Every Child Ready to Read

I don't remember learning how to read. I don't remember anyone "teaching" me how to read. From what I am told, I basically just picked it up on my own at around age four. I do remember going to my first day of kindergarten, where my mom informed Mrs. Kingston that I already knew how to read, but Mrs. Kingston, a bit skeptical, kind of brushed my mom off, as if she were one of those overly proud parents who just thinks their kid is the smartest ever. I distinctly remember the moment a few days later when I began reading a book to my classmates in the reading center. Mrs. Kingston overheard me and began pulling different books and pointing at different words to see if I really knew what I was doing and she was quite astonished when she realized my mom hadn't been just boasting. I later began going across the street for reading with the first graders and later the second graders so that I could continue to be challenged. Looking back, it it does seem kind of strange that I wasn't actually "taught" to read, but at the same time, I can remember looking at books all of the time and making up my own stories to go with the pictures, or retelling the stories that someone had read to me in my own words. I remember that my parents took Brandon and me to get our picture made and Brandon was crying (sorry, Brandon, to expose your sensitivity like this, but it's true!). The photographer gave us a book to look at while he snapped our pictures, and I got so absorbed in "reading" that book to Brandon that we both kind of forgot where we were at! I can still remember books that I loved as a child today...I remember how fascinated I was by the pictures....I remembered how I loved how familiar the stories became. As a result, I sort of effortlessly became a life-long reader. School was never extremely difficult for me. Yes, I had my challenges, and yes, I had to work at it, but it wasn't an obstacle for me, nor my brothers. I truly believe that this is greatly due to the fact that my mother, as well as other family members, read to us and exposed us to books and literacy at a very young age. It was a big part of our childhood. We went to the library weekly. I got books for my birthday. Reading wasn't forced on us, but it was just a natural activity within our environment. My family wasn't affluent by any means and we lived out in the country in a very rural area. There weren't all the literacy opportunities that are available to children in areas like Dallas, yet my mom managed to give us a very strong literary foundation and the skills we needed to be successful at learning. I am so thankful to her for that!

One of my best friends has a little girl who is almost two years old. I am always asking him if he is reading to her, if she has books, etc. because this is just something I feel so strongly about. There is so much research out there that shows that the first three years of life are the most crucial in a child's mental and verbal development. Too many parents don't realize that even tiny babies benefit from being read to. I have visited so many homes with young children where there wasn't a book in the house and that is so tragic and so disturbing to me. I have seen children start school and not know how to hold a pencil...know their letters...or even how to hold a book and know to turn the pages and follow words left to right. Now that I'm a middle school educator, I am faced daily with the challenge of trying to help students that are not just relectant readers, but that can't read at all. They are missing so much of this $9,000 education that they are being given each year because those fundamental skills are not there. I have realized that this is one of things I truly feel passionate about advocating...early childhood education.

Yesterday at one of my many librarian meetings, we had a guest from the Dallas Public Library who was very informative about all the Dallas library offers. I am a regular patron of the DPL, but even I had no idea of the really cool stuff they have available, on their website especially. I could digress and tell you all about the great stuff I learned, but I will save that for another time. One of their initiatives is called Every Child Ready to Read @ Dallas, and it is an effort to help parents and caregivers get their children ready to read by the time they start school. It's not expecting parents to teach their kids to read, but just giving them suggestions on things they can do to make sure their kids have these six basic pre-reading skills that need to be in place in order for them to be successful at learning to read. They go to schools, rec centers, nonprofits, anywhere that wants them, and do free workshops with parents and other interested people on how to work with young children. I think this is great because so many parents, especially young parents, may have never been read to themselves and don't really know what to do with their kids. The workshops are also in Spanish to support the growing Hispanic population. As I listened to the library rep and thought about my own experiences, I began to realize just how strongly I feel about kids being "ready to read." I am so glad for the DPL's work in this regard, and I know there are many other organizations and initiatives out there working for the same cause.

I'm really excited to know about ECRR and am already brainstorming ways to get our parents here at Pearl C. Anderson involved (for those parents who have younger children) and other ways I can be a part of this effort. Because I do feel so strongly about it, I'm even open to a career adjustment in the future that may allow me to work more closely with these kinds of initiatives or to be a bigger part of this work. I'm not sure what that would look like or mean at this point, but it is something I know I could be very interested in.

I encourage all of you to think of the young parents in your lives and perhaps steer them in the direction of one of these workshops if you're in the Dallas area, or think of how else you can support them in reading and working with their kids. Check out the ECRR blog that I have linked on the side, or go to http://www.dallaslibrary.org/ and click on the ECRR icon to learn more. Let's be proactive in helping our kids be successful!!