Against all odds... how'd YOU do it?

[tipu]

The aliteracy thread got me thinkin... (no need to duck, I didn't think too hard!)...

... thinkin about how I learned to read...

... t'was in Libya. I was somewhere between a frisky five and a smartass six. We were far from home. Almost no books around in my language (Bengali), let alone children's books. But the embassy used to get a regular supply of newspapers from home, delayed, of course...

... and that was how I learned to read, me crawling around on newsprint as my mother pointed to the letters in the title... I can still read pretty well in my language, but I've forgotten the alphabet... can't do my ABCDEs anymore... but I think there are 39 consonants and 10 or 11 vowel type of sounds...

... that was it for the two more years we were in Libya... just newspapers for my reading 'pleasure.' Then in '83 we returned and I discovered a treasure trove of books. I was most fascinated with the mythical tales... devoured them... but in '85, I remember coming across a series of horror books—classics such as Frankenstein translated as well as original stuff... but we were off to Romania so that was cut short... once again, not many books in Bengali available there... I remember finding Maxim Gorky's Mother tucked away and went through it for the want of something to read... then there were the short stories written by a Bengali guy who was studying (or working, I forget) in Australia... I specially liked the chapter where he went to a strip club... Erm, hadn't hit troublesome ten yet...

Romania was where I had to learn English. I started out in fifth grade but was moved to fourth after a few weeks (I went to fifth for math and science). It was a small school building. If you walked out the fourth grade building, you ran into the library. I remember checking out three books my first week there,'cos three was the limit we were allowed to check out... don't recall two, but one was The Little Prince...

... I couldn't read anything in English yet... just liked looking at the pictures... you gotta understand... printing technology hadn't gone that far back home... specially not with children's books... these books that I couldn't read were like Ben & Jerry's stores compared to the piddly tomes I'd glanced through before—mere streetcorner dirty-ice-on-a-stick sellers...

It took one year... well, actually, one school year and a day... before they let me out of the ESL class, which was taught by a local actually, Mrs. Bucur... her kind have become unPC these days... on some days, she was prone to rapping the knuckles of those who were lagging behind, or lifting them up to the level of their faster colleagues by their earlobes... but hey! she taught me how to read and write in English...

... and that was that (well, 'cept the Arabic we were made to 'learn' by our parents in the mid-90s so that we'd be able to read the Qur'an)!


...

So, what 'bout you?

[erik_kosberg]

My parents must have read to me from a very early age because I can not remember ever not being able to read. I do remember going into kindergarten and being shocked to find out that many of my classmates couldn’t read and that some of them didn’t even know the alphabet. Not much has changed in 40 years; when my son went to kindergarten already reading, there were kids in his class who not only didn’t know the alphabet, they couldn’t even identify colors by name.

[Redlass]

We always had books in our home and my parents read to me all the time. Mom said I would memorize the stories and correct her if she tried to skip a few lines in the longer books or if she pronounced them differently than Dad did.

When I was about three, they made labels and stuck little flashcards on all the furniture and everything else around the house. So I'd see the word "chair" when I looked at the chair, etc. They would also point out signs and spell things out to me, pointing at each letter. They tell me I was reading by the time I was four. I don't remember.

I do know that I was never far from a book, even taking books out to the playground 'cause I much preferred reading to physical play. Looking back, it probably would have been healthier if I'd spent a little more time jump roping and playing ball, but ah well.

[Dani257]

I refused to learn to read until I got to school. My brother learned at 1 and a half (really!). He picked up somethings from The Electric Company. Whenever the word of the day came on, he'd scream for my mom to tell him what it was and cry if she didn't make it in time. Later he started sounding out words for himself. And I'm talking newspapers and hard to pronounce street signs, not just board books. Although I do remember him reading a Golden Books version of Cinderella to me.

Wait, this is about me, right? Well, my mom was so amazed that he taught himself, that she offered to teach me. A flat out NO. I've always had very rigid ideas of what should be done where, and school was the ONLY place where people learned things. 'I'll learn it in school.' Fortunately, it didn't take long for me to learn.

