For the Love of Reading

The first memory I have of being turned on to reading is in the fourth grade. My teacher read to the class a book called The Happy Hollisters, one of many in the set. Each day she read a chapter after lunch. Each chapter ended like a cliffhanger on television. I couldn’t wait until the next day to hear what happened. From this time on I loved reading, not just reading myself but also being read to.

Later in the year I was amazed when I received a card in the mail to order The Happy Hollister books. My mother ordered them for me and I began reading all the time. My son read these when he was in the third grade. We still have them. I ordered Scholastic books by the ton. I began reading and loving reading more and more. I remember reading everywhere I went. That has carried over to my adulthood. Now I read on trips, in the car, while waiting for something, etc. The times after fourth grade, and for a few years after high school, were not filled with reading. I became interested in boys, drama, got married and then raised a family.

It was when my oldest son was very young that I began reading to him. No one told me to read to him. I just felt as a new mother that was the thing to do. He sat very still while I was reading. He seemed so interested. By the time he went to kindergarten, he was able to recognize words and he began reading early in that year. At Easter Break, we went to the public Library and checked out 18 books on a first reader level. He read all of those books to me but I could tell it stressed him out. It was as if I was pushing the reading on him. This was not working for the two of us. I backed down and let nature take its course. My son continued to read well and still does. He made a 99% on his CAT (California Achievement Test) in the third grade. I knew it was because he could read well.

I began volunteering in my son’s school, when he was in the second grade. I worked with first grade reading groups. Although I only volunteered once a week, I really looked forward to that special time. Soon after that I began substituting in all grades. Working with students in this capacity gave me a real sense of fulfillment. My profession up to that point had been a hairdresser (15 years). Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would get a job as an assistant in a private school. I loved it. My boss approached me in the first week of my new job, telling me that I needed to go to school to become a teacher; I had a “God given talent to teach.” I began taking classes (one a semester). Thirteen years later, I graduated from ASU with high honors. I got a teaching job immediately and have loved teaching ever since then.

As a teacher, I believe children need support from their parents in academics as well as the school. I see that the students who need the most help with subjects (at home) do not get it and that is crucial to their success in school. It may be that the parents don’t know how to help or cannot help the child. I understand that life is tough. It includes many time consuming activities as well as a general bulk of things families have to do after school hours.

A teacher once told me that if a child doesn’t like to read, he/she would never like to read. I do not know if I believe that entirely. It would be my hopes that someone would turn this child on to reading as my fourth grade teacher did me.

I am always looking at my students to see which ones are on the edge of taking off on reading. I try to find books with subjects that are interesting. I am not always successful, partially because of the curriculum, partially because the students do not enjoy reading. Possibly all students will not be keen on reading but maybe most will find reading rewarding to some extent as I have.