How and when
did you learn to read?
What did you
read first?
Learning
to read is one of those pivotal moments—your world is forever changed once you
have unlocked the mystery of the seemingly random marks on the page. New worlds, new understandings, new
possibilities open to you.
You
are able to engage with others and the world around you in new, dynamic ways---reading
about people and places, the past, stories, natural and supernatural phenomena---
and ideas and ideas and ideas…
I don’t
remember learning to read.
I know
couldn’t read when I started kindergarten.
When I was little, kindergarten was half-a-day and involved learning to
get along with others, naps, toys, and “readiness
skills” (whatever those were.) I
remember playing in the housekeeping corner, dressed in fancy clothes and
high-heels, pretending to cook, using the play phone. I also remember regularly getting in trouble
for talking too much (Still an issue.)
I loved kindergarten, but I don’t remember
reading there.
Only later, as a
grown-up, did I learn that there were lots of reasons for me not to love Alice
and Jerry. Only later did I learn that my white counterparts were reading the newer Dick and Jane books.
I also remember
hours spent at my grandma’s house poring over the books in her glass covered
book case. One reader from the “olden
days” fascinated me. This volume, The Sunbonnet Babies, was published in 1902 and awarded to my
mother according to the inscription, by E. J. Tannenbaum on February 1, 1934 “for
excellent work in 1A.” This was the book from which my mother learned to read.
This was what she read first.
Although I don’t remember my own life-changing
moment of learning to read, I did have the privilege of watching my stepson’s grand
moment. I wish I had had ready access to
a video camera on my phone like we do now.
It was one
evening after dinner. The dinner dishes
had been cleared and he was sitting at the dining room table leafing
through one of the many primers I had given him and his brother. (I had been on
a reading textbook selection committee.)
He
first pointed out the. I learned this word in school.
Then
he noticed see—
They had also learned that word, as well. Of course, I was one he knew. The last word, dog, was new. He was simply identifying words he knew.
Then
in an instant it happened.
There
was a dog in the picture. Almost to himself he said That
word starts with d. Then he made the sound for d. Is this word dog!?
You
could almost see the light bulb above his head. He was bursting---Does this say ‘I see the dog’!? Once it
was affirmed, he read the rest of the page and then ran through the house
making everyone listen a dozen times more.
He had unlocked the secret and made meaning of the text and images-- and story. And from that point, he
understood what this mysterious new activity was about.
Learning
to read forever transforms our world.
There are many beautiful picture books that tell poignant “first reading” experiences. Here are several of my favorites.
Life on Amber’s mountain is lonely until Anna
shows up, bringing friendship and the secret to reading. A new world opens up
for Amber.
On Wednesday nights, Anna teaches her Grandma
to read—a surprise for Dad’s birthday.
This biographical slice of Booker T. Washington’s
life depicts his thirst to learn to read in an era when most African Americans
were not given the opportunity.
How and when did you learn
to read?
What did you read first?
Today’s Deeper Reading Possibility
Click to read Billy Collins’s well-known poem, First Reader, and my poem written in response about what I read first.
How and when
did you learn to read? What do you remember about that moment or process?
What books
did you read early in your reading experience?
Thinking back
about those books, how did they affect your life and your thinking about
reading?
Write your “First
Reader” story.
You may want to
write a personal narrative or try a poem.
You may even want to write a letter to the person who taught you how to
read.
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