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My parents woke all their six children up at 5:00 in the morning to read scriptures before work and school. This was the start of me reading out load to a group of people.
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Reading helped take me from a B-C-D student to an A-B student.
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My father had to help me when I would read as a family. I did not read well at all for my grade level, and struggled. His patience (at times patient) helped give me the courage to continue, even though I wanted to stop.
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My personal interests in whales and dinosaurs started me looking into books at school. This also became a step backward in my reading. I loved to look at the books, but the words were so difficult that I tended to skim what I saw.
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Our school librarian would read a story to us every week in elementary. I don't remember her doing a great job however. I do remember how the words painted a picture in my head, and how I gained a desire to hear/read more to complete the picture.
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At 11 years old, almost 12, I read a book for the first time outside of school. I do not mean little kid books, but a fantasy book just to see what it was like. This was the moment I feel in love with reading, and this is the book.
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In 8th grade I had to pick a country to do a book report on. By this time I had already gained a love of reading on a personal level, but only sci-fi or fantasy books I read on my own. This was the moment where I really started to enjoy looking up and learning topics given to me at school. It was Iceland by the way.
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As I grew to love more topics, I would go with my father to work. He was the director of the Clark County Library system for 4 years. This was when I really became a pro at the Dewy Decimal System.
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In 2007 my wife and I started having children. I knew that I wanted them to be exposed to as much reading as I could. It helped me, and I knew it would help them.
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I started working in the school district at 33. At this time I was put with small groups of kids that needed some extra time practicing their reading.... the exact same groups that I was in as a kid... fancy that.
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Now I have gone back to college at 40 to get my teaching license. I hope all the reading skills I have picked up through the years will help me survive this experience.
