To me when I started thinking about this, I linked it to breathing and my heart beating. They are both things that need to occur in order for me to survive, however, I don't think about doing these things on a daily basis. I trust that they will simply occur. Reading and writing have become so ingrained in my life that I'm not sure that I think about doing them on a daily basis. When I attempt to break it down, I think back first of all to being read to as a child. I was the first child to come along in quite some years in famiy. To say the least, everyone was completely involved with me. I was constantly read to as a child. I can remember being 3 or 4 and carrying book after book to my grandparents for them to read to me. Each time they would read to me, I would pick a little knowledge and store it. I also remember that around the age of 4, my mother was completing her college degree in education. She was constantly reading and writing. To me this became something that was very valuable to me. I wanted to read at that point.
At the age of four, there was a moment of frustration that I can clearly recall. My family was taking a vacation and I can remember my mother and father reading road signs. I was so frustrated and felt left out because I couldn't read them. It was at that point that I actively pursued having my mother and father teach me to read and write. Needless to say, I was able to read and write before I was in school.
I went through much of my schooling without being literate with a computer. It almost baffels me that I wasn't able to use a computer for school until I was in high school. They existed when I was in middle, however, I was in high school before they became a part of my learning. It scares me and excites me to think that the world has changed that much in ten years.
At the age of four, there was a moment of frustration that I can clearly recall. My family was taking a vacation and I can remember my mother and father reading road signs. I was so frustrated and felt left out because I couldn't read them. It was at that point that I actively pursued having my mother and father teach me to read and write. Needless to say, I was able to read and write before I was in school.
I went through much of my schooling without being literate with a computer. It almost baffels me that I wasn't able to use a computer for school until I was in high school. They existed when I was in middle, however, I was in high school before they became a part of my learning. It scares me and excites me to think that the world has changed that much in ten years.
I think it's amazing that you were so motivated to read and write preK! I like the part about getting frustrated by not being able to read road signs. In order to motivate students to read teachers need to provide them with a real purpose and an authentic text (like road signs). Not much of that happens in school. Something to think about changing!
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