Growth of Literacy

When parents see their kids growing up, one thing that puts them over the edge is seeing their children able to read by themselves. Instead of getting read their bed time stories, they pick out a thicker, more complex book and read to their parents. Starting at birth, parents are always buying board books, nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss and alphabet, numerical books to help incorporate some education. Even when kids are still infants, when they get read a book, they have the concept of what is going in the story and have some understanding. Some of the books that I read when I was little were the classic Dr. Seuss books, collection of nursery rhymes and a thick book of many of the Curious George Adventures and Madeline books. Before bed or even during the day, when I was little, my mom would sit me down in my bed and read me a story. I always loved being read books when I was little. It was a time to calm down and read about another world where there can be a monkey with such a curious mind. Parents know that reading is very important for their children’s development. For my birthdays and Christmases, I would always receive a book from my godparents with a little stuffed animal to match the book, so I would have both an educational and fun gift. I would always get excited to see which book I got each holiday and what inscription they would write in the inside cover. From the help of my godparents, I got really into reading and having fun doing it. Without having a childhood with reading so much, I would have a different future altogether. When it came time to head off to school, there was always a quiet time after recess to calm us down for reading. At younger ages, we sat down on the magic carpet and were read a story by our teacher, but as we grew older, the reading time shifted into us picking a book to read to ourselves. There was an understanding of how important it was for children at this age to begin to read, getting harder and more experienced. In the later years of elementary school, the administration incorporated a coupon for reading. On one of the walls in the school on the way from the lobby to the classrooms was a list of students in each grade. For every hundred pages a student read, they would receive a star next to their name, for everyone to see. Once they got ten of those stars, reaching one thousand pages, they received a certificate to a children’s bookstore in town where they could get ten percent off their purchase. Through the help of the public schools and parent’s intent interest, children are able to get a complete education and fasting developing literacy skills. I would’ve had a completely different education and growing up if I didn’t have my godparent’s gifts or went to a different school. Literacy is very important to me and has helped me tremendously in the long run. I wouldn’t be able to be this far in my education, read recipes to cook or read directions to get to new places if I didn’t have my experiences and been literate.