Looking Back In Order to Move Forward
As a future elementary school teacher, I have always thought the task of teaching kids could be a rewarding and gratifying experience. However, I recently realized that in order to obtain these rewarding experiences the teacher and students must work hard and with determination. Learning to read can be a very daunting task for a youngster. Therefore, as a teacher, it is your job to facilitate positive reading strategies from the start. Looking back at my experiences as an early reader, I can gain some insight as to what might help or hinder my future students.
I believe that one of the most important things you can do for your child is to start reading to them at an early age. Before I even became a school aged child my mother would sit on the couch with my brother and I just after lunch and read books. Sometimes it was a favorite book that we had picked and other times they were early reader books like Dick and Jane. I remember being snuggled up on the couch helping her point to the words as she read along. Then at bed time she would read aloud from a chapter book. My brother and I would eagerly open our minds to the words as they came off the page. Some of my fondest memories as a child are listening to my mother read Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little to us.
Since I consider reading to a child one the best ways to open their imagination to new worlds, I fully intend to different forms of literature into my classroom. I think by hearing an adult read aloud to a child, the child is then able to properly hear and feel the author’s intentions for tone and emotion of his or her book. I don’t think you are ever too old to sit and listen to a book, especially if you can open up a child’s mind to a book that he or she would never pick up on their own accord. I firmly believe that my mother laid the foundation for better success once I entered elementary school.
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