The Value of Literacy

I interviewed my mother for this and I found her parents’ backgrounds with literacy interesting. My mom was such an avid reader growing up, and still is, and it’s interesting to see where her parents came from and how they influenced her love of reading.

 

What stories did your parents tell you about their own efforts to learn to read and write?  What kinds of values did they place on reading and writing?

Both of my mom’s parents placed a high value on reading and writing. Her mom tried to do well in school but wasn’t encouraged at home. My grandmother’s dad was quite verbally abusive, so it was hard to succeed in school when she was constantly being told she was stupid by her father. My mom’s dad was the first in his family to go to college, he was more literate than anyone in his family. His family lived on a farm and was bilingual in german and english. His parents were immigrants and his father could barely speak english, let alone read or write in it.