By the time I was in third grade, I'd graduated from baby books (I have fond memories of The Pokey Little Puppy) to my first big book. Little Women. It was my mom's favorite, and she gave it to me. At first, it looked too long and boring, but I finally read it and fell instantly in love. Kids on the playground, who weren't reading 500 paged books asked e if I was reading the Bible


I'm the stereotypical reader. I carry a book everywhere. Once, a ball flew inches past my face and I never even noticed. One time I got into trouble at school. They were big on 'socializing'. Well, 5th grade was a miserable time for me. My best friend I had a fight, and since she hd been so posssessive before, I didn't know any of the other kids, so I was very lonely. Luckily, I had a book to read at recess. Then, the eighth grade teacher (a nin, who may have prejudiced me towards nuns) SNATCHED the book out of my hand and told me I couldn't read and I had to play with the other kids. I still get mad when I think about it. I did play with them sometimes. I just wanted to read that day.She should have been happy to see a kid read. GWIZFLAP!

Sorry. You didn't want a novel/rant, did you? To make a long story short (TOO LATE), I read, my mom reads, my dad reads. My brother doesn't read unless held at gunpoint. Go figure.

[Grouch]

Like Erik, the ability to read is so tightly woven into my brain and body that I can't ever remember being without it. I'm pretty sure my mother read to me when I was a child, because I've genetically passed that down with my own children. I think I learned to read when I was three or four.

But, my first vivid bibliophilic memory is this:
When I was five, I walked to the library by myself for the first time. I lived in Kittanning, Pennsylvania and the library--a high-ceiled, wood-floored, big-windowed place that echoed with footsteps--was just down the block from my father's church. It was the first time I'd been allowed to go anywhere by myself (remember, this was the 60s--a time of relative innocence and naivete), and it was the first time I'd been allowed to cross the street by myself...BUT the only important thing to me that day was the fact that I was going to the library to check out my very first book.

I can't remember the name of it, but I do know that it was a children's history book about early colonization in America--Jamestown, I think. It was about 40 pages long, densely-worded and had photographs of historical re-enactors for its illustrations. I can still remember the feel and texture of that book and its glossy pages.

Most important, the book contained big (i.e. multi-syllabic) words which--by patient sounding-out and asking my mother for definitions--I was able to master. I read through that book like it was cotton candy. I returned to the library for more the next day, and the next day, and the next day....

[AmyBean2]

I read very early. My mom was a teacher, so that must have had something to do with it. I just don't remember not being able to read.

I, too, was surprised by my fellow kindergartners who couldn't read. While everyone else was figuring out "Sam I Am," I was taking a stab at the teacher's portion of the book. The other kids were irked because I was treated like an independent study case and I got to do whatever I wanted.

There is a drawback, however. Until third grade, I was basically ignored. Teachers didn't have time to work with me because there were 30+ other kids that needed help. I was my own reading group and I was bored out of my mind.

[mtbat]

I can remember the 1st word I could ever write and understand-it was CAT-I was about three years old-after that-I can't really remember NOT being able to read, I know that in 1st grade I was tested at a 3ed-4th grade reading level and by 3ed grade I was reading books like "The Christopher Tree" and "The Ants Of God" and more.

I remember being able to read the Little House Books by myself when I was 8 years old-
We lived in Peru for a year-and even though I went to school the school didn't have a clue what to do with me-so I sat and read the LH books and a whole bunch of religiouse books they had lying around that were written in english.

I am one of those kids who sat out on the playground reading a library book instead of playing

My daughter is 6 and she has JUST hit that stage where she is able to actually READ parts of her books by herself-It is so cool to see the wheels turning in her head and to see her sitting there actually reading!

Now, my stepdaughter who is 8 is having some major problems-she just flunked 2ed grade(we won't get into part of the problem which has to do with her mom) but she can't read-and I am trying to figure out how to teach her or try to teach her while she is here this summer.

I think that it has a LOT to do with mom and dad reading to the kids-my mom read to me constantly-all the time-I try to read to my daughter a lot-we read chapter books, I just bought her a beginners bible that she can read most of herself, we read picture books and I encourage her to read to her baby brother-

If kids are exposed to reading early, they learn quickly.

[KateTPZ]

I remember my Mom always reading - usually trashy romance novels back then (and magazines with names like "True Confessions") and my Dad reading political and financial stuff. I was always fascinated - and I couldn't wait to learn how to read, too! When my sister started first grade (she didn't go to kindergarten) - the year before I started kindergarten - I sat with her and my Mom every evening while she learned to read. I learned along with her and by second grade I was checking 20 books per week out of the library - and reading them.

Although I listen to books on tape sometimes - they make commuting more pleasant - there's nothing like a real book. The thought of not having books to read could send me into a major depression. I enjoy other things, but a day without reading for me is a horrible day.

