Reading is such an important step of childhood. When you are very young you are read to by your family and stare in wonder at all the little black squiggles across the page. Soon you start to recognize letters and numbers and point them out to whoever will listen to you. Eventually you cross a magically bridge that moves you from a child who is always asking what menus and signs say to a literate individual. The moment you start being able to read is so exciting for a child, but also for everyone around them. Learning to read is both a solo journey and a group effort. I look forward to helping children love to read as much as I do.
However my own journey was not very easy. When I arrived at my grade one classroom on my first day of school my parents and I were shocked to find that everyone else in my class had already learned to read. Also all the other students had learned how to use phonics – something I still don’t know how to use. My parents were worried because I was behind. My teacher spent a lot of time helping me learn the sounds and my parents spent a lot of time at home helping me. However, once I learned to read I fell in love with it and throughout my childhood I almost always had a book in my hand. In fact, I used to get told off for reading during dinner.
