. Zeddies, my first grade teacher at Immanuel Lutheran School, Waterloo, IA., taught me to read. She did a good job with Dick and Jane! I don’t remember Mom reading to me so much as she told me and my brother stories she made up. Our favorite was about Suzy Belle and Jackie. They ate creamed canary tongue on toast, and they had marvelous adventures! Maybe that’s where I got my love for making up stories. My favorite books were The Bobbsey Twins. I, too, loved the library and went there often when I was old enough to go after school and take the bus home by myself. I remember a book about the old west and cowboys that was almost the size of an encyclopedia. I devoured it in less than a week and my parents couldn’t believe it. I consumed books until the Lord convicted me I was reading fiction way more than my Bible. Studying the Bible has had many dividends! Now, I try and keep a balance. Happy reading, Carol
I loved the Bobbsey Twins! It’s a blessing to have a mom like yours that encourages creativity. Original stories! YOu learned the process of storytelling from her. Precious memory.