Childhood Memoir
My Earliest Memory of Reading!
My earliest memory of reading is playing school with my two older sisters. My bedroom had attic eves you could get to if you moved a built in shelve. That is where my sisters set up school. We did not have a lot of books, but we had a set of encyclopedias and a hand-me-down set of My Book House anthology of stories edited by Olive Beaupre Miller published in 1953. This is where I learned to read and write before I went to Kindergarten. My favorite of the series is Story Time. I can still remember reading The Teddy Bears Go on a Picnic.
I was so excited about going to Kindergarten. I loved top read and write with my sisters in our make believe school.
Little did I know, Kindergarten would be the place that I learned to hate reading.
I remember my Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Harnett. I was so excited to meet her and begin my education journey. I was so excited when Ms. Harnett pointed out that I could read already- poor Eric, he didn’t even know his letters. It seemed Ms. Harnett enjoyed pointing out my abilities while comparing what other students could not do.
The first time I was asked to come to the small table with two other students for reading group was the day I learned to hate reading. While we were reading a small book, the other students were playing with blocks. I did not have blocks at home and saw them the first day of school. I could not wait to build with them.
I asked when can we play with the blocks and Ms. Harnett said you are practicing your reading you won’t get a chance to play with the blocks. Three times a week I went to reading groups, and three times a week the other students got to play with blocks.
I learned to hate reading in Kindergarten. It amazes me that I became a first grade educator who teaches reading. I never use or allow blocks in my classroom.