Reading

I can’t remember not knowing how to read.  Long before I started school I recall sitting under the kitchen asking my mother how to spell words out, then laboriously reading the “”story” back to myself.  My older sister played teacher and apparently did quite a good job with teaching reading.   We’d pour over the discarded school books my aunt, the school teacher, brought us, delighting in doing the lessons.  It was such a surprise to later be assigned some of those same texts in school.  I was particularly amused by the first grade primers that incorporated pictures into sentences, such as ,

See theimage.  See the image swim!  It seemed so ridiculous to think a kid could manage words like “see” and “swim” yet not be able to master “duck.”

Since nobody asked me, I lumbered along with the rest of the class.  We were supposed to read aloud to our parents every night.  There was no way that was going to happen at our house.  I rarely made it home with my book.  If I had, my mother would have had to caught me.  The minute we got in and had a snack, we watched the last fifteen minutes of cartoons and hit the door, not making it back in till Mother made us come in for supper.

12 thoughts on “Reading”

  1. I can’t remember not knowing how to read, but I do recall having a hell of a time with spelling! It’s also funny that I can read sheet music if I’m playing an instrument, but I sing and learn how by listening to a song – the sheet music did me no good in choir classes, LOL
    ;)

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