I've been thinking a lot about my love for reading lately. As a kid I hated reading, I was so bad at it, I would read a page and have no clue what I read, I would get frustrated when I couldn't sound something out and just guess what I thought it was, and it took me forever to get through a book. My parents and grandparents always read to us, and I loved being read to, but when I had to do it myself I just couldn't (I'm an auditory learner.) When I was really young my trouble with reading really wasn't a big deal, until Accelerated Reading came around. Do you remember it? If you don't let me explain. It was a reading program that almost every school in my area did. At the beginning of the year everyone would take a test and you would get your reading level. Mine was always like 3 grades behind what I really was. Then based on that you had a number of points you had to achieve for a grade in reading class. You got books in your reading level then took tests on the book you read to get your points. I hated it!!! In order for me to actually get my points I would get a book and my grandma would read me a page out loud then I would read a page to her out loud. We would do this for hours and usually with Little House on the Prairie books. It would take forever, but that was the only way I could pass the tests. I couldn't tell you how many books her and I got through that way.
When I got to high school I had to read the novels for English and I hated that too, but we would read out loud in class, and talk about what we read (unlike Accelerated, where everyone worked/read alone) so I was able to follow the story enough to know what was going on and get good grades/ Then one day Lana, whom didn't like to read came to me and told me I HAD to read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, so I did and it changed everything. I read all her books I could get my hands on and still to this day I continue to read her stuff. Reading a book I was into and where I didn't have a time limit to read it changed everything. Then one of my best friends in high school, Alyssa loved to read and she encouraged me to keep reading, by telling me about the books she was reading.
Now, as an adult it is my favorite thing to do. I'm still not very fast at reading, but I understand what I read and, unlike when I was a kid I can read with things going on around me. Husband's game or music, TV, people talking, anything, I can just tune it out and focus on what I'm reading. It is crazy how practice makes perfect.
This is 100% why I want a reading endorsement for teaching. So I can be the one to help kids who struggle find the things that work for them to help them learn and love to read. So thank you to everyone who helped development my love of reading.
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