|
Post by cadoodlebug on May 30, 2023 20:01:41 GMT
I loved library time at school. When I was in 5th grade, we had a new teacher fresh out of college. We all loved her!! After lunch, she would read to us and she had the most wonderful voice.
|
|
|
Post by ScrapbookMyLife on May 30, 2023 20:17:03 GMT
As soon as I learned to read, my love of books began.
Reading all time, was an escape for me..... from a very dysfunctional home life. My narcissist and bitter Mother didn't want us around and we had to go outside or stay in our rooms and not bother her. Books became my way to fill my time, as well as I loved the stories. I got a Library card at a young age (7-8) and would ride my bike to the Library and get books for myself, as well as read the children magazines. The books and the Library gave me stability and refuge. I remember the Librarian was always so welcoming and kind to me. As a bonus, going to the Library it also taught me responsibility(take very good care of the borrowed books) and manners(be very quiet, polite, and say thank you for the cookie that the Librarian always gave me).
I love reading as much now as I did when I was young. It is still my escape and refuge, from life in general.
|
|
|
Post by stormsts on May 30, 2023 20:20:27 GMT
My mother and her parents were big book readers. My grandparents always gifted me books for my birthday and Christmas. I still sit with my mom when we are together and we will both get lost in a book.
|
|
|
Post by Crack-a-lackin on May 30, 2023 20:38:04 GMT
My dad and grandparents were big readers. My mom seldom read books but would take us to the library several times a week and read to us in the evening. Library days were our favorite!
|
|
|
Post by Prenticekid on May 30, 2023 20:48:26 GMT
I do not recall. I just recall a sense of wonder when holding a book when I was about 3 or 4. My house growing up was not full of books, until I started acquiring Scholastic books in elementary school - that I paid for myself. I was in my glory when a library was built at the end of my block when I was in third grade. We moved around a lot, and I will say that my parents would get me to a library, even when we lived in a rural area and it was a hike into town.
|
|
purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,790
Jun 27, 2014 20:37:34 GMT
|
Post by purplebee on May 30, 2023 20:48:54 GMT
Thanks everyone for sharing your reading stories!
My Mom and Dad were both avid readers, me and my siblings are too, thanks to being read to at a very early age. Going to the library was just a fact of life growing up. When I was quite young, I remember Mom doing the grocery shopping on Friday evening after my Dad came home from work, and I looked forward to the Little Golden Book that came home with the food each week.
Books have been my constant companion throughout my entire life.
|
|
|
Post by kristi521 on May 30, 2023 20:51:08 GMT
My parents, specifically my mom, instilled a love reading in me early on. I remember in grade school, I loved to read but was kind of shy about it, thinking I didn't fit in with others. But I do remember my teacher, Mr Leinberger, suggesting the Anne of Greene Gables series to me. I immediately loved it. At some point, I grew out of worrying about if it was cool or not to read and was a voracious reader. I attribute my fairly decent vocabulary to my love of reading. Like some others have already said, I don't read as much as I used to. Even with time spent on the internet, I don't think my reading really slowed down until the pandemic hit. I have read some books, but I went from right around a book a week to I am not sure I will hit 10 this year
|
|
|
Post by scrappintoee on May 30, 2023 21:03:47 GMT
In the last few years, (sometimes), I'd rather read the book versus seeing the movie, because I love all the extra details, and I love the QUIET of reading.
I'm 2/3 done with a VERY good book right now, and since I only read (books) at night, I'm tired of nodding off when I want to read longer. I was just thinking I should read some of it right now, (it's soo good, and I wanna know how it's going to end! ), but DH is mowing the lawn, and the doggies are making noise, so I wouldn't enjoy it as much.
P.S. My parents were also voracious readers, and if we ever asked what something meant, we were told to look it up in the dictionary. Mom had a master's in English literature, and her dream was for all of us to read all "the classics."
