When I first learned to read I was in pre-school and kindergarten. My teacher would assign my peers and I reading groups and we would each take turns reading. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot with reading. I would be terrified when they called my name to read. I would make excuses such as, “I have to use the restroom” or “I have a sour throat and I was told not to talk a lot that day.” Keep in mind that I was in kindergarten and already making up these lies to stay away from reading. It didn’t take long for my teacher to notice that I was only feeling sick when it was time to get into our reading groups. She told me that I must start participating or I would get a note sent home. I decided to tell my grandma about my fear of reading. I knew my grandmother wouldn’t be upset with her granddaughter for “not participating.” After I told my grandmother about my “negative attitude towards reading,” she took it upon herself to help me. She started taking my sister and I to our city library. When we got there she would tell me to pick out any book that looked interesting to me. When I read she made me write down the words that I didn’t understand or couldn’t read. She would make me look them up and break them down so the words weren’t that big. Not long after, I felt more confident about reading. My teacher noticed …show more content…
My House, English and Poetry teacher Mrs. Fletcher, inspired me to continue writing after high school. I even was on a poetry team for a while. We would perform at events and small venues. Due to my influences from poetry I have become a very sentimental writer. Before I actually start writing I think about what I am trying to say and write down the main points. After that I try to find connections between the main points and relate back to the main topic. I also find that I produce better work when I have time to look over my
Struggling with reading came early on in Mikayla’s academic years. Her family was definitely an early influence in her reading ability. Her parents and grandparents were very involved in Mikayla’s reading development. Her father on his off nights would read bedtime stories to her and her sister until about third grade. After third grade, she was expected to read at least thirty minutes before bed every night. She also joined in on Grandpa’s morning rituals of reading the paper, she would read the funnies. According to Jongsu Wee, we learn our reading habits because it is embedded in our everyday life (Jongsu, 2009). Pamela, Mikayla’s mother, said that often Mikayla was very talkative about the books her parents would read to her. She was so excited about reading the next one that often times her mother would stop in the middle of reading to leave her in suspense. Her grandfather, Carl, was also a great influence in her reading. When she would stay at her grandparents’ house, Carl would often read her the funnies or a story in...
Often I sit at the computer, or with a pen and paper, and I think about what I should write. I reflect on my experiences with life, or with my feelings and emotions. If the subject that I write about is coming from my heart, I could write forever, opposed to something that I do not have interest in like the mating habits of fireflies. I don’t care about how, when, and much less why they procreate. I would always dread having to write a paper for my English class, and it was not until I discovered my own love for poetry that I began to enjoy writing. It was my junior English teacher in San Diego, Howard Estes. He allowed me to open my mind to not only the academic perspective of literature, but also to my own personal connection to this confusing written language. This newfound passion gave me a sort of sixth sense. When I look at something, I not only think about what it means to me, but what it means to the world on a larger scale as opposed to taking everything at face value. Through my own writings, and the writings of others, I have been shaped as a unique individual.
Throughout my childhood I was never very good at reading. It was something I always struggled with and I grew to not like reading because of this. As a child my mom and dad would read books to me before I went to bed and I always enjoyed looking at the pictures and listening. Then, as I got older my mom would have me begin to read with her out loud. I did not like this because I was not a good reader and I would get so frustrated. During this time I would struggle greatly with reading the pages fluently, I also would mix up some of the letters at times. I also struggled with comprehension, as I got older. My mom would make me read the Junie B. Jones books by myself and then I would have to tell her what happened. Most
As a child, I have always been fond of reading books. My mother would read to me every single night before I went to bed and sometimes throughout the day. It was the most exciting time of the day when she would open the cabinet, with what seemed to be hundreds of feet tall, of endless books to choose from. When she read to me, I wanted nothing more than to read just like her. Together, we worked on reading every chance we had. Eventually I got better at reading alone and could not put a book down. Instead of playing outside with my brothers during the Summer, I would stay inside in complete silence and just read. I remember going to the library with my mom on Saturdays, and staying the entire day. I looked forward to it each and every week.
I consider myself a very dedicated person, because even though I didn’t like writing, I did well at it by fighting against whatever was stopping me from liking it. As time passed I conceived that reading and writing is a combination of important tools that are essential for life, something that everyone needs to be successful. Once I realized how important reading and writing was, I started to feel a passion for writing poems, songs and stories.
