My Literacy Development

My Dad read to my sister and I before bed. We had bunk beds, mine was on top. Sometimes my sister and I both sat in the bottom bunk and he sat, sometimes we both sat in the top bunk and he stood. Either way, he made sure we were both listening. He read us The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It may have been a bit of an advanced book for a four and five year old, but I remember crying when the deer died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I was old enough for school and until I was in about second grade, my parents, my sister and I would spend the summers in an old, crusty trailer on the Missouri River. Mom and Dad moved irrigation pipe by hand morning and evening so my sister and I spent the summers playing in the enormous garden, swimming in the river, and running through sprinklers. A couple of summers before I started Kindergarten, I decided that I was going to learn how to read. I always made Dad read me the Bernstein Bears "Sleepover" book and eventually I had it memorized so even though I couldn't read yet, I knew what some words were. I used that book to decode the writing I found in all of the National Geographics strewn about the coffee table. I remember sitting for hours, puzzling over the strange words, tirelessy asking my Mom and Dad "what word is this?" and "how do you say this?"; writing combinations of letters and making them pronounce the words I created. My parents were ever patient, answering my questions and teaching me as they went. I was the only kid in my Kindergarten class who could read well right away, and it put me ahead in school from day 1. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I have a wonderful idea for inspiring literacy in my children. I plan on finding one (or a couple) of Far Side day-by-day tear-off calendars and using the cartoons to decorate an entire wall in their bedrooms. Far Side jokes most definitely inspired my sense of humor from an early age, and I think I'm pretty damn funny sometimes. Finding humor in forms of text is integral in developing children's enjoyment in reading. My parents were always sitting down and reading us Far Side jokes to us. Some were a bit tough to contemplate for a young mind, but I was always dying to understand the joke, which encouraged me to improve my reading comprehension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My parents have a bookcase taking up nearly an entire wall in their bedroom. I remember laying on their bed, staring at all of the books and marveling at the creative names and the names of all of the different authors. Sometimes Dad would sit with me and I would ask him questions about random books on the shelf. "What is this one about?" "What is your favorite book?"  My parents were forever encouraging my sister and I to read and would be so proud of us when we finished a book...so we read a lot. Who doesn't want to make their parents proud?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After reading this article and seeing two drastically different approaches to literacy development in children, I have come to understand how truly lucky I am. I think my parents did it right! It was certainly helpful that I had intrinsic motivation to read, but I think they helped me along pretty handily.