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on May 30, 2023 21:06:04 GMT
I grew up in a family where both parents loved reading. I am the eldest of 4 children. When I was 6 years old we moved to the USA and I started first grade not knowing how to speak any English. My father is American, so he spoke to us (my sister and I) teaching us English and when the teachers told my parents to stop speaking German at home, he took over reading us bedtime stories at night. When you are that young you pick up another language fairly quickly and I remember very vividly learning to read from the Dick and Jane books they used to teach us reading at that school. I remember the instant it clicked in my brain and the profound happiness that surged through me. I ran home from school that day so excited to tell my parents, "I can read!" To this day and throughout my life reading has been my passion. I read every single day-it's like an addiction with me. I have to read. I prefer paper books, and check out books from my public library-I am very blessed to have a wonderful public library within 3 miles of my house. Last year I read 120 books all of them from my public library except for 2. All of the librarians know me by now and I check out tote bags full of books at a time. Why do I read? To learn about history, to explore distant lands, to enjoy a story, to see vivid "films" in my mind that appear as soon as I read a few words, the page disappears and I'm off as my imagination takes over and the author's well written words bring to life the story. Such fun! I'm so grateful to my parents for instilling in me a love of reading. My father, sister and I sometimes love to read the same books-Connie Willis is a favorite author-and discuss them. I remember when we'd just finished reading her book "Doomsday Book" and we all stood around my parent's kitchen going over some of the lines in the book exclaiming over how wonderful they were.
|
|
|
Post by scrappintoee on May 30, 2023 21:54:47 GMT
I've enjoyed reading everyones' responses. I forgot to mention that I inherited the love of words from my parents, and they wanted us to have broad vocabularies. I still love learning new words, and when I do crosswords, I have to look up many definitions. This thread reminded me that I wrote / illustrated a book when I was 10 or 11. I made the covers with cardboard and glued-on fabric, but I can't remember how I got the pages to stay bound. I WISH I still had it! I still like big fat books.. esp 19th century classics and history/biography. My Mom would have loved you! She wanted us to read the classics, but.... we didn't, unless it was for a class. I had an awesome English teacher in 11th (and maybe 12th) grade; she had a reputation for prepping students for college with her advanced reading requirements. My Mom was *thrilled*, but I HATED all the reading---esp. Shakespeare! But I was a rebellious teen with a bad attitude! I'd take a break from all that strenuous homework by reading fluff books and "Tiger Beat" magazine. As an adult, I'm glad I had that teacher now! Mine used to beat me over the head and scream in my ear. Your Kindergarten teacher BEAT you? Please tell me she was punished, fired, and lost her teaching license! ( sorry for the "highjack", but that's horrific ! )
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on May 30, 2023 22:08:42 GMT
my 2nd grade teacher read out loud Mrs Piggly Wiggly books.. I loved them. in high school, some of my fav books (not assigned, picked by me) Moby Dick, War and Peace, Sister Carrie, Madame Bovary and TS Eliot and Harding's poetry. tess of the d'urbervilles
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,408
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on May 30, 2023 22:48:16 GMT
My love for reading started in 6th grade with my teacher Mrs. Maier. She did a section for reading class that entailed reading books of our choice and then doing oral book reports with her. We then put a star on the paper pin wheel in the reading catagory of the book we had read. Before I was a slow reader and did struggle. After 6th grade I was a great reader and above grade level.
|
|
|
Post by essiejean on May 30, 2023 22:56:26 GMT
OOPS sorry posted to the wrong subject
|
|
SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,407
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
|
Post by SabrinaP on May 31, 2023 0:00:34 GMT
My dad was a great dad, but he traveled a lot when I was growing up. One thing he always took the time to do, was take us to the library. I aleady loved to read, but the memory of him taking the kids to the library is precious to me.
|
|
|
Post by femalebusiness on May 31, 2023 0:19:32 GMT
I had the best dad in the world. He took me every week to the local library from the time I was three years old. We were allowed to check out two books each week.
I was actually reading simple books by that age. My next door neighbor was five years older than me and she LOVED playing school and being the teacher. She taught me to read at three and taught me long division by first grade.
I have always been an avid reader. I think because I was exposed to books early and developed a life long love of reading.
My husband is not a big reader and he likes videos to learn things. I dislike videos and would much rather read to learn. My favorite novels are ones that teach me about a subject that I know little about. I love a well researched novel.
