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The Beginning (Part 2)
I believe that much of the value I hold for literacy today originates from the simple activities that I was exposed to from birth. Unfortunately, not every child has the opportunity to experience such a value for literacy in their home. Reflecting on the impact this value has had on me my whole life, I want to be sure that I am being a positive literacy role model for my students by modelling and expressing my joy of reading, even in small ways, on a daily basis within the classroom. -
The Beginning (Part 1)
Before I could even walk, I was immersed into the world of literacy. Without realizing it, my parents introduced me to the large role that reading and writing would play in my life through their daily activities. My mom has always read before bed as a way to wind down, and my dad has spent much of his time writing novels. The obvious value that my parents placed on these subtle activities introduced me to the importance of literacy and the exciting possibilities that can result. -
Nightly Stories (Part 1)
As I got older and my sister was born, my parents continued to model literacy behaviours by reading to my sister and I each night before bed. This became part of our routine and neither my sister nor I could sleep without a story. Eventually, I had memorized my favourite stories and would quickly catch my dad when he tried skipping a page here and there because it had gone past my bedtime. These nightly stories became very important to me and facilitated my interest in learning to read. -
Nightly Stories (Part 2)
It was during these story times that my interest in reading simply for pleasure had been sparked. Reading for pleasure is step one in a child’s journey to a lifelong love for literacy so it is important to introduce children to this early as my parents had done for me. In my classroom, I want students to have time to read each day where their only focus is to enjoy their book without any other pressures, as my parents have taught me that reading for enjoyment is as important as reading to learn. -
Summer Workbooks
At four years old, my parents stopped simply modelling literacy behaviours and began explicitly teaching me the basics. Before I even started school, my mom would sit with me and help me learn to write. We started the summer before kindergarten and I would spend 15 minutes a day tracing letters that my mom had written in my home workbook. By teaching me the basics of writing from an early age, my mom had provided the foundation that would support my future literacy endeavours! -
Library Outings
As I got older, my parents continued to teach me literacy basics and provide opportunities to engage with various texts. During the summer, my dad would take me to our local library to take out books for the week. It was during this time that I explored various book genres and became fond of the ‘create your own path’ and ‘You be the Jury’ books! These books would keep me reading and ‘solving crime’ all night long, teaching me the importance of using your interests to find books that you love. -
Scholastic Book Fairs
In the spirit of providing me with opportunities to engage with texts, my parents always encouraged me to go to our school scholastic fairs and buy new books to bring home. This placed a strong value on reading for pleasure and to expand my imagination, and my collection of books slowly began to grow. Through these fairs I discovered Junie B. Jones and the book, Loser. These eventually became my go-to books, and the spine on my Loser book has started to fall apart from being so loved. -
Vacation Journals
Once I became comfortable enough with exploring texts, my parents began encouraging me to be my own producer of text. This started small by writing journals about our vacation experiences. Sometimes these were required by teachers, but more often they were only encouraged by my mom. Through this I learned not only the importance of literacy, but also how it can serve a variety of purposes from academic to personal, with one such purpose being to document our memories so we don’t forget. -
School Speeches
My parents continued to teach me the basics while supporting my own text productions. This was especially evident in grades 4-6 during speech presentations. This time my parents took a step back and encouraged me to compose my own topic and script, though they remained a strong support system and gently scaffolded my learning when needed. This pushed me to realize that I was capable of creating text of a greater length and gave me confidence to continue exploring with writing longer works. -
Storytelling and Song Writing
My parents’ encouragements for producing my own texts became more prominent by the end of elementary school. As I began to read more complex books, my parents increasingly encouraged me to write my own stories like those of the characters in my books. At this time, I was in piano lessons and my dad also encouraged me to write my own songs to express any strong emotions. I quickly took a liking to both of these ideas and began using my literacy knowledge to produce my own creative works. -
Literacy Reawakening
Throughout middle school, my love for literacy slowly died as I became increasingly stressed by school; literacy became a chore rather than something enjoyable. However, my dad played a vital role in re-sparking my passion for reading by providing me with numerous opportunities to engage with texts. In tenth grade, my dad introduced me to The Outsiders and Life as We Knew It (the series). These books were responsible for reminding me that literacy should be entertaining as much as informative. -
Revisiting Poems
Grade 11 was an emotional year as I navigated romantic relationships. I wrote a series of short poems to express my heartbreak and found that once I had written down my thoughts I felt a strong sense of relief. Looking back, I would not have used poems to express my feelings without the encouragement and support of my parents in my early years as they had taught me that literacy can be an effective creative outlet for our thoughts, something I believe is important to emphasize in the classroom. -
Enter University
During the first few years of university I had once again lost my passion for reading due to the immense amount of readings required for classes. Today, I have managed to gain this passion back. I attribute this largely to my parents and their persistence with providing me opportunities to engage with various texts. To this day, my parents continue to share their books with me and encourage me to find my own that I am passionate about, further building upon my literacy values. -
My Present Day Literacy Values
I don’t think that I would have ever been as involved with literacy as I am today without the encouragement and support that my parents provided me from the beginning. From modelling behaviours, to teaching me the basics, all the way to influencing me to produce my own text, my parents have strongly influenced, and supported, my literacy development. They made the text come alive on countless occasions and taught me the beauty of reading and writing simply for enjoyment and personal reflection. -
The Lessons I've Learned
My parents did teach me literacy for academic purposes as it was important that I learn to read and write to be successful. Their emphasis, however, has always been on literacy for enjoyment and as an outlet for creativity and imagination. Through this, and seeing the growing pressure students are experiencing in school, I have learned that it is important to imbue in my students a natural love for literacy and encourage them to engage with it because they want to, not only because they have to. -
Brock University
I now place strong values on parent involvement in children’s literacy to help them develop strong skills which will open doors to many possibilities in life. Through this program, I wish to learn how I may engage with parents and express to them the important role that they play in their children’s literacy development. I also hope to learn strategies that I can provide these parents to help them feel more confident in their abilities to scaffold their children’s literacy development at home. -
Beyond Brock
My parents have played a vital role in almost every literacy experience I have had. As an educator, I want to use the skills learned through Brock to help parents engage with their children to promote the development of strong literacy skills and values needed for a wide range of success. Unfortunately, not every child will have a positive home literacy environment. As such, I will strive to be a role model for these students and provide them with the literacy support they need for success.
