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Kindergarten
In kindergarten I picked up reading skills as quickly as they were taught to me. I was able to read at a 2nd to 3rd grade level by the end of the school year. -
1st grade
My grandpa bought me a book series and challenged me to finish them before the end of my 1st grade year. My reward was a movie date with just him and I, that was huge since I always had to go with my sister when I was with my grandparents. He bought me the Little House on the Prairie series. -
1st grade
By Thanksgiving break I had read the first 3 books of the series. I spent hours of my day hiding in my closet with all my pillows and reading. I couldn't put them down. -
Summer between 1st and 2nd grade
I finished all 9 by the end of the school year. I had fallen in love with reading and my parents and grandparents had built a large amount of books on a shelf in the hallway for me. By the end of 1st grade my teacher had me reading 4th and early 5th grade books. -
2nd grade
Similar to every other little girl in my grade at that time I was obsessed with being a Disney princess. Beauty and the Beast had been released in November of 1991. My reading interests became much more fantasy and princesses than it had been. My 2nd grade teacher always seemed to have the perfect book for me to read, she truly did nurture my love of reading. -
3rd grade
My third grade teacher gave me my first chance at using very high level books to do a research project. We had to pick a prominent figure and do a research project (and a really fun paper machie head) about them. I was given Helen Keller, it opened up a new genre of books. I remember making my mom spend hours and hours in the library to research my person. -
4th grade
Yet again, I was introduced to another genre of reading. We did a presentation for our families as one of the past presidents. Our teacher gave us printed out copies of actual speeches they had written, interviews, and we had to read a biography about the President that you were assigned. I was given Abraham Lincoln, I got lucky because it was in alphabetical order and I was #16 that year. It was my first experience with reading something as complicated as a political speech. -
6th grade
My history teacher gave us the most interesting project I have ever done, even to this day. She assigned us a historical hero or villain. Think Harriet Tubman for the hero and Adolf Hitler for the villain. My teacher asked us to do something incredibly difficult, we had to defend the villain and give the reasons that the hero really wasn't a hero. We had to read 5 different sources about our person. I had to give reasons Adolf Hitler wasn't a villain, I was not lucky with that one. -
7th grade
My grandparents went to an auction and bought me a Christmas gift I still treasure. They bought me a set of Shakespeare books that were published in the early 1900s. They are beautiful and I was the only person allowed to touch them. I began to read plays written in Shakespearean English that year, it was the most difficult level of reading I had tried. Each play took me at least 2 weeks to get through. -
7th grade
My eldest niece entered kindergarten that year and instantly fell in love with reading as well. My older sister is not a reader so I stepped in and helped nurture it by reading with her after school everyday (my mom took care of her until my sister got off work). She and I bonded over each new book I got to introduce her too. She was the first person I allowed to read The Little House on the Prairie series my grandpa had bought me. -
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High School
In high school my reading tastes changed, I knew that I wanted to join the military. My reading choices became all about the military and any books I could read about the branches of the military. I also developed a love for marching band and color guard (the flags and rifles with marching band) so I began to read about musicians as well.
