Reading

I spend a lot of time thinking about different things. One thing I think about often is literature in children’s lives. Is it important to make sure that children are exposed to books at an early age? I think it is. I believe that children need to be exposed to books, any kind of books, early in life. Reading is something that you have to learn, not something that will just magically happen; therefore, before children can actually read the words on a page of a book, a child needs to act like a reader. Holding the book right and turning the pages are the very first stages of being a reader. I can remember as a little girl, my parents used to read to me every night. I couldn’t tell you the names of the books, but I can remember sitting in my bed with my brothers and sister and my parents and listening to story after story. My mom always tells me, “I remember when you were a little girl, you used to pick up the books and turn the pages, like you were actually reading. All you wanted to do was learn how to read.” Now I love to read, except text books. But otherwise, I love to read!
As a teacher, one day I hope to instill a love of reading into my students, the kind of love that I had and still have for reading.