My reading story....
The more I work with children, the more I learn about myself.
A little background about me: I only learned to enjoy reading in the last 6 years or so.
My early memories of reading are warm and fuzzy- sitting with my parents or older siblings and reading Snow, Danny and the Dinosaur, Hop on Pop, and One Fish, Two Fish. Fast forward a few years to visiting the Cary Library. Now I'm showing my age here- but I remember that library when it was a small building just behind Ashworth's. My favorite book: Corduroy. I think my entire family tired of it.
Next stop: elementary school. I have fond memories of my elementary library. Mostly. I loved the librarian- she gave us fun trivia to research. We learned songs and history from her. I used to check out the same book my brother did: Porko von Pop Button, and loved seeing his name on the card. But there was that room in the library- the one in the back that was a classroom. The one that I went to for help. I had a hard time knowing whether the word was read (sounds like reed) or read (sounds like red). For the record- I still do.
After that, I don't remember much. I remember reading in terms of worksheets and projects~ papers and research. I don't remember it for fun. Maybe it was there, but it was drowned out by the other. This was no fault of my parents- we had books and they took me to libraries. I just don't remember being enthralled with reading.
What changed in me? Reading with children. Picking up a good everybody book and sharing it. Seeing the wonder in them as they gain ideas and knowledge. Hearing their laughter. Watching them make connections. Wishing I had that too.... and finding out that I do!
Today's lunch book club reminded me of that. I've been reading the IQ series by Roland Smith. Our school library has volumes 1-3. Book club has sets of 6 of volumes 1 and 2. Needless to say- there are lots of students clamoring for the books now. My personal copy of book 4 is out on loan to the 4th kid, and I'm reading book 5. They're already trying to figure out who gets it first.
When one student asked if it gets better in later books- another jumped in and said "Wait til you get to book 3. You will be shocked and won't be able to wait for 4." The others who had read that far agreed. And here I sat, struggling with a word "riffling". Context told me what I thought it might be- but I couldn't hear it in my head. So, I did what anyone would do- listened to it on an electronic dictionary app! It made sense, and I could move on.
My reading story continues to grow- as do I. One book, and one new word at a time. And all because I want to- for fun!
A little background about me: I only learned to enjoy reading in the last 6 years or so.
My early memories of reading are warm and fuzzy- sitting with my parents or older siblings and reading Snow, Danny and the Dinosaur, Hop on Pop, and One Fish, Two Fish. Fast forward a few years to visiting the Cary Library. Now I'm showing my age here- but I remember that library when it was a small building just behind Ashworth's. My favorite book: Corduroy. I think my entire family tired of it.
Next stop: elementary school. I have fond memories of my elementary library. Mostly. I loved the librarian- she gave us fun trivia to research. We learned songs and history from her. I used to check out the same book my brother did: Porko von Pop Button, and loved seeing his name on the card. But there was that room in the library- the one in the back that was a classroom. The one that I went to for help. I had a hard time knowing whether the word was read (sounds like reed) or read (sounds like red). For the record- I still do.
After that, I don't remember much. I remember reading in terms of worksheets and projects~ papers and research. I don't remember it for fun. Maybe it was there, but it was drowned out by the other. This was no fault of my parents- we had books and they took me to libraries. I just don't remember being enthralled with reading.
What changed in me? Reading with children. Picking up a good everybody book and sharing it. Seeing the wonder in them as they gain ideas and knowledge. Hearing their laughter. Watching them make connections. Wishing I had that too.... and finding out that I do!
Today's lunch book club reminded me of that. I've been reading the IQ series by Roland Smith. Our school library has volumes 1-3. Book club has sets of 6 of volumes 1 and 2. Needless to say- there are lots of students clamoring for the books now. My personal copy of book 4 is out on loan to the 4th kid, and I'm reading book 5. They're already trying to figure out who gets it first.
When one student asked if it gets better in later books- another jumped in and said "Wait til you get to book 3. You will be shocked and won't be able to wait for 4." The others who had read that far agreed. And here I sat, struggling with a word "riffling". Context told me what I thought it might be- but I couldn't hear it in my head. So, I did what anyone would do- listened to it on an electronic dictionary app! It made sense, and I could move on.
My reading story continues to grow- as do I. One book, and one new word at a time. And all because I want to- for fun!
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