Text as seen through Rebecca

Posted by Michael Haworth

I think that a great example of text and what it represents is this image of my daughter Rebecca writing her name.  Rebecca is five years old this year, just entering kindergarten, and is an emergent text user.  She understands all of her letters, can write her name, and can copy words such as her current favourite “Hannah Montana”.  Rebecca is beginning to unlock a world of communication through her developing ability to read and write and text.  Text gives all those who have mastered it, a mode of communication with people across time and space in a wide variety of mediums such as print and electronic.  Text provides a depth of communication and understanding between people that an image or another communication method may not.  My daughter Rebecca is just starting her lifelong journey into the world of text, its immense power to communicate, and the incredible mosaic of uses.  To see the opportunities that text is opening for her as she learns to read and write is simply amazing.