The Path to Literacy

By Devon

As I was growing up I remember my parents reading stories to me. My mother went to Peru on a mission as a young woman and learned Spanish and when I was a child she would tell me stories in Spanish. She would also let me listen to Disney and other movies on record while I would fall asleep. By doing this my mother exposed me to the phonetic sounds of the English and Spanish language. My mother would also take me to the public library and let me check out books. Most of the time it would just be picture books with only a few words; mostly about dinosaurs, but as I got older I begun to choose books at a higher reading level. But of all the experiences I can remember as a child, the one that comes to mind was when I was about four years old. My father sat next to me and taught me how to read. He used The McGuffey Reader which he remembered using when he was a child. To this day I still have The McGuffey Reader and I plan to use it when I have children of my own.

Another influence on my journey to becoming literate was when I was in daycare. There would be story time and when I went to pre-school, I also had teachers that read to me. My memories in elementary school are basic; the teachers taught me and that is it. I can read so they clearly did their job.

The only other memories I have of learning how to read and write are when my parents had Japanese students in their home and I would read with the Japanese students. Another memory that comes to mind was when I was in the car I would read and say the words on billboards, buildings, road signs, etc. At first my family would always be confused why I would be saying random words, but they caught on to what I was doing, especially the times when we drove past a building and I said, “Economic Dancers.” Being young I misread the sign and my parents burst out laughing. My father corrected me that the sign said, “Exotic Dancers.” The last memory I can remember is that every Sunday I would go to church and at church and at home I would read scriptures with my family. I was also in Tiger Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts where I was required to know how to read and write otherwise I would have never been able to achieve the highest rank in Boy Scouts which is Eagle.