I am not sure when I started reading. I know that it was before Kindergarten. My folks read to me a whoooole lot when I was little. Eventually I started reading ahead (because the Hardy Boys would leave chapters off with these cliffhangers and wanted to find out what happened). Kindergarten wasn't really all that encouraging though...

When I was in first grade, my teacher (Miss Olsen) had a contest sort of thing to encourage people to read. We were her first class I think (I remember that at least). There was a prize list--if you read one book you got something, if you read 10 you got something else too (not sure what all exactly and there were maybe 10 or fifteen prizes in all) all the way up to 100 books, at which time she would take you out to Arctic Circle and treat you to a meal. Well, with this goal in mind, I read that many Not sure how effective in general the contest was though--I don't think anyone else read more than forty or fifty..

Ander

[soxfan[$]]

I can't remember how I learned either ... feels like I've always been able to. My parents were both big readers (my mother would get yelled at in class for reading novels ), and there were always plenty of reading material around the house.

Visits to the library were always a treat. My brother and I both gravitated toward mythology and sci-fi. My mother tried to get me to read classics too (some stuck, some didn't). My dad was more into newspapers, magazines and Chinese novels.

A sidenote: the first newspaper section I started reading, aside from the comics, was the sports section. I did most of my growing up in the Pittsburgh area (which is pretty big on sports), so there was a pretty steady stream of game summaries, player profiles, etc. I'm probably a baseball fan because there was just so much more to read about that than anything else.

Ailsa

[jenninca]

Like many others, I can't remember learning to read. My mother recorded in my baby book that I could identify all the letters of the alphabet on sight at 22 months old. She says she didn't even set out to teach them to me.

She says that she first found out that I knew how to read when I started reading to her from one of my favorite books (Susan in the Driver's Seat, a feel-good, women-can-have-any-job-they-want book). She thought I was reciting it since I'd heard it so many times. But she started pointing out individual words and I could read them all. There's been no stopping me since!

I have tried hard to remember reading class during my early years of school, and I can't recall being bored at all. I do remember that in first grade, I came across the first word I couldn't pronounce during reading groups (chameleon). I remember that in third grade, reading was a little boring, but that was the teacher that taught me to love writing.

I'm finding that having taught myself to read makes me a little less patient than I should be with students (3rd grade) who have not learned much yet. I have to keep reminding myself that everyone learns at a different pace and that getting frustrated with them won't help anyone.

Cindy

[erik_kosberg]

My dad once told me that his father’s employer (my grandfather worked as an accountant for a Norwegian book publisher) sometimes couldn’t meet payroll during the Depression. Employees were sometimes paid with books that the workers could try to sell on their own or barter for other things. Even though they were flat broke, they had a home full of books. Gotta work that into a short story someday...

[Grouch]

One other learning-to-read story (in which I open myself up to potential embarrassment):


When I was 11 years old, I was reading Grizzly Country by Andy Russell while riding in the back seat of the car with my parents. At the time, I was really into reading animal books, especially bears; Russell, a retired game warden, had written a terrific memoir about his experiences with Ursus arctos horribilis . In one of the lively and salty stories Russell recounted, he met up with someone who had possession of a very curious souvenir: a sun-dried genitalia.

In the course of reading, I came across a word I didn't know how to pronounce, so I said to my mother (quite loudly), "Mom, what's a penn-iss?"

My mother practically died from mortification.

I, of course, knew what a penis was (had owned one for years, in fact---though, not sun-dried), but I'd never seen it written in print before. My mind automatically pronounced it "penniss."


Laugh among yourselves.

[jnbmoore]

Where were all of you during recess?

when I was the only one out there reading because it was better than always be picked last for games?

I started reading about age 3 -- don't remember learning to read.

In kindergarten they figured I was an idiot savant because I could read upside down (when the teacher was busy she'd have me read to the class -- how else could they see the pics unless I read upside down) BUT I couldn't skip. I almost flunked kindergarden due to the skipping issue I was reading the front page of the newspaper. Even though I though Watergate was a Shakespeare play ** I did have plans for peace in the Middle EAst.

First grade I was put in the top reading group. we used Sally, Dick, and Jane. Yes, I was bored.

Stayed bored until fifth grade. Then I was in an open class room -- 5/6 split. Assignments for the year given in Sept, had to be finished in June. By June I was doing 9th grade English, and rushing the last two weeks to finish my math.

Jr. High was at a small town school in Pryor, OK. I started taking a book out of the library a day cause I just didn't fit in.

