My Dad’s Encounters with Literacy

When I found out this assignment was going to involve interviewing another person about their earliest encounters with literacy and the practices they continue with today, one person immediately came to mind. This person is the most, in the traditional sense, literate individual I know. He has taught English for almost four decades, I rarely see him without him telling me about the book he just read or listened to, and has been my personal dictionary/grammar encyclopedia since I first learned to read and write. The person I am talking about (which my title has already given away) is my dad. One of the responses I found most interesting was his answer to the first question because I learned something about him I hadn’t known before.

1. Try to think of your earliest memories of writing and reading.  What do you remember of reading and writing before you began school?  Who helped you with it and what was that like?

I remember my mother reading stories to me and my father reading me the funny papers. Both were very positive experiences, filling me with both wonder and acting as a bonding experience with my parents. As for writing, I remember my mother helping me with my handwriting, telling me I was drawing the letters instead of writing them. I also remember how much pride she took in her own handwriting. It was a beautiful cursive.

My mom continued to read to me, even into my junior high years when she would sometimes read passages from some of the novels I had to read for class. She also bought me a lot of books on a variety of topics, from Greek mythology to Catch 22. Whatever I was interested in, books were provided.

I think that’s where my love of reading began. I still read a lot, including more audible books as I get older. Generally, I’ll have a book on cd to listen to in my car, a different one on m ipod, another in print on my ipad, and sometimes another on hard copy. People often ask if I don’t them mixed up, but that never seems to happen.

I am now a retired English teacher (38 years, mostly high school level), and while in the classroom I tried to instill my love of reading in my students. I often read to them – even the seniors. I’ve also tried to pass on the value of reading to my own five children, reading to them, and still buying them books in their adult years.