I used to tell my mom that if you can read you can do anything. I still believe that to this day.
|
|
janeinbama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,201
Location: Alabama
Jan 29, 2015 16:24:49 GMT
|
Post by janeinbama on May 31, 2023 3:04:29 GMT
Great question! My Dad was a reader as well as my maternal grandmother. I will read a cereal box and never remember not wanting reading. My brother and sister never cared for reading beyond what was necessary One of my DDs is a reader and one of my nieces.
|
|
|
Post by deafpea on May 31, 2023 4:46:49 GMT
Fun question! Reading is how I get information about the world. I have been deaf since I was 4 years old. I did not grow up with ASL, so I depended on my lipreading ability and reading to learn. I read everything. The newspaper, the dictionary, the encyclopedia (my husband likes to say the most dangerous words in the world are "See also..." in the encyclopedia, LOL), the cereal box, the billboards we passed while driving--anything and everything. I hate not knowing what is going on around me.
When I was in 8th grade, my social studies teacher had a standing assignment that each Friday we were to turn in 5 newspaper clippings with a short summary of what the article was about. Unless something really big happened (like the Challenger disaster, which happened in my 8th grade year) and all the news articles were about that one event, we had to find 5 different news articles. Only one could be sports related. That taught me to love reading the newspapers and the importance of keeping up on current events.
I also love to learn and I like being curious about something and being able to go right to the internet and find out information about that topic. I just can't imagine NOT liking to read.
Merilee
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on May 31, 2023 11:31:03 GMT
I have no idea where I got my love of reading. My parents never read for pleasure. I read everything, including the encyclopedias my mom purchased. When I went to school and could get books from the library, it was the best thing ever! I remember finally being old enough to ride my bike to the public library in the summer. I was thrilled. Like jeremysgirl, my dad thought I was being lazy when I'd read. I could also tune out the world, so he'd get really mad when he called my name and I didn't respond. I honestly never heard him.
|
|
|
Post by jeremysgirl on May 31, 2023 11:35:56 GMT
I have no idea where I got my love of reading. My parents never read for pleasure. I read everything, including the encyclopedias my mom purchased. When I went to school and could get books from the library, it was the best thing ever! I remember finally being old enough to ride my bike to the public library in the summer. I was thrilled. Like jeremysgirl, my dad thought I was being lazy when I'd read. I could also tune out the world, so he'd get really mad when he called my name and I didn't respond. I honestly never heard him. Isn't it weird how our childhoods impact us even as adults? I still turn to reading when I feel too lazy to do "other" things. And even my hobbies I feel like I need something to "show" for my time. I don't even watch tv because I was raised to believe it was a waste of time so I don't feel comfortable using my time that way. I fight against these ideas I have so ingrained all the time.
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on May 31, 2023 11:41:28 GMT
I have no idea where I got my love of reading. My parents never read for pleasure. I read everything, including the encyclopedias my mom purchased. When I went to school and could get books from the library, it was the best thing ever! I remember finally being old enough to ride my bike to the public library in the summer. I was thrilled. Like jeremysgirl , my dad thought I was being lazy when I'd read. I could also tune out the world, so he'd get really mad when he called my name and I didn't respond. I honestly never heard him. Isn't it weird how our childhoods impact us even as adults? I still turn to reading when I feel too lazy to do "other" things. And even my hobbies I feel like I need something to "show" for my time. I don't even watch tv because I was raised to believe it was a waste of time so I don't feel comfortable using my time that way. I fight against these ideas I have so ingrained all the time. Yes! I often struggle with feeling guilty for taking time to do the things I enjoy. I think I should be dusting or whatever. I've spent far to much of my life on "have to do". I'm working very hard on my "want to do". My mom was a saint, but my dad, like yours, was very volatile. We were a much happier household when he was off hunting in the fall. We tiptoed around him all the time. I think he expected way too much labor from us. And heaven forbid we wanted to sleep in. He'd wake us up with a project to do on weekends.
