My literacy journey
As I have embarked on my journey through high school until college the skills I have gained such as vocabulary, sentence structure, grammatical errors as well as how to write papers but still there is so much to learn. My literacy journey increased as I went from writing short stories based on my life to writing prompts to writing formulated essays. Literacy is something that has helped me advance my knowledges and hopefully my career. Starting at a young age to read and write has changed my views of the world to come.
As a young child around the age of 5-7 my mother would take me to the library on Northern parkway and Putty hill avenue where I got my first library card. I was so surprised and excited to finally be a apart of a club. When I first got my card I didn’t even know what it meant let alone how to use it. Getting my first card at a young age helped me to read and write by getting me involved with the kids as well as the library staff. I got involved with the kids by attending kids group, making arts and crafts as well as library challenges. At the library I would check out at least 20 books a week even though I didn’t even know how to read or interpret information. The first book I read was recommended to me by the librarian was Junie B Jones. Junie B Jones seemed so silly when I first picked it up. I remember getting the whole first series and some more on my trip. I loved the adventures and how silly she was in the books as well as how close in age we were. I would read to my mother in the kitchen while she was cooking Sunday dinner for the family or while braiding my hair because it eased my nerves. Reading my first chapter book got me intrigued and wondering what else could possibly be out there. I read books everyday everywhere I went. In the car, on the front porch in the hot sun, riding my bike even though I always fell, in the grass, in my room, at the dining room table even though my parents told me it was rude. After reading Junie B Jones I was striving and thirsty for more books like fiction and non fiction as well as genres like adventurous, drama and mystery. Every time I went to the library they always knew what books for my age and grade levels would appeal to me such as using the color of my shirt, my hairstyle, or seeing common themes across the books I took out. Every time I read and brought books back to the library the old lady at the counter with the missing tooth who smelled like cinnamon would always offer me a piece of peppermint or lollipop if the other kids didn’t take it. I always looked forward to my candy after reading like a reward. The next series I tackled on was the magic treehouse series which if you can believe has an unbelievable amount of books. These books took me to a fantasy world as a kid and got me to explore along with the characters wanting more.
During my moments at grade school my school advised the parents to help the kids both in school and outside of school by sending emails, newsletter, and especially at PTA meetings. They sent home newsletters advising parents to read with kids, tutoring services offered for reading and writing at the school as well as book fairs. Inside of school we said the alphabet everyday after announcements and rollcall. Cursive quizzes were mandatory weekly for a special letter per week and the same people bragged every week as I continuously rolled my eyes at them. I remember struggling with the end of the alphabet because of how I thought they were too squiggly or crooked looking. I remember practicing to write my name over and over with my favorite pen that smelled like strawberries. The class used blocks and pictures on the blocks to get us to sound them out. There were selected times where we would quiet read in a corner or a section of classroom for a half hour to an hour by ourselves. My favorite corner to read was the by the yellow, green, and blue bean bags because it was the most comfortable. At home my mother would constantly flashcard me with letters, sounds, animals, and pictures at night as we was eating dinner or just before I went to bed. My father on the other hand didn’t use flashcards he would just say a word and said say it back to me like a robot but I had a stuttering problem so it always came out jumbled up or way too fast. My stuttering problem was due to my premature birth which was supposed to impact my learnings skills but never held me back. At school we did fun activities to learn to read and write such as painting letters during art class which was pretty messy and some boy always ended painting a girls leg. Writing our names on name tags, attending a book fair on campus, doing journal prompts every morning, writing about nature, personal portraits of me and my family as well as many other mechanisms. My second oldest brother would play basketball with me late at night in the humid air even though I was sweating. The object of the game was to make a shot for a letter such as “b” for ball or “o” for orange and we didn’t leave until the street lights came on and you saw the foxes running across the street rapidly. My most valued person who helped me was my grandmother and grandfather who would drive as far as to Georgia to visit my family members. On our mini adventures she would make me read signs on the highway and street to her such as route 78, welcome centers and many more. The artifact she valued me most reading to her was the children’s bible because of her religion as well as it was easy to pronounce to me. Reading the children’s bible helped me advance my reading, vocabulary, sentence structure as well as connected to me to my religion of Christianity.
This process I encountered from an early age to middle school to high school and now college has challenged me to think critically as well learn better communication techniques to use for certain situations. The techniques I received while in grade school and high school has carried over to my college career by building upon and expanding on the previously learned topics. Writing papers and improving my language will help me in the future for internships, job interviews as well as in my major. Learning how to improve my writing will influence my future by preparing me for presenting my work in an organized and concise way to businesses.
Junie B. Jones was one of the only series of books I actually enjoyed reading because they were so entertaining. I like your conclusion and how you explained how you will plan on using these tools in the future!