My mother always makes sure to remind me that when I was a child, she made me become a reader. Every night, she would read a book to sister and I. We were always encouraged to read reminded of how important it was to be literate. At that age, I thought that being 'literate' was just being able to read and spell your name. Later on, I discovered that literacy is so much more complex and interesting. At the age of 10, I discovered a book series titles "The Amazing Days of Abbey Hayes." The stories were written to make it seem like a young girl was documenting her every day life in a diary.Of course, being a kid, I was under the impression that the books were actually written by a girl my age and I was amazed at how smart
Reading and writing has never been my strong suit, but it has been something I’ve learned how to cope with. My grandma would try to read me books and I would try to stay focused on the words but it was always a struggle. If it was a book with pictures I could always follow just a little better but it was still hard for me to comprehend the message. Some of the books she would read to me when I was around 2 years old were Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson and Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne. I seemed to like Winnie the Pooh better than Fraggle Rock. Fraggle Rock is a book series that has been passed down from my mother and a thing I plan to read to my children and the next generation. When it had come time for me to start trying to read the books I never could, I could look at pictures and make stuff up from the pictures but that was it.
Clearly, I’ve had my ups and downs with reading. I still have my own personal obstacles with reading that I plan on improving in my English class. I enjoy reading more now than I have in my school years. I know reading is a great way to escape as well as learning. I see reading in a different light than I have before. Like Dr. Seuss said, “The more you learn, the more places you’ll
When I started first grade, I finally started to appreciate some of my mother’s work. At the beginning of the year, everyone had to take a reading level test, and I ranked the highest among my classmates. I flexed my reading skills before everyone. I volunteered to read during class. I read to my parents, to my grandparents, to my dog.
The first thing a child learns how to do in school is to read and write. I, unlike most of my classmates, didn’t actually know how to read fluently until the first grade. I remember my Kindergarten class had to read The Polar Express on our own and I was only able to guess what the book was saying. My friend’s dad had to read to me while she read on her own. Reading wasn’t practiced much at home. In fact, my mother doesn’t even remember reading to me, “I don’t remember, but I know I read to you at some point.” The only book I ever found and looked through in my house was my father’s algebra book. That algebra book became my favorite book since I didn’t really have anything else to read. However, after getting the hang
When I was a young child I suffered from dyslexia. During my first few years of elementary school reading and writing seemed unattainable. I would write letters and numbers backwards especially s, 3, and e. I couldn’t even spell my whole name correctly and to this day I still don’t know my right hand from my left hand unless I am holding my pencil. In first grade when we broke into smaller groups for reading based on our reading level I felt so devastated and degraded to be put in the lowest level group, I recall the short books we read were half actual words and half pictures so if it said “the cat” for example it would have the word the and a tiny picture of a cat. I felt extremely envious to see so many kids my age who were light years beyond me with reading and writing. Despite my struggles I kept reading, I so desperately desired to read a book by myself without help. As I continued to read with the help of my teachers and my grandparents. I slowly continued to improve, and was able to read increasingly difficult books.
My struggle with literacy hasn’t been an easy one. I grew up in a poor school district, that barely met the requirements to keep their accreditation. I struggled with writing more than reading. My awful penmanship and slow typing skill, caused me to lose assurance in my literary ability. My loss in confidence caused me to lose interest in reading. Having lost all interest in reading and writing caused me many miserable school years. Over the years, I slowly gained my courage back. Due to one hard working professor who went above and beyond to boost my self-esteem. With proper guidance, you can achieve literacy success.
Throughout my life, reading and writing were a positive thing because of the support from the people around. I was never really the confident or extroverted type of person back in the day. This then caused me to be anxious when I read or be doubtful of what I wrote. I can still remember breaking balls of sweats and tensing up whenever I had to read something aloud in elementary. It was a pretty big social problem for me but I can also recall many times where I was laughing and having fun while doing something with reading or writing with my mother. Although there have been many things that affected me so far in my literary journey, my mother has been the most supportive and impactful person to me by reading short stories, going to the library, and giving me writing prompts. One of the activities I liked to do before I fell asleep was to read.
I remember that, when being taught to read I already knew more words than I had realized. Watching my dad’s finger skim under the words as he read them had helped me subconsciously learn those words. I learned to read and write at a much more accelerated pace than my peers. I felt impatient with those who lagged behind, not realizing that not everyone had been given the same advantages as me. The moment I started to read on my own, my great aunt, a retired kindergarten teacher, would send me a box of books she had used in her classroom every year for my birthday. Throughout elementary school, when I received the box, I would bring it up to my room and practice reading all the books on my own. Being able to read on my own opened the door to a world I hadn’t been able to reach without help