Blog #1

I know that my love for literature comes from the relationship I had with books as a child. The “reading” I did from the time I was born until I finished elementary school has played a critical role in who I have become today. My mom has always told me how important it was to her that she read to my brother and I when we were young. One of her main priorities as a mother was to surround us with books and instill in us a desire to read. The most vivid memory I have of my childhood is being read to by my mom. I grew to love books and would literally beg her to read to me until I was able to read them to myself. She would read every book with a different tone, volume, and voice. These stories became so exciting to me. When someone tells me to think back to my childhood, I instantly think of the books that I loved so much. Children's stories such as Fireman Small and What Will Minnie Wear? are the highlights of my past. It is clear to see how this act of reading to me on a daily basis has held such an impact on my memories and attitude towards books. I am now a firm believer that all children should be read to frequently, from the moment they are born until they learn to read on their own.

         The experiences I had with reading in elementary school have also deepened my love for books. I have very, very vivid memories of reading in school, all of which are positive. Library was my favorite special when I was younger; I distinctly remember getting lost into another world through these books. When I was in the fourth and fifth grades, I had teachers who read aloud to our class from a chapter book a few times a week. Although we were old enough to read on our own, they felt it was important to read aloud to us in addition to periods of silent reading. These are some of my favorite memories from elementary school. The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Shiloh were two of the books that I remember my teachers reading to us. This reading time was usually done at the end of the day with any extra minutes we had. My classmates and I would look forward to this all day long and actually count down the minutes until we could hear the next chapter of the book. The ability that those teachers had to make reading exciting for us has had a HUGE impact on my role as a reader. 

         Another memory that I have from my childhood is participating in the reading programs that my school would hold. Each year our librarian would choose 20 books that she felt relatively strongly about. These books would be set out at a special table in the library for us to check out. Each time we read one of the books we would take a short 3 question quiz to be sure that we had read the book. For every book we finished, we would get to pick out a prize. The more books you read, the cooler the prizes became. I remember participating in this program every single year. I usually ended up loving each and every book Mrs. Alatello had chosen for us. Having this opportunity to set goals for myself while reading was exciting for me. When I finished a book I felt accomplished and proud. 

        All of these events as a whole have provided me with a great love for books. Without these experiences, I am sure that reading would not have the same meaning for me as it does today. Exposing children to books from a very young age is key in aiding their desire to read as well as their ability to learn. Reading needs to be made exciting to students and I am looking forward to taking on that task as a teacher.