Fast forward now

Monkey girl is 3 years 3 months old

She can write her first name and spell her last. She can read at least 10 words and is trying. She knows her alphabet and can write most of it both small and caps. She knows her colors, numbers to 20, shapes, left/right, is working herself through an addition workbook (we got it when I was buying books for my students -- she wanted one too). She's also working her way through the ABC phonics book I use with my students.... According to the checklists she's academically ready for kindergarten :-)

So how many of us hear are repeating history?



Bridgette



Tipu -- so how many languages can you speak? (including getting by in)












** We watched lots of PBS because my mom was tired of the Watergate hearings on the news. When I asked why we were watching it "Because of Watergate" so .......

[nylawgirl]

Hmm, I don't actually remember the exact age I learned to read, although I must have known how to by the time my parents sent me to school because I do remember being placed in English 3 (which I "remember" because I was the littlest one in the section photo) by the House Dean (my parents, whose jobs still require them to travel a great deal, put me in boarding school from first to eighth grades).

As to the first book I remember reading, that would have to be The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I remember loving the book so much that I got a special pass from the school library to take out the entire Narnia Chronicles.

-- Cate

[mtbat]

Originally posted by erik_kosberg
My dad once told me that his father’s employer (my grandfather worked as an accountant for a Norwegian book publisher) sometimes couldn’t meet payroll during the Depression. Employees were sometimes paid with books that the workers could try to sell on their own or barter for other things. Even though they were flat broke, they had a home full of books. Gotta work that into a short story someday...

Eric-that reminds me of the book "The Endless Step"-the girl goes to sell the books in the market place in Siberia to feed her family but can't understand why everyone is feeling the pages-turns out they are feeling the pages to check if the paper is thick enough to roll cigarettes with-

If you haven't already, you should write down all the stories you know of your family during the Depression-those stories are something to pass on to future generations.

[frazzledspice]

My parents swear that I "read" "The Night Before Christmas" when I was 1 1/2 years old.

I was the oldest child in a home with four adults (two parents, two grandparents.) I was read to quite a bit.

I don't remember whether I actually read before I went to school, but I do remember, very vividly, creeping over to the secretary in the living room, opening up the glass cabinet, and taking out "Little Women" when I was in second grade. I was enthralled and couldn't put it down. I did confuse "hospital" and "hostipal", however.

I didn't quite get the "Macbeth" allusions on the first page--I was just in second grade, and hadn't read "Macbeth" yet!

Only one of my three children started reading before kindergarten--my oldest. He asked me to teach him, so I did. His first book was "The Spooky Old Tree." I can still hear him saying, "One with a light, one with a stick, and one with the CHIVERS!" (giggling...)

I likened my children's learning to read with Helen Keller's discovery that certain finger spellings meant "water" in "The Miracle Worker." They learned to decode, and, suddenly, they could pick up the NY Times and start reading away. I know they didn't understand every word, but they seemed to have a natural ability to read. Because they all went from "See Spot run" to four and five syllable words in a matter of weeks, this seemed like the norm to me, and I could never quite understand how some children found it so difficult while others found it so easy.

[murasaki]

As far as my father's Depression era stories, I have them on cassette tapes as an assignment from my Depression seminar in college. I'm glad I made the tapes then or it would not have happened.

But back to the main topic of this thread...

I don't remember specifically learning to read though I knew my letters and numbers fairly early. My mom took us to the library every week and I got to choose the books I wanted her to check out for me to read aloud later.

My sister is one year older than I am and I think I learned to read at least the same time she did. I remember reading her "pastings" (dittos with words pasted onto them in sentences) that she brought home everyday from 1st grade when I was in kindergarten. So for sure, I knew how to ready in kindergarten.

My parents refused to bump me up a grade because they didn't want me in the same class with my sister and undermine her less developed academic abilities (she was in remedial classes in elementary school and barely graduated from high school). My mom gave me free reign in the county library, a couple of my teachers checked out books for me on the sly from the school library until the old biddy of a librarian was replaced with a kindred spirit.

--naomi

[MrsNormanMaine[$]]

As my parents are both academics, our house was always filled with books and we were all read to starting in infancy. 'Pat the Bunny' and 'Goodnight Moon' were the starters. I don't remember learning to read - it just sort of happened when I was about three and, by the time I hit kindergarten, I could read the newspaper (but didn't necessarily understand it.) I graduated to young adult novels by the time I hit third grade so my parents steered me towards the classics and was reading Dickens and Stevenson and such for fun by the time I was 10 or 11. I never looked back.

In elementary school, they didn't know what to do with me so they just stuck me in a corner during reading lessons and I devoured any book in sight.

MNM