|
|
|
Post by jeremysgirl on May 31, 2023 11:53:47 GMT
Isn't it weird how our childhoods impact us even as adults? I still turn to reading when I feel too lazy to do "other" things. And even my hobbies I feel like I need something to "show" for my time. I don't even watch tv because I was raised to believe it was a waste of time so I don't feel comfortable using my time that way. I fight against these ideas I have so ingrained all the time. Yes! I often struggle with feeling guilty for taking time to do the things I enjoy. I think I should be dusting or whatever. I've spent far to much of my life on "have to do". I'm working very hard on my "want to do". My mom was a saint, but my dad, like yours, was very volatile. We were a much happier household when he was off hunting in the fall. We tiptoed around him all the time. I think he expected way too much labor from us. And heaven forbid we wanted to sleep in. He'd wake us up with a project to do on weekends. My favorite was every third week he'd be on afternoon shift and then we had license to do the things we wanted to do. My mom was just as controlled by him as the children were and even that was a taste of freedom for her too. I hope you are doing better just doing for yourself. You earned that time to spend your retirement as you wish.
|
|
|
Post by melanell on May 31, 2023 14:17:52 GMT
I was born wanting to read, I think. Because I have no memory of anyone instilling that love in me. It was just always there---the desire to want to know how to read, and then the desire to always be reading. Honestly, neither of my parents are readers now or were readers when I was growing up and I don't recall having many books as a very small child. Probably just ones given to me by people outside our home. I can picture the few books I recall owning before I started school, and I remember looking through them endlessly, despite not yet being able to read all of them. (A few baby books--like cloth ones or such, I knew how to "read" because they only had a few words per page. So I vividly recall being in kindergarten and thinking I'd learn to read right away, and it took almost the entire year before we finally were given our Dick & Jane books and finally (!!!) started reading an actual book! At that point in life, I didn't understand why it was necessary for us to move so slowly through the work leading up to actually reading books. And that would continue for the first few years of school. We'd be told to read a chapter of a book, and I'd finish the book. The next day we'd be told to read the second chapter, and I'd just read the whole book again, LOL! So, the school library became my favorite place. Until I was in middle school, I had never stepped foot into our community library. My parents never went to the library, ever. And in kindergarten, I would bring home one book after another and ask my mom to read them, and I can remember she hated the books I was bringing home, and she'd ask me to bring something different. But there was a whole series, and I wanted to hear them all. So she was very relieved when I could finally read to myself too, I imagine. I would always take out the most books allowed. And when I finally did start going to the community library---there was no limit! (I still love that there is no limit.) When my kids were small, we'd easily have 30+ library books in the house at a time. My kids would pick out stacks of books too tall & heavy for them to even carry. So yeah, reading---it's just a part of me for as long as I can remember.
|
|
|
Post by peasapie on May 31, 2023 15:06:56 GMT
My mom used to take me to the library a couple of times a month. I loved picking out books.
I've had parents tell me they desperately want their children to develop the love of reading they had, and I suggest they take them to the library!
|
|
|
Post by scrapmaven on May 31, 2023 16:32:02 GMT
I'm really enjoying hearing all of your stories about the reasons you love stories and non-fiction. scrappintoee, she used to punch me on the head and pull my by the hair while screaming in my ear. She wasn't fired until the year after mine. My mother didn't complain about it. She thought I was teacher's pet. After that year another mother complained and then she was fired. The 60's were a much different time. If that had happened to my kid even one time I would have taken her down!
|
|
The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,983
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
|
Post by The Great Carpezio on May 31, 2023 20:15:39 GMT
I was a solid reader as a kid/teen, but I wasn't voracious. I was what I would call a high end of average reader Even though I was GenX, my parents did read to me as a small child, and they modeled reading to me as they both read. I read well fairly early, but I wasn't a precocious reader that was reading adult books when I was 7 or anything. I was a Judy Blume, Babysitter's Club, Stephen King type of reader. I just read what I wanted. When I hit tween/teen, I started reading my mom's historical romance novels, and I really think that helped me gain an above average vocabulary and historical timeline that helped with my general knowledge as well.
I would say the love of literature and being a "more" voracious reader came in two waves...taking an advanced literature class in high school that gave me more confidence that I could understand more than I thought and then in my freshman year of college when I had an Intro to Lit general that I took and realized how much I really enjoyed analyzing lit (and was pretty good at it.)
|
|
|
Post by epeanymous on May 31, 2023 23:37:40 GMT
I grew up feeling very out of place in my family and hometown, and books were my escape. I also had a pretty hand-to-mouth home financially, and at the library, I could get whatever I wanted.
Now, it's just a great way for me to relax and